Steph's Stuff Blog
There are a lot of great things that come with being a volunteer at the HSSV. The greatest benefit for me as a Dog Volunteer is the opportunity to spend time with our animal guests before they are adopted out to loving families.
Lots of visitors pass through our facilities every day, and many probably spot dog volunteers like me, sitting within the doggy suites, playing with or cleaning up after our four legged friends. We're actually working to socialize our dogs to get them ready for their forever homes. We're also doing careful observation and recording the animal's behavior. During training, volunteers are taught how to train a dog to do "downs" and "sits" using healthy treats and other incentives, so that the animals are, for the most part, well-behaved when potential families come in to see them. We take lots of time to ensure that, not only do our animals find loving homes, but that our animals are suitable and ready for their new families.
On my first day flying solo, I had the great pleasure of working with several of our precious pooches. From Toffee, the playful puppy, to Guinness and Riley, the dynamic duo, I had a blast working with these wonderful animals. I hope you'll come in and meet them - they're ready to shower you with love and affection.
Stephanie Lin is a professional journalist as well as a volunteer at Humane Society Silicon Valley
My first assignment at Humane Society Silicon Valley is packed with plenty of great stories from our recent Baby Animal Extravaganza!
I‘ll get to the four-legged dudes and dudettes in a sec. First, I gotta say: what an amazing group of people! I was so moved by the dedication, knowledge and generosity of each and every volunteer – and especially by their passion to help our animals find loving homes.
Everywhere I looked there was a volunteer helping somebody: at Kittyville teaching parents and kids about controlling the feral cat population (125,000 wild felines in the Bay Area alone!)at the old cafe mashing up ingredients to help families make their own healthy dog snacks; and of course, teaching everybody from toddlers to grandparents how to handle baby animals with care. Thanks to the vols, every visitor got a total hands-on chance to hold, pet and love a puppy, kitten, dog, cat, guinea pig or bunny. To think that all this was completely free and open to the public is astounding!
I gotta tell you about Rusty! This is an amazing story. Rusty and his foster mom, Lorice were seated close together in the Community Room – where all visitors get a chance to interact with HSSV’s adoptable Foster animals. (Foster animals are the cool ones who get to live in real homes – with real, loving families while they’re waiting to find permanent homes.) Rusty was a bit shy at first – but so sweet. Just leaning up against Lorice for comfort, but eventually willing to be petted. His eyes seemed to speak a world of emotion, and I had to snap his picture. I learned that Rusty had been hit by a car in Sacramento, and as a result, lost one of his legs. No one had come to claim him, and so poor Rusty was deemed a stray. We pray and hope that he finds a home soon, but in the meantime, I know Rusty is in good hands with Lorice, who has been fostering animals for over a decade
Over 50 animals were adopted into loving homes at the Extravaganza. An amazing Saturday. Hope to share more great success stories soon!
Stephanie Lin is a professional journalist as well as a volunteer at Humane Society Silicon Valley
Very Cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks Stephanie