There are a lot of people who have a spare hour now and again and think that with just an hour, there is little they can do to help out if they are so inclined to want to volunteer at the animal shelter.
Nothing could be further from the truth. An hour a week, an hour a month, whatever you have for time, just run out on your lunch hour if you want, because there is one job you can do no matter how little time you have that is a critical and vital job, and right now more than ever.
Houlton Humane Society has wonderful pets available for adoption. Healthy loving cats and dogs (and bunnies) that are social, friendly, well adjusted, house broken, you name it, they are perfect.
Houlton Humane Society also has pets that have come from very sad situations, hoarding, abuse, neglect – these animals are often timid and some need help learning to trust again. God bless the staff for their handling of these animals, so often they are seen napping in Heather’s office or hanging out behind the desk, or being played with in the conference room, because the staff knows that you can’t just take in a pet and throw it in a cage and expect it to be a good candidate for adoption, you need to work with it constantly, dog or cat, these companion animals need someone to show them love and affection.
The staff is very busy with cleaning, doing med rounds, answering phones, taking the public on tours, doing adoption counseling, taking care of a thousand different issues that come up during any given day, so this is where your spare hour can really be useful.
As an example, right now we have a dog Macie who is absolutely gorgeous, a pure bred, who has come from a background that left her very nervous, and we have Jackie, Amanda and Sarah who have come in several days in a row to just work with her. They sit beside her, hug her, love her, hold her in their arms, and show her that people can be trusted and that love is hers for the taking.
This might sound like a small thing, go to the shelter, sit on the floor, hug a dog. Is that really volunteering? Can it be that easy? I say again, there is no more important job you can do to help these animals and this is it.
Not into cleaning litter boxes and folding laundry? Come hug a dog or cat. Not able to take a dog for a nice long walk? Come just sit with her and hug her. Not able to commit to so many hours a day or a week or a month? Don’t. We don’t expect that everybody can show up the first Tuesday of every month, just come when you can. I guarantee you that there will be a puppy that needs to be played with, a bunny that needs to be held and caressed, a kitten that needs socialization.
Only want to come once? Once is fine. Want to come every day? Bless your heart, we would love to have you.
And just in case you didn’t know this, we have the finest staff and group of volunteers on the face of the earth. Am I just a little bit prejudiced? Oh yes I am. I’ve seen how hard these people work for these animals, I’ve held them when they’ve cried because they tried so hard to save one and lost the battle, I’ve watched them show up faithfully day in and day out not only to “do a job” but to do it with love and compassion. I’ve sat in the emergency rooms with them when they were bitten, I’ve listened to their horror stories of animal owners who have dumped their pets with no remorse or concern, simply because they were tired of them.
And yet they go on, day in and day out, they continue this work. Why? Because the animals need them, because for every sad case of an injury that could not be repaired there are 100 that are brought back to health and rehomed. For every tear of sadness there are a thousand tears of joy.
If you want your heart to be filled with love, you need only to spend an hour with Macie at the shelter. Come, come as you are, come fancy, come dressed down, comb your hair, or don’t, Macie won’t care. Just come.
