Marble – The Valley River Humane Society has hired a new shelter manager, the first since the sudden death earlier this year of Kirsty Waller, the previous shelter manager.
Cheyenne Spicola comes to the humane society with nearly a decade in a number of positions of increasing responsibility across the veterinary care and management industry, the humane society said in a release.
Spicola had been the manager at Lake Chatuge Animal Hospital. Before that, she worked as a certified veterinary assistant and technician at Tri-County Animal Clinic. She holds several certificates in nursing and veterinary care and is recognized by her peers as a best-in-class leader with strong strategic, financial and inter-personal and problem-solving skills, according to the release.
“We could not be more excited to welcome Cheyenne to the VRHS family,” said Jim Gerke, president of Valley River Humane Society. “Her background in developing policies, ensuring proper and ethical veterinary procedures, and mentoring people is invaluable to us at VRHS as we look to the future and keep our eyes on reducing pet homelessness.”
The Valley River Humane Society announced the hiring on its Facebook page June 5.
“After an extensive search, we’re so very proud to announce that we’ve hired a new shelter manager! Please help us welcome Cheyenne Smith to our team,” the humane society posted.
“Cheyenne comes to us with a very strong background in veterinary medicine and practices. She’s very family oriented, has a deep love of animals, and a desire to help us save as many lives as possible.
“Having managed veterinary offices with multiple locations, we feel confident that she’s exactly the personality we need to lead our fast-paced, often chaotic, life-saving, environment. She’s spent the last couple of weeks with our hard-working staff, learning the ropes, and has some great ideas to help us move forward, starting with new software and additional team members!”
Spicola will be at the Valley River Humane Society’s annual meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 27, at Downtown Pizza, 52 Hiwassee St. in downtown Murphy.
At the meeting, which is open to the public, local humane society leadership will present year-to-date operational details and share goals and objectives for the future of the shelter and its thrift store.
The Valley River Humane Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that survives on donations and tax-deductible financial contributions from Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties. For details, visit valleyriverhumanesociety.org.