By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — For no reason other than the goodness of their hearts, three Caribou students have become consistent volunteers at the Halfway Home Pet Rescue in Caribou.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
It takes volunteers of all sorts to help take care of the stray, abandoned and unwanted cats of the Halfway Home Pet Rescue, including two 10-year-olds that volunteer on a weekly basis: Brooke Haney, at left, holding kitten Macaroni, and Madison Jandreau, holding Buster.
Since August, 16-year-old Emmanuel Bouchard has been a weekly volunteer at the Caribou pet rescue. It’s hard work, and there isn’t much that’s glamorous about cleaning out litter boxes. Having already completed the community service hours required by the Caribou High School, Bouchard volunteers because, as he says, he likes animals and he likes the shelter.
“Volunteering here means more than petting cats,” he said.
Most of his volunteer hours are spent helping to clean out the cages, washing dishes, sweeping the floors and helping to socialize the cats — which is one aspect of volunteering that 10-year-olds Brooke Haney and Madison Jandreau enjoy.
The two youngsters also volunteer weekly, assisting with cleanliness and helping with the cats.
“We’ll feed the cats…” said Haney,
“… And we’ll brush them,” interjected Jandreau,
“… And we play with them,” finished Haney.
Though they may be only 10 years old, the two play a very important role at the shelter, as socializing the cats keeps the cats happy and comfortable in their temporary surroundings.
They both agree that they can see the difference in a cat after socializing with it for a week.
“They’re a lot less shy and, like Emmanuel (the cat named after the young volunteer) was pretty scared when he first came to the shelter,” explained Brooke. With a lot of patience and a little love, Emmanuel the cat became so comfortable with the two volunteers that now instead of taking him out to play, they take him out to cuddle.
“A lot of [these cats] have a hard time — people find them on the sides of roads and bring them in,” Jandreau explained. “It’s really hard but over time they’ll get used to people and then they’re ready to get adopted.”
“We have a lot of adoptions,” she added.
Volunteering so frequently at the shelter can be bittersweet, as Bouchard, Haney and Jandreau all agree that they tend to have favorites.
“My favorite got adopted, so I liked Brooke’s favorite and then she got adopted, and then my other two favorites got adopted, so now I like Garfield,” Jandreau said. “He’s really, really cuddly and he just had eye surgery.”
While there’s any number of adorable kittens at the shelter at any given time, often the pet rescue takes in special needs cats that require multiple visits to the veterinarian before they can be adopted, and sometimes their ailments can’t be completely repaired.
Fortunately, there are people out there who are willing to adopt a special cat over an adorable kitten.
“There was actually someone who came in here looking for a cat, and she had picked out two kittens, but then she saw a cat with a damaged eye and she said ‘oh, I’m taking this one instead,’” Bouchard said, expressing that the cat with the damaged eye would have otherwise had to live at the shelter for quite some time.
One cat has been waiting for the right home since Bouchard started volunteering at the shelter, and fortunately for cats like Stella, the Halfway Home Pet Rescue has volunteers of all ages to care for her until she’s permanently adopted. Fortunately for the region, the shelter has volunteers willing to care for the abandoned and unwanted cats that would otherwise slip through the cracks — even young volunteers like Bouchard, Haney and Jandreau, who give their time to help save stray cats.
“I feel happy because we’re helping them,” said Haney.
