1. High autonomy at work; you can decide what you want to do and how to do it (provided the boss is abroad or "busy with personal matters")

2. Animals (other than humans) are cute

1. The boss runs the association like a family business.

The association belongs to the boss and her two sisters. Everyone else (including board members, supervisors, and employees) is expected to keep their opinions to themselves, yet they love encouraging employees by saying, "If you have an opinion, feel free to speak up—we're a TEAM." Don't believe this for a second; speak up and you're finished.

2. The standards are inconsistent. This applies to the association's mission, the circumstances under which animals should be taken in, how cases involving issues are handled, and the division of work among different departments.

When employees take leave or there is a typhoon: "GUYS, the animals are suffering; you can't think only about taking time off."

When the boss is abroad: "The meeting scheduled for this week—I can't get back because I'm overseas. Help me reschedule it with them (or, So-and-so, you go in my place)."

The association's dog: "You're really mean. You're not allowed upstairs to bully my dog. Your barking will affect everyone's work."

The boss's dog (barking incessantly): "Oh, bad doggy, okay, okay" (while the boss continues sitting at her desk).

One department: "We're a TEAM; everyone needs to help one another."

Other departments: "Each department should handle and finish its own work. Everyone is busy."

3. This is also about inconsistent standards, but it's so bizarre that I'm pulling it out separately to share with everyone.

The association requires employees to eat vegetarian food during work hours, but seafood is exempt. Shrimp shells sometimes appear in the trash after the boss finishes eating, while the association once promoted an initiative called "Refuse Shark Fin Soup." Ha ha—make sense of that.

4. The boss and some colleagues don't understand basic animal behavior.

The boss or colleagues will stare into a dog's eyes and say, "Oh, I think it's so sad" (staring into a dog's eyes is highly provocative behavior), or repeatedly shriek, "So cute!" next to a very nervous dog. When dogs at the association awaiting adoption bark, they scold and loudly reprimand them, intensifying the dogs' barking behavior.

5. Privilege is useful.

When a celebrity or a friend of the boss finds an animal, the association almost always helps bring the animal in and arrange its adoption (there have not yet been any exceptions). Ordinary members of the public don't get this privilege, ha ha.

6. Interns are seriously exploited.

Interns' obligations: doing the same amount of work as regular employees, cleaning, and so on. The executive director said, "Giving interns transportation allowances every day is a heavy burden for the association, so STAFF should arrange more tasks for them to do."

Interns' rights: they receive only the basic daily transportation allowance (NT$200–500), have no labor or health insurance, and have no opportunities to learn.

7. The publicly disclosed information about fundraising does not match the facts; members were not notified of the general meeting according to procedure, and the board and supervisor positions were predetermined.

8. They look for the hottest animal-protection issue to focus on, and after paying attention for three minutes... there's no follow-up.

For example, initiatives the association has promoted include refusing shark fin soup and opposing animal testing for cosmetics. Oh well, shelters are what's trending now.