Community Support Counselor

Since 1984, we’ve dedicated ourselves to ensuring every animal has the quality of life they deserve – a life worth living. Now, we go beyond our walls to help create a more humane community for pets and the people who love them.

Asheville Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We do, however, hold the County contract for animal sheltering. This means that we are the open-admission shelter for all Buncombe County animals.

As the only open-intake animal shelter in Buncombe County, we're always here for the animals in our community. The Buncombe County Animal Shelter is located next door to Asheville Humane Society's Adoption Center and serves as a point of entry for all found strays or animals surrendered by their owners.

Position Summary

The Community Support Counselor’s primary focus is to engage with the public to reunite lost and found pets with their owners, also known as Community Sheltering. This position also performs administrative activities relating to the Community Solutions Department, including scheduling owner surrender appointments and providing support and resources for Buncombe County residents in an effort to enable and empower people to keep their pets or rehome pets themselves. The Community Sheltering Center also provides vouchers for spaying/neutering, behavior and vet assistance, and pet food and other pet care supplies.

Schedule: This position works at the Community Sheltering Center located on our Animal Care Campus. The typical work schedule is Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. This position is a full-time, non-exempt position.

Compensation & Benefits: The salary for the Community Support Counselor starts at $16.50/hour. AHS is pleased to offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package to full-time employees that includes: medical, dental, and vision insurance, a Simple IRA plan with up to 3% company match, 18 days of PTO in the first year, paid holidays, pet prescription discounts, and more! Benefits are available after 60 days of employment.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide support and information for Owners in rehoming or surrendering their pets.
• Provide support and resources for Finders of pets (good Samaritans) to reunite found pets with Owners in the field, with the goal of shelter intake being the last resort for lost pets.
• Provide proper identification of incoming animals through microchip scanning and other identification checks. Cross-reference with available internal and external reports.
• Responsible for assisting citizens looking for a lost pet and those who have found a stray and completing all Lost & Found procedures.
• Provide post-microchipping education, microchipping registration, and transfer of ownership.
• Monitor and respond in a timely manner to phone calls, emails, and voicemails.
• Maintain an accurate and complete schedule of admission appointments as well as detailed records of client relations for owned animals in the community outreach team and Community Sheltering departments' online platforms.
• Provide guidance and counseling to clients regarding pet care issues.
• Ability to uphold strict confidentiality in dealing with sensitive information.
• Demonstrate the ability to assess pet behaviors based on observation alone.
• Responsible for maintaining a working knowledge of all AHS programs/services.
• Responsible for ensuring that the Community Sheltering Center is properly sanitized, presentable, tidy, and organized in both public and staff areas.
• Responsible for monitoring the inventory of Community Sheltering supplies and equipment.
• Participate in soliciting donations from shelter patrons for AHS.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• High School Diploma or GED equivalent required.
• Minimum of two years experience in customer service or a similar customer-facing role.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) a plus.
• Ability to work with the public and navigate potentially difficult conversations with patience and compassion.
• Ability to make sound judgments and work effectively under stressful conditions.
• Intermediate computer knowledge.
• Willingness to learn pet behaviors based on observation alone.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, written, and communication skills.
• Working knowledge of best practices within the field of animal welfare, sheltering, and admissions is preferred but not required.

This position requires standing for long periods and sufficient manual dexterity to use animal handling equipment on a regular basis. It requires the ability to stoop, bend, reach, and lift items weighing at least 50 pounds to a level of 4 feet high and the ability to handle dogs weighing up to 150 lbs. This position requires the ability to work with moderate noise in a confined area and sit at a computer for extended periods.