Come join us on Sudsy Sunday!
Sunday, October 6 from 11am-2pm bring your dirty dog to the awesome Pet Valu store at Grant & the Blvd. For a $10 or more cash donation to Philadoptables you are entitled to a free self dog wash. Help Philadoptables help Philly’s homeless dogs and cats by supporting this doggie wash!
On March 15, 2007, my beloved dog Zoey was hit by a car and killed. It was the darkest day of my life. The emptiness and sadness consumed me. The following week, I attended an adoption event, where I met some great volunteers. I decided that the best way to help me cope with my grief and honor her memory was adopt another dog and to start volunteering. I attended the next orientation and my life as a volunteer began.
By the summer of 2007, I knew that I needed to do more. Anna Norman, another volunteer, also fostered animals. She inspired me to do the same. I brought in my first foster dog that July, a terrified Border Collie mix that was seized, along with fourteen other dugs, during a drug bust. She was so shut down and I knew that if she was going to make it, she needed foster care. My resident dog Mr. Moe is stable and balanced, so I knew he’d be able to help me help her. By the end of the summer, I had fostered and adopted out two dogs, the terrified Border Collie mix and a gorgeous Pitbull/Sharpei mix.
Since that summer, I have fostered over fifty dogs, and now, I can add kitties to my foster list. To date, I have fostered two adult cats, and currently have two foster kittens. They were bottle feeders when I took them into foster care. They are now 8 weeks old, off the bottle, and close to being ready to be adopted.
I should also note that did adopt one of my foster dogs and one kitty that I have in foster care, so my furry family has grown!
When I started volunteering and fostering, I thought it was all about helping to connect shelter animals with their forever families and homes. I had no idea how much I would get it in return; the impact it would have on me, and how much it would change my own life. They’ve filled my heart and my world with unconditional love, with gratitude, with joy and laughter. They’ve taught me about myself, they’ve helped me practice patience, they’ve helped me be more centered and balanced, and they’ve taught me how important it is to forgive and let go. These animals, who many times have come from less than desirable situations, are slowly able let go of their pasts and move forward, when surrounded by a loving, caring human. They can trust again and they can love. What a lesson for us as humans!
Making the decision to volunteer and foster was the best decision I have ever made. It has truly been the most fulfilling, most rewarding thing I have ever done with my life. I am so grateful to every animal that has come into my life and am even more grateful for the lessons that I’ve learned from each. So if you want to do something life changing, volunteer.
Being a volunteer at a high kill shelter and a foster mom has brought a meaning to my life. I have been a volunteer now for 2 1/2 years and its something I wish I started a lot sooner. It’s very fulfilling to know that I am able to help a dog in need that has a high chance of not seeing tomorrow. Whether it is taking a dog out for a walk and a romp around the play yard, or helping to promote a dog by taking its’ picture, writing up a short bio and making a craigslist ad for it or whether its making sure there is enough clean blankets and sheets to give to a dog to help keep comfortable while in their kennel really soothes the heart. I felt after a while that I wasn’t doing enough so I ventured into fostering where I have so far successfully placed 10 dogs into their forever homes. It is very rewarding when I bring a sick or scared dog home and watch them blossom to the dog they are supposed to be. Finding the right home for a dog can take some time but when that family is found the feeling is bittersweet. Do I get attached to the ones I have taken home? Yes. Did my home, family, and other pets have to get used to having shelter dogs coming and going after a few months? Yes. Do I get busy at times and cannot give as much attention to my foster as I would like? Of course. Life happens but to know that I saved a life that probably would not have made it out alive is a feeling that you would not know unless you do it. It is hard work being a volunteer/foster mom but hard work does pay off and I have become a life saver for many dogs. An animal is alive because of me! It just doesn’t get any better than that.
On a really good day, I am encrusted in muddy paw prints; I have murky brown dribbles of an indeterminate origin on my shoes, a pulled muscle in my right arm, and the widest grin you’ve ever seen across my face–all at the same time. No, I am not (technically) in a mental institution. I am volunteering at the Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia shelter (ACCT) at W. Hunting Park and Front Streets! It’s true that I live about 40 minutes away (on a good day), but I keep coming back here because of the giddy joy I get out of helping these animals, the variety of (human) friendships I have made, and the wonderful chances volunteering has given me to develop skills and talents that don’t normally see the light of day.
I started volunteering in animal rescue when I was just out of college and working in retail. I wanted to use more of my skills than I was currently using at my job. After making my way through the worlds of no-kill rescue groups and Facebook crossposting, I found my way to ACCT. Before I officially was a volunteer, I was a “regular” on the volunteer-run Philly Urgents Page on Facebook, sharing and reposting animals available for adoption and contributing to fundraisers. I also greatly admired the work of the pen pals, who are paired up with a special dog one-on-one or two-on-one and spend time with that dog, devoting more time to getting him or her adopted. I saw a posting on Facebook asking for transporters, so I thought it seemed simple enough to do. One snowy, slushy day in October, I had the wonderful experience of escorting the biggest puppy I had ever seen and an injured Chihuahua to the Delaware County SPCA near my house. Everyone at ACCT was so kind and grateful for my help that I knew it was a special place. That following March, I signed up for volunteer orientation on a whim. It was definitely one of the best impulse decisions I have ever made!
Almost immediately, I was welcomed into the ACCT family. I was paired with a mentor and welcomed into the closed Facebook pages for ACCT volunteers, where we can all talk about the animals and help each other. There is so much support here, it is incredible. A few months later I felt ready to officially join the Pen Pals program. I have met some incredible friends here and learned so many things about dogs and people. I have gone on pen pal hikes, gone to events (and become an event leader), graduated from the mentor program so to speak and just recently became a mentor myself, drive many miles to transport animals to the safety of rescue groups, and celebrated my one year anniversaries as a volunteer and as a pen pal volunteer. I help out in adoptions handling dog meets and processing adoption applications. The joy I get pairing a pet with a new “parent” is absolutely indescribable. I think I’m known around the shelter as the girl who runs squealing and jumping around so much! I also love the variety of people I have met here who have become friends, people I think I never would have met if I did not decide to make that impulsive decision to drive 40 minutes and go to that volunteer orientation in March.
If at first you don’t succeed…oh wait- we DID succeed and we are gonna do it again! Last year Philadoptables, with your help, constructed a giant doggie play yard at ACCT Philly. Our next project, starting in approx two weeks is twice as nice! TWO more new doggie play yards where dogs can run, jump, and play. Once that is done we will be moving to the other side of the building to replace the three damaged smaller dog runs with brand new safe fencing. All of this does not come cheap. We worked hard to win a grant from the cool people at Animal Farm Foundation but we are still $6,000 short of our construction goal.
We are currently looking for friends who would be willing to sponsor a run, which will help us to offset the costs of some of the fencing, fence inserts, benches and other necessities. Your generous donation will earn you a beautiful plaque with your name on a run of your choice, a special acknowledgment on our social media pages and a beautiful framed picture of a Philly shelter dog enjoying the new run.
Donations can be made by clicking the blue DONATE button on the Philadoptables’ Facebook page.
For more details, please contact [email protected]
