On September 27th I joined a group of Stockton students in volunteering at a local animal shelter. The establishment served a refuge to dozens of cats, dogs, and even a few domesticated birds. When we arrived our group of about ten volunteers was split into groups of three and each smaller group was given a job to do, most of which had to do with cleaning the shelter itself. On a normal day the handful of hardworking people employed at the animal shelter have to handle managing the shelter’s finances, caring for the animals’ health and wellbeing, going through endless adoption papers and processes, as well as keeping the building spotless, so we were there to take some of the pressure off of these good people, even if it was something as simple as helping clean.

My group got the task of washing all of the windows and mirrors in the building which was by no means difficult and gave us a chance to explore a little as we worked. We got to see all of the animals poking their noses out to sniff us through the bars as we oohed and aahed over them. Eventually we came to a room that was locked and a few seconds after trying the handle an employee of the animal shelter came out with a two week old pitbull puppy in her arms. She told us the room she came out of was where the more aggressive animals were kept and no unauthorized personnel were allowed in. The puppy in her arms, she told us, had a mother who was aggressive towards people, so the animal shelter workers were in the process of trying to slowly wean the puppies away from their mother’s negative influence to prevent them from being aggressive too. My entire group got to cradle the puppy before his keeper brought him back into the room and we continued our work.

After all of the windows were washed, I got to help hand out cat a dog toys that had been made at the honors experience to the animals in the shelter. As I did, I got to play with all of the kittens and cats who were more than happy to stretch their legs. This little bit of playing may seem insignificant to some people, but in my experience animals are a lot like people. A little bit of kindness means so much to the less fortunate, no matter the species, and because the shelter houses so many animals, some can go a few days with very little one-on-one attention and affection. This bonding time is important for animals, especially the little puppies and kittens. I will admit that after an hour of holding, petting, and playing with these tiny creatures I was trying to figure out where I could hide a cat bed in my tiny dorm.

After we had distributed the cat toys, we moved on to the dogs. In particular there were a few dogs that were wrapped up in an animal hoarding case that was still in court, so they could not be adopted until the case was settled. So we brought them to the big yard outside to run around and play for a little while. We played fetch, tug of war, and sometimes we just ran around with these little balls of energy. Some of the dogs were more laid back; they just stayed in the shade or came up to us and laid on our feet until we pet them. After an hour or so the dogs were tired out and it was time for us to go. We left that day tired, covered in hair, and proud that we could make a difference in the lives of these animals and the kind people that dedicate their time to helping them.