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The best things about volunteering happen in the quiet moments when you do something for someone and realize without being thanked or recognized that what you did made life a little sweeter, easier, and safer for another. Sometimes volunteers save lives; sometimes they enrich lives. But honestly, whatever you give is nothing compared to the satisfaction and sense of purpose you receive in return.
April is National Volunteer Month, so I want to take this moment to thank everyone who gives their time, talents, and energy to a cause they feel passionate about. For me, that cause is animals, especially in recent years, cats and kittens.
Passion might be the most important thing that volunteers bring to their work, although compassion is crucial, too. In fact, passion and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Passion is about your feelings and commitment, while compassion is about your sensitivity to the feelings of others. And at the core of compassion is empathy.
In fact, number one on my list of volunteer must-haves is empathy. It’s essential. As Kate Haslbauer, a wonderful fellow Animal League America volunteer, wrote in a recent IG post: “Those emotions described as anger? Grumpiness? Hostility? Those are negative words assigning human attributes to a cat’s reaction to losing everything they’ve ever known. Replace those words with fear, despair, grief, and you have empathy. Show that cat they’re safe and you understand, starting with slow blinks, then adding treats, comfort, play, and you begin to chip away at what once seemed ‘hard,’ replacing it with the softening only trust can bring.”
Besides recognizing the animal’s needs, successful volunteers need time, energy, patience, a strong sense of responsibility, and the desire to nurture. Volunteering for pets is hard work, physically and emotionally. So, you must be willing to get dirty…clean litter boxes, mop up messes, get covered with hair…and also have your heart broken. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you have to say goodbye to a cat or kitten who is too sick or old to be saved. I’ll never forget some of the beautiful little souls who came to me for help, and the most I could do was give them a peaceful ending to their lives. And I believe that’s a precious gift to give.
So yes, volunteering for animals sometimes breaks your heart, but far more often, it heals and enriches your heart and spirit. When you care a lot, it’s easy to fall in love with each one you help, and that’s okay. But at the same time, you must be strong enough to be aware that you’re assisting in their journey to their forever homes. You are a single step in that journey, so you must be able to let go. This part is always challenging for me, so once I hand over an animal to a forever family, I immediately welcome someone else who needs me. That way, I can re-focus and keep on going.
I’m so happy to work with many dedicated and compassionate volunteers at the Animal League of America. For example, not long ago, I heard about Kira, a 9-month-old English Bulldog mix (you know how I love English Bulldogs!) who was surrendered to Animal League America with several serious medical problems, all of which were the result of her not having been spayed. She was in heat with a prolapse of her rectum and a painful nodular growth near her rear end that was tender and ulcerated. Then, during her spay procedure, our doctors discovered that she was developing pyometra, a uterine infection that is life-threatening if not treated. Kira was lucky enough to live with Marilyn McKaie, one of our longtime canine volunteer foster families. With time, attention, and love, Kira’s medical condition improved so much that she was adopted by her forever family not long ago, which means Marilyn can now make room for another dog in need.
Kira was lucky to get the medical care and foster home she desperately needed, just in the nick of time!
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