‘We’re here for the animals.’ At this shelter, welfare of dogs and cats comes first

At Melissa’s Second Chances, it’s all about finding happy homes for cats and dogs. The Shawnee animal shelter and rescue is a small operation, but owner Melissa Kreisler knows the nonprofit is making a big difference.

“It’s not about just getting an adoption. I want it to be the right animal for your home,” Kreisler said. “We focus on quality not quantity. I don’t care if we do 10 adoptions in a day. I would rather have five solid adoptions.”

A handful of animals live on site at the shelter, while a majority of the approximately 112 cats and dogs stay with foster families. Some cats also live at Kreisler’s Second Cup Cat Cafe in Olathe, where it’s easy for potential adopters to meet them.

The group supplies foster families with all the pet supplies needed for the animals, so sometimes funding everything is a real challenge. Last year, the nonprofit almost had to close after a string of high medical expenses for the animals, combined with a drop in donations.

Many of the animals that come to Melissa’s Second Chances are strays found by animal control in Mission. A few come directly from owners who can’t keep them anymore.

Shelter manager Ashley Arth said that the group’s goal is always try to place animals in a foster home. If that’s not possible, the animal comes to the shelter.

“The staff here is very loving to the dogs and the cats. We kind of become their family, but it’s always better to put them in a home,” she said.

Kreisler’s goal this year is to find a larger building so she’s able to house more animals, though finding one that’s affordable and zoned correctly is a challenge.

Also challenging: finding homes for larger dogs. Demand is higher for the smaller dogs, so the larger animals, who often live at the shelter, spend more time awaiting adoption.

Arth said that with dogs, staff members have the most trouble adopting out pit-bull terriers or mixes. The two pit mixes who have been in foster homes the longest are 4-year-old Mala and 9-year-old Max, whose stays have been 22 and 17 months, respectively.

For cats it’s the young adults who tend to be harder to place. The longest standing feline residents are 4-year-old Binx and 11-year-old Scout, who have been in foster situations for about a year.

Careful screening of potential adopters is important to the staff and volunteers at Melissa’s Second Chances. To begin the process, they’ll look up regulations for each city or apartment complex to make sure the person isn’t exceeding the limit.

Red flags can include people who adopt frequently, but then rehome the animals, or those who have animals in the home that are not spayed or neutered.

“Sometimes you’re not someone’s favorite. We’re here for the animals,” Kreisler said.

“Their welfare is what is most important, and so if I have to tell someone no, because I don’t feel like that’s the right home for this animal, that’s my responsibility. I can’t sleep at night knowing I sent someone somewhere that I don’t feel like is the best.”

Making sure a person’s lifestyle matches the energy a potential pet will need or bring to the home is important, too. At the cat cafe, Kreisler has many people come in and want to adopt based on a photo from the website.

“I will just tell them, ‘Why don’t you hang out for a little bit and visit with the cats and then see if you still feel that way?’ And I bet 50% of the time, they end up choosing a different cat, because I just don’t feel you can pick the right match based on a picture,” she said.

The idea is to prevent problems that would result in an animal being returned after being adopted.

“Honesty is the best policy. Like, ‘You don’t want barking. You live in an apartment. Sydney is a barker.’ If they still want to meet, we’re never going to say no to them, but we do tell them the facts up front about the behaviors they don’t want that the dog does do,” Arth said.

Smiles spread when the group is able to match an animal that’s had a tough time finding a home. One dog couldn’t be placed with other animals and couldn’t handle being at an adoption event. He was with Melissa’s Second Chances for at least a year and a half.

“We just had a unicorn home come in — a single man with no other pets, nobody in the home, and that’s what he’d been looking for. He was looking for an animal that struggled,” Kreisler said. “We all rejoiced. I never thought this dog was going to get adopted.”

For more information about Melissa’s Second Chances, visit mscrescue.org.

This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.