When you spend time with our shelter animals, you'll get back even more than you give!

Many adults and teens volunteer at the shelter to help make it the best possible alternative until a loving adoptive home can be found.  Volunteers walk dogs, help socialize animals so they're ready for adoption, and provide other forms of animal care. 

For more information about volunteering, please contact Pam Rock, our shelter manager.

  BEST PAW FORWARD

I'm a cat person.  I volunteer at the shelter because I love animals and I enjoy lending a helping hand to get a job done.  But perhaps more importantly, it warms my soul to see my four-legged feline friends enjoy a loving touch, a soft stroke.

From a purely practical standpoint, whatever task I perform frees an employee to do something else.  And there is always something else to be done at the shelter.  Over time I have learned to be more efficient; to quicken my pace when cleaning cages, litter boxes, as well as food and water bowls because my goal is to spend as much hands-on time as possible with the cats.  They don't care whether my pants are dirty or my lipstick has worn off, they just want to be touched and petted.  You can see the happiness in their furry little faces, in the subtle softening of their eyes.  They rub agains my face, my hands, my legs and purr contentedly.

The cats at the shelter have many different personalities.  Some are immediately outgoing and affectionate, others are shy and initially stand-offish.  My goal is to help the cats become more adoptable.  When a prospective adopter goes from cage to cage, each cat has only a few seconds to make a good first impression.  So I try to be sure that the cats are accustomed to being held and having their heads and chins scratched.  I like to think that my role is to encourage each cat to put its best paw forward.
                                                                                            Augusta Gladding, The Cat Socializer, Willsboro