Meet Tom Kiesche of Los Angeles County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Kiesche.

Hi Tom, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Years ago, I met a lovely woman at a friend’s party. Several nights later, we went on a date, and when it became clear that we weren’t exactly heading toward anything in particular, she mentioned something she did from time to time. Right then and there, I consciously decided that what she had told me was the reason our paths had crossed. Until then, I’d never even considered what she did as an option.

She occasionally walked dogs for an animal rescue. I wasn’t allowed to have a dog where I was renting, and it seemed like the perfect arrangement: something meaningful to do between auditions and during the inevitable gaps between freelance acting and writing gigs.

When I called the rescue, the owner had no idea who had referred me to her, but she enthusiastically invited me to stop by. About an hour after I pulled into the parking lot, I had a leash in my hand and was walking dogs.

That experience led me to volunteer at a more challenging place: a Los Angeles city shelter. The unflattering and often uncomfortable drama there, along with my curiosity and desire to learn more about shelter dogs, led me to volunteer at other shelters in Los Angeles County, Ventura County, and Long Beach. I also visited countless other shelters and rescue organizations.

I developed my skills, gradually took on more challenging dogs, and eventually mentored new volunteers at every level—beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

A few volunteers suggested that I write a book. Then one of the volunteers I had mentored offered not only to help me shape it, but also to introduce me to a publisher that specialized in dog books. At that point, ignoring the idea would have felt almost rude.

I mean, how could I not? If something I write, say, or do helps even one creature—or inspires one more person to help animals—then I’ll consider it worthwhile.

Straight Talk for Dog Volunteers:
A Firsthand Guide to Animal Shelter Work
by Tom Kiesche

Published by McFarland, part of their Dogs of Our World Series, edited by Brian Patrick Duggan

Straight Talk for Dog Volunteers

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Volunteering at a rescue comes with a few minor challenges, but honestly, it’s pretty easy: You show up, and the staff tells you all about the animals in their care. It’s kind of like the bunny slope at a ski resort—a good place to start. At most rescues, they won’t hand you anything scary, challenging, or heartbreaking.

However, when you start volunteering at places where intakes aren’t managed, animals are euthanized, staff members don’t know the residents, and some employees have hidden axes to grind whenever they hear the word “volunteering,” you leave the beginner slope behind and find yourself squarely on the intermediate, advanced, double-black-diamond, and unrated runs.

I’ve been bitten, both metaphorically and literally. At times, I’ve felt unfairly reprimanded and falsely accused by people with questionable intentions. Sure, I’ve made mistakes and had a few regrets, but regardless of what’s been under my skis, I’ve tried to learn as much as I possibly can to help as many dogs and humans as possible.

I’m proud to say that, through my social media work, I’ve played at least some part in helping thousands of animals find new lives and new loves—not only throughout California, but perhaps in seventeen other states, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As an author, actor, writer, producer, singer, editor, director, voice-over artist, and whatever other slash-slash-slash I’ve been throughout my professional career, I always found there was far too much downtime—and, even worse, no control over what I was doing, when I was doing it, or how often I was doing it.

Volunteering with dogs not only gave me a productive way to use that downtime, but also let me use my creativity: solving problems with challenging animals, seeing things from their perspective, and presenting them in truthful ways that might help them find homes. And let me just say: if you want experience in front of a camera, behind one, or in the editing room, your skills can’t help but improve after creating and posting ten thousand videos.

I’ve told many people that staged fencing and combat were among the best acting classes I ever took. You had to look as though you were trying to kill someone without actually killing them—and make it look as though they were trying to kill you without giving away the fact that none of it was real.

But that all seems like kiddie play now because, with dogs in shelters where euthanasia is a reality, there is only truth. There’s nothing like being in a kennel with a busted door handle and a dog who has a file full of horrendous notes. There’s nothing more real than a rocket covered in fur lunging at you with its teeth bared—or spending twenty minutes with an animal before it’s called to its own death.

Honestly, I no longer care what sets me apart from other people. I’ve given up on that; after all, it always seems to be others who decide. If everyone who reads this interview wants to write a book, volunteer with animals, showcase them, help them find homes, and selflessly work to improve animal welfare wherever they live… please do.

I should also disclose that I’m in pre-production on a feature-length social impact thriller that I hope will also help millions of animals, that I still don’t live in an apartment that allows dogs, and that I have a cat with his own story that was told in a one-man show entitled “Love & Other Four-Legged Words”… However, for this interview, I will keep it about the book.

Straight Talk for Dog Volunteers: A Firsthand Guide to Animal Shelter Work
SKU: 9781476659619

“Part memoir and part handbook, this book is a matter-of-fact guide designed to provide essential strategies, tips, and tactics for keeping animal shelter volunteers and dogs safe and unscarred. It resonates with truth from every step taken inside a shelter, whether as a volunteer or visitor; every city council meeting attended; every interview, conversation, book, video, class, and animal; and every bite that pierced the author’s skin and consciousness. It offers stand-up advice on navigating pups and policies, because some of the sharpest teeth volunteers may encounter are not always in the animal’s mouth. The book is a 101-level introduction that leaves volunteers with the proficiency, knowledge, and authority of an expert, with no prerequisites required but a love for animals and a drive to help.”

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
What was a favorite childhood memory?

I mean, geez, how do I spin that to be relevant? I loved my family dog growing up, but if you would have bet me then that I’d turn out to be an actor, with nearly a hundred commercials and scores of guest star roles on shows like Breaking Bad, Bones, and CSI, or that I’d be a writer of screenplays and novels, live in New York City and Los Angeles, and eventually write a non-fiction book about volunteering with shelter dogs to make the experience safer for humans and more positive for canines—increasing their chances of legit second chances—I would have taken that bet.

But my childhood dog once saved my life. I had broken my femur on a frozen January night and was in a state of shock, but my dog ran to get help. Every time my mother attempted to let her into the house, she ran away barking, trying to cue someone to find me. One of my deepest regrets was not coming home from college when my father eventually took her to the vet because life had become too painful for her. As I write this answer, my fingers tremble, my eyes leak, sounds emit from my throat, and I can’t catch my breath.

I suppose her loyalty stayed with me, even when it became convenient to forget; I suppose, like all that show biz jazz that I didn’t see coming, she had my number.

Pricing:

• $29.95 pre-order
• SKU: 9781476659619
• Available on the publisher’s site
• https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/straight-talk-for-dog-volunteers/
• Available through other retailers as well

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/straight-talk-for-dog-volunteers/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomkiesche/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PageTomKiesche
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-kiesche-42b2b6415/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomKiesche001
• Other: https://linktr.ee/TomKiesche

 

Image Credits
Photos by Tom Kiesche
Cover by McFarland Publishing