John Cetnar The article I read directly relates to where I am volunteering.

This article discussed the similarities and differences between humane societies and animal control. Conveniently enough the shelter I work at has animals from both scenarios. This article focuses on the differences in the types of animals that get distributed throughout the shelters. It talks about the percentages of cats versus dogs and strays versus giveaways. It discusses the sheer numbers in which these animals flow in and out of the shelter. It highlights how many animals there are, their age, sex, and breed. These are animals that people didnt want, couldnt take care of, or lost track of. They are the rejects of the animal world and in the city of Wichita, Kansas there were 21 thousand of these poor rejects in only one year! It is incredible that between animal control and the humane society, 21,000 animals were taken care of. The sheer manpower and love for animals is very evident in both organizations. This brings me to the point where I come in. Someone needs to take care of the animals in some form or another. These shelters do not get the funding to pay people, they barely get enough funding for food. This is where volunteers like me fit in. After reading this article I began to realize my place in the humane society. I realized that volunteers like me are and intricate part in the success of the humane society. The place I volunteer at houses both the humane societys dogs as well as animal controls dogs. This means they see a massive number of animals. Right now they have easily 50 dogs and at least 30 cats. Just put that into perspective, we think that taking care of our household dog or two takes work. Think about taking care of 80 animals while meeting code, actually finishing all of the work, and having select volunteers doing it for free on weekends (they have some paid employees during the week). The pens get cleaned twice a day and there are about 40 of them. The cats cages get

cleaned daily. This is an excessive amount of work to be performed and none of it involves actually nurturing the animals. The up keep takes forever and the employees dont have time for walks or play time. Therefore they rely on volunteers for that. We get to walk the dogs so they go to the bathroom in their pens less as well as show them some attention. These are animals that have been forgotten about and lack love. We take them out and show them as much attention as we possibly can. We want them to feel love just like a household dog does because then they will be much more prepared for adoption. Some of these dogs have grown up in these pens since they were puppies and missed all the human interaction that a normal dog would get. They are usually kind of skittish, still nice, but not too outgoing. When adopting, families want dogs that interact and show they want to be with a family, not ones who are afraid to be around them. This is why we try to acquaint them with humans as much as we can and show them some love. The quicker they are adopted, the quicker we can service more dogs. What I am trying to get at is the volunteers who walk dogs can be seen as a sort of rehabilitation for the dogs. They are the only loving human contact that these dogs get. Otherwise they get unacquainted with humans and that can be a negative for adoptions. It happens to be that I absolutely love dogs and love working with them. I love giving the dogs all the attention they deserve. Although I may only a play a very small, fun role in the humane society, I really understand where I fit in terms of the overall humane society.

Characteristics of Animals Entering an Animal Control or Humane Society Shelter in a Midwestern City. By: Shore, Elsie R.; Girrens, Kathrine. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 2001, Vol. 4 Issue 2, p105. 11p. 3 Charts, 1 Graph.