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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Adopt ALL THE PETS!!


For a long time now I've said I wanted to volunteer at our local humane society. There were a few issues with moving forward with this plan.

One: The humane society use to be housed at a location that is on the outside of town...on the other side of town.

Two: There was a $20 fee to participate in the volunteer orientation.

Three: The volunteer orientation was only once a month at the location across town.

These might not seem like big obstacles, but in a one car household on a budget they were obstacles I couldn't overcome at the time.

But recently the humane society moved to a location inside the local mall that is on my side of town. They also dropped the $20 fee for volunteers. So I went to the orientation about a month or so ago and learned a little more about how the organization works and what all they need volunteers for.

And then I spent a few weeks after that trying to decide where I was going to fit best, how I would be able to help.  I ended up just showing up one Saturday to see if they needed help and spent the next four hours stapling papers together, letting people in and out of the kitty condos to visit the resident cats that are available for adoption, answering questions (as best I could). It was a chaotic dance, but I really enjoyed it.

I also helped at an adoption event on another Saturday. All of the dogs that are available for adoption are in foster homes so the adoption events give the public a great opportunity to come to the mall and meet the dogs in person. I had such a good time meeting a lot of the dogs, learning their names and ages, trying to get a feel for their personalities. I somehow ended up sitting with a shy dog named Roscoe. All of the commotion was making him nervous so he was huddling under a chair. Turns out Roscoe is a senior dog, all the young whipper-snappers were making too much of a commotion for his taste. He just wanted a comfy spot to lie down and be petted. I sat with him nearly the entire time and by the end of the event I was determined to find Roscoe a new home.

SSoo, I flooded my facebook page with pictures and info about him. I put up flyers at work. I talked about him, a lot. I may not be able to foster any animals right now, but I can advocate the heck out of those dogs.

Roscoe has been adopted. By one of my co-workers.

 And I'm on to the next dog. Her name is Chelsie and she is another senior doggie. I've already put up new flyers at work. I'm hoping to get to know her a little better this weekend at the next adoption event and have some new pictures to share on my facebook.





2 comments:

  1. So sweet!!
    I volunteer with a local cat shelter, and once a week I go to one of the off-site adoption centers (in a Petsmart) and socialize, clean and do adoptions. It's so worth it to see a kitty (or any animal, really!) get adopted! Call me horrible, but I have no patience for people who "buy" bred animals.
    I'm so glad this was able to work out for you!

    Oh, and your little picture there made me cry. Thanks a lot :P

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  2. Aw! That's awesome!

    My family almost always adopts from shelters - although we just got our puppy, Kratos, from a family that had accidentally ended up with a little of puppies. I'm just glad we saved him from going to the pound in the first place.

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