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    22 Things Animal Shelter Workers Will Never Tell You

    Our job is 50% cleaning up poo and 10% getting bitten. But we love it. H/T Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home.

    1. We get bitten a lot, especially while we're training.

    2. And cats can be even more dangerous than dogs.

    3. We hate it when people say, "I wish I got to play with animals all day."

    4. And we get really annoyed when people say things like "the poor dogs must be so miserable in kennels."

    5. About 50% of our job is cleaning up poo, but we don't mind.

    6. But it's never OK to call our work unskilled.

    7. It's incredibly hard to resist taking animals home.

    8. A surprisingly large number of visitors just start sobbing as soon as they come in.

    9. The very best part of our job is having a previously terrified animal start to trust you and begin to bloom.

    10. It can be hard to say goodbye to dogs and cats you've looked after for a long time.

    11. So we love it when people bring our ex-residents in for a visit.

    12. Loads of people return pets they've rehomed without even giving them a chance.

    13. We're always really disappointed when visitors think Staffordshire bull terriers are "vicious".

    14. It's even more disappointing when pets get passed over because they're "ugly".

    15. We occasionally have to turn down potential adopters.

    16. A few customers won't take no for an answer, and try to fib and bully their way into getting a pet.

    17. People often try to rehome puppies and kittens as surprise Christmas gifts in December.

    18. But what's worse is the people who dump their pets just before Christmas, and their excuses.

    19. Although the excuses people use at other times of year are almost as shocking, to be honest.

    20. We cry at work way more often than you'd think.

    21. But our passion is stronger than our heartache.

    22. And meeting people who genuinely love animals and want to adopt them definitely brightens our day.

    This post was put together with the help of staff at Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home in Scotland. Click here to meet their cats and dogs, or you can donate here.