Volunteering at the local humane society!

[littl3red]

Hey everyone! Yesterday I put in an application to volunteer at our local humane society/shelter. They called me AN HOUR later asking me if I could come in today, so I'll be leaving in like 15 minutes for my first day of volunteer work. :biggrin: I'm so excited that I'll be able to be a part of these animals' lives, at least for a little while. I'm so glad to help. It's really nice because it's a no-kill shelter, they do this by providing foster care for some of the animals so their shelter doesn't get full. So I will never have to worry about walking in one day to walk a dog and seeing that he's been put down, which was a big concern for me.

So, does anyone else have any experience with this? Also, have your pets come from shelters? Teddy came from the shelter from the next town over, but not all of our animals have been adopted from shelters or rescues. I plan on adopting all of my future animals, that was always what felt best to me. My mom was always a pet store/breeder buyer.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I help at the local SPCA and a rabbit rescue. I was happily surprised at the turn over rate at the shelter, they really get the animals adopted fairly quickly. The rescue is much pickier (she turned me down because I wanted to bond the bun!) so the turn over rate is much slower.

Just make sure you don't bring anybunny home on a whim. All of my pets are from shelters or rescues.

 

[littl3red]

Yeah, I'm still living with my mom, and she says no more pets. I would have a small zoo if she'd let me. Anyways, I got to meet some really cool dogs today. There's Lilly, I didn't check what breed she was but she looks like a black and white pit bull, she's so pretty and so so friendly. And then there's Rudy, he was brought in feral but he's pretty good with people now, REALLY shy but he'll let you pet him, he even licked my hand. He's a BIG shepherd mix. So handsome. I guess he's been there for a while, but I don't know why, I'm pretty much in love with him. :hearts: That's my job there, take the dogs for walks and give them some love. Pretty awesome job if you ask me. :coolness:

 

[caustin4]

That sounds great! I volunteer for a rabbit rescue and was almost going to volunteer at my county's shelter, but was given more hours at my job and between that and school I didn't have 6 hour time blocks to work at the shelter anymore. I would totally have a small zoo if I were allowed at either home, or where I live at school. Even so I constantly bring home new animals. I just brought home a new dog, and a month before that 2 more rabbits. Whoops! I just can't help it!

 

[littl3red]

I know, it's so hard! I need to learn better self-control. I don't want to be that person that overdoes it and has to take their pets to the shelter.

 

[caustin4]

Yeah I need self-control too. It's tough, but I know I can't keep bringing home more.

 

[missyscove]

I volunteered with my local animal shelter in high school which was an awesome experience. It was fun and educational for me to be able to interact with so many different animals as well as members of the public. In college I didn't have as much time but I did volunteer with some of the research animals at the vet school and went on an international veterinary volunteer trip. All great volunteer experiences that helped me end up in vet school.

Timmy and Fiona were both from shelters.

 

[littl3red]

Yes, that's part of why I'm volunteering; for vet school in the future. It's been a really good experience so far and I've only been there one day!

 

[missyscove]

Awesome! Remember to keep track of your hours and of what you do. Feel free to PM me if you have any pre-vet sorts of questions.

 

[caustin4]

I think I'll jump in sometime and pm you about vet school questions. I'm starting my third year at uc Davis in a few weeks and would love to hear all about vet school admissions and experiences sometime!

 

[missyscove]

Feel free. I got my BS in Animal Science at Cornell this past May and I just finished my 4th week of classes at Western University of Health Sciences in their DVM program. I applied to a lot of schools in and out of the US and so far I'm loving Western.

 

[littl3red]

That's really cool. I live pretty darn near Kansas State which has a pretty good vet program, so I'll probably end up going there.