Volunteering

I’ve tried a few different ways to volunteer over the last few years. When I was in 6th grade I volunteered at the Meriden Humane Society in Meriden, Connecticut. I was the youngest volunteer but they found me jobs. They had me work in the cat room, where I had to brush cats, clean the floors and walls, as help feedback cats. When there wasn’t any work left to do there I would help socialize the cats and do laundry. They had lots of cats and I was blue to see a great cat named Kitty get adopted. They were a perfect fit, and since I wasn’t allowed to bring home a cat myself, I was very happy to help someone else. When I was in 7th grade my mom let me foster dogs from Labs4Rescue in Killingsworth, CT. The first dog was a lab beagle mix who came from Mobile, Alabama. She was very sweet and had been injured in her front right leg, but it healed on it’s on it’s own incorrectly. She never lets it bother her though! I took care of her and scheduled vet appointments. I also made videos for her to help her get adopted. My cousins adopted her a few months after she got to my house. The second dog we fostered was named Polly, and she was a chocolate lab mix. I had to work on training her a bit because she was only one, and she did really well with it. She used to be a stray in Mobile, Alabama so I was working on keeping her out of the trash and not eating things she wasn’t supposed to, not jumping, and not being mouthy, because when she was excited and playing she would chew on your wrist. I took care of her and made her videos too and she got adopted a month later and moved to Massachusetts. My third foster dog was a Great Pyrenees lab named Gemma. She was very well behaved and super sweet, but likes to eat of counters and had bad separation anxiety. I had to find what worked to keep her calm while I was at school and my parents were working because she would go looking for us and get locked in rooms she wasn’t allowed in and tear up the carpet trying to dig her way out and crush te door knobs. Crates never worked because she could escape like Houdini even when we ziptied the edges and they stressed her out, so I learned eventually if I leave the radio on she will fall asleep, so I do that, and when I get home take her for a walk. My family all loved her, so we adopted Shiloh after a month at our house. I once volunteered at a horse rescue, Draft Horse Rescue, in East Hampton, CT, when I was little (2-3rd grade) and loved it. I ride horses and it’s one of my favorite things to do. I raised $400 and when I went to bring it, they let me volunteer for the day. I had to clean the stalls and sweep the barn and fill water buckets and wash feed bins. My parents can’t drive me to the stable since it is so far, but I’d love to volunteer with horses again. Since we adopted Gemma (who is now named Shiloh) I am looking for new volunteer opportunities, and can’t wait to work with more animals!