My Volunteer Experiences

The House at Animal Rescue Inc.

For several years I volunteered at an animal rescue shelter called Animal Rescue Inc. My primary responsibility was to socialize, groom, and walk the dogs. Some of the dogs were somewhat fearful of people. They were abused, neglected, and abandoned so based on their past experiences with humans they had every right to be fearful. However, we would never hurt them. We wanted more than anything to show them what love was and find them proper homes. Throughout the next couple days, weeks, months, and possibly years they would learn this fact. For you see, Animal Rescue Inc. is a no-kill shelter. For some dogs it is also a forever home.

At Animal Rescue Inc. most of the dogs were free to roam a large fenced yard and had a house that they were free to enter and leave. The others were in large kennels. They were walked at least once a day if not more.

The most difficult task that I encountered at the shelter was to socialize the puppies from puppy mills. The dogs from puppy mills were the dogs that I was the most drawn to. They were also the most fearful because they had never had any type of human interaction before coming to the shelter expect for food or water that was sometimes given to them if they were lucky.

I was determined to let them see the love of a human. However, this goal took a lot of patience. Due to their past history they were quite reluctant to socialize with humans. If they were pushed into human interaction it would only damage them further.

I would arrive at the rescue shelter some days at 8:30AM and sit in the room that most of the puppy mills dogs were at. I would pet the non-puppy mill dogs as they come up to me wanting the affection they had come to know and love from being at the shelter. The puppy mill dogs would look at me and some would stare but they did not want come near me. I understood that and respected them enough to let them do their own thing. Then, around 3:00PM some of the puppy mill dogs would wander up to me and want petted. I would pet them and then when they had got enough they would walk away.

Through this process some of the puppy mill dogs eventually decided that they really liked humans and started coming up to the other volunteers to receive attention. Some of them also received wonderful homes.