MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – It may be hard to tell, but the Humane society of Macomb has gone through an extreme makeover and the changes go far deeper than just paint colors.
"About two years ago, I came in one Saturday, and there were 70 or 80 people outside, " Ken Kempkens, director of the Humane Society of Macomb, said. "They were protesting that we had a very high kill rate."
Kempkins was on the board when the 2015 protest happened. He called it eye opening.
Soon thereafter, he and administrative assistant Vicki Castiglione, went about changing the culture.
"We went from a 36 percent save rate to a 98 percent save rate," he said.
That's quite a turnaround. It was made possible by the hiring of new staff able to coordinate rescues, adoptions and the training of animals that might otherwise be overlooked.
They also brightened up the place. Now, more people are showing up to adopt.
"Looking around here and talking to the staff, they’re really awesome," Courtney Bleakley, a potential adopter, said.
"It's time the public knows there has been a transformation in the shelter and we are doing the right thing here," Kempkens said.
