Small Town News

Adopt-A-Pet seeks more volunteers

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Volunteer requirements for Adopt-a-Pet in Shelton are simple, said Terri Thomas, who helps run the shelter. The big one? Must love dogs.

"We can never have too many people helping out," Thomas said.

The no-kill dog shelter in Shelton is running low on volunteers, which the nonprofit relies on to operate.

"We're just looking for people who are patient and want to help," Thomas said. "Young, old, big, small. It doesn't matter."

The shelter, located at 940 E. Jensen Road in Shelton, houses between 20 and 22 dogs at any time. Those dogs need to be regularly walked, played with, socialized, fed and cleaned, Thomas said. Volunteers complete all of those chores.

"We're running on a skeleton crew right now," volunteer Catherine Henson said. "We just need people who can dedicate a few hours."

Henson said the shelter has about seven dedicated volunteers who do the majority of the work now, but if they got a handful of additional people to donate just a few hours, it would make a big difference.

In particular, the shelter is looking for young volunteers who have energy and stamina to complete projects and work with dogs.

Henson started volunteering at the shelter eight years ago. She started by picking up dog poop just a few hours a week, but eventually got more involved as she fell in love with helping the dogs.

Now, she runs the adoption portion of the shelter.

"I love putting dogs in homes," she said. "The best thing is when the dogs are going out the gate and the person gives you a big hug — that's when you know the dog is going to a good home."

In addition to volunteers who interact with the dogs, the shelter needs office and maintenance staff as well, Henson said.

The number of dogs adopted from the shelter has steadily gone up over the years, Thomas said. In 2013, the shelter was able to get 209 dogs adopted. That number jumped to 247 dogs last year.

Thomas said she expects to get more than 300 dogs adopted this year. In October alone, 29 dogs were adopted.

The shelter needs volunteers all days of the week. It is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Volunteers must be at least 16 years old to work without a parent present.

For more information or to fill out a volunteer form, visit www.adoptapet-wa.org, or email the volunteer coordinator at thedoghouse5@hotmail.com.



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