Longtime shelter director moving on, new director named
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Departing Gilmer Animal Shelter Director Daniel Laukka, right, is pictured with Kelly Pickering, who will begin work as the animal shelter’s new director this week.
The unwanted pets of Gilmer County are losing an ally whose leadership brought needed changes and improvements to the local animal shelter.
Daniel Laukka, the shelter’s director for the past nine years, recently offered his resignation, which will take effect Jan. 5.
Laukka said the decision comes on good terms with the county, and that he’s leaving to pursue other opportunities.
“I was ready to have a little more freedom. I would like to travel a little more, and there are some things I want to pursue to where I have to break away. It’s a good time for me to do that,” he added.
Laukka, 35, had already been around animals most of his life before going into the animal control field. His mother, Suzanne, owned a pet shop in town for 20 years, and he always felt destined to work with animals in some capacity.
“Daniel has a soft spot and a heart of gold for animals,” said Jack Peaden, of Friends of the Gilmer Animal Shelter (FOGAS). “I’ve had the pleasure to work with him on many projects, and he has an easygoing personality, (which makes him) easy to work with. He’s leaving the shelter in much better shape than he found it.”
The shelter had a very high animal euthanasia rate when Laukka first came on board there as an animal control officer almost 11 years ago. After becoming director, Laukka developed partnerships with various animal rescue groups, which helped dramatically reduce the steep kill rate.
“Under Daniel’s tenure, our shelter’s reputation increased within the animal community and with other animal shelters,” said Peaden. “He developed a network of animal shelters, rescue groups and nonprofits that worked together for the collective benefit of animals, (while) implementing a transport program where dogs and cats were transported to animal rescues in a network that spanned four or five states.”
“This really helped to relieve the overcrowding that had plagued the shelter in the past,” added Bill Schmid, a longtime FOGAS volunteer.
Eventually, the Gilmer shelter, which normally takes in close to 1,000 animals a year, was able to become a no-kill facility.
“Daniel was the catalyst in the development and transformation from a basic county animal shelter to a no-kill shelter since first being hired to work there,” said Schmid.
The no-kill designation that can be applied to animal shelters with a save rate of 90 percent or higher (seriously ill animals or those that pose a safety risk to the public sometimes have to be put down). The shelter has been able to stay well above that 90 percent save rate, Laukka noted.
“Daniel took on an often grim and thankless responsibility that most of us would prefer not to think about. He cared for our abused, neglected and unwanted pets. When the situation required it, he ended their suffering,” said FOGAS volunteer Ernie Taylor. “For this alone, I believe we owe him our gratitude.”
Laukka has also been a constant in a community volunteer and support base for the shelter, which has blossomed over the last decade. He hopes this “village” of support, which includes FOGAS and another volunteer group, Ellijay Paws in Need (EPIN), will continue to thrive.
“FOGAS and EPIN are their own entities and they’ve done a really great job of growing within their own groups. My part in that was just allowing and helping them to grow,” he said. “I think we’ve been able to reach a lot of people in the community when it comes to education (about their pets). We’ve also had a lot of people move in the last few years who’ve brought a lot of education from the other communities they’ve lived in, which has helped grow that education in our community.”
Sylvia Harris, current FOGAS president, said Laukka’s involvement helped the group start a reduced cost pet spay/neuter program and a newer spay/neuter program for feral or “community” cats. To date, hundreds of local dogs and cats have been spayed or neutered through those two programs, which provide the procedures for low or no cost to pet owners.
“He attended our FOGAS meetings and provided input as to the needs of the community and how we could best support the shelter’s overpopulation. That’s how these programs got started,” said Harris. “Daniel continued to support our programs by providing transportation when needed, and we formed a strong alliance as a result. There’s so much to say about his contributions to the shelter and the community.”
Laukka said he always wanted to hire people with a heart for helping animals to work at the shelter. The staff there has almost tripled since he was first hired.
“I have enjoyed my time working at the shelter, and I’m proud to see how far we’ve come. I couldn’t (have done it) without all the people I met along the way,” he said. “I was fortunate to become director about the same time Charlie Paris became commissioner, and he’s been a big supporter of the animal shelter. There was a lot of people in the animal rescues who helped teach me how to become a no-kill shelter, and I am really proud to have been a part of that.”
Kelly Pickering, the county’s animal control operations manager since October, will be the Gilmer Animal Shelter’s new director starting this week.
Pickering, who previously worked with the Humane Society in northeast Arkansas before moving here in 2021, said she’s “excited about the potential out there” and is looking forward to building on the solid foundation that Laukka leaves.
“We’re definitely going to do everything we can to maintain the no-kill status. We want to be able to take in as many dogs and cats as we can and find them new homes and continue to raise those (adoption) numbers,” she added.
Pickering’s work will also include overseeing a future expansion of the animal shelter, which is expected to include another building to be used for animal intake or adoption purposes.
“Doing some reconstruction of the building we’re in now and building the new facility is going to be where a lot of my focus lies,” she said.
Although he won’t be there on a day-to-day basis anymore, Laukka said he plans to still be involved with the shelter, this time in a volunteer role.
“I would like to continue helping by transporting pets, walking dogs or whatever I can do to help out on my time,” he added.