The Animal Rescue League: Volunteers Needed!
Are you an animal lover who has some free time or extra space to care for a furry friend? There are numerous volunteer opportunities at the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania. These include Dog Walking, Cat Cuddling, Fostering, Off-site Adoptions, Fundraising & Special Events, Adoption Follow-ups, Speaker’s Bureau and Volunteer Newsletter. A new volunteer role involves training dogs to be well-behaved while caged by distributing treats to dogs who greet you nicely!
The Animal Rescue League was founded in July 1909 and has been going strong ever since. Its missions are:
to educate the public in the proper relationship with animals;
to provide temporary shelter, food, and medical attention to neglected and injured animals;
to restore lost animals to their owners or to seek new homes for them
to secure merciful solutions for imperiled pets.
The Animal Rescue League is striving to become an "Open-Door, No-Kill for Adoptable Animals" facility by 2005, and the shelter occasionally becomes overcrowded with adoptable animals. Foster homes are crucial for keeping these animals socialized, housebroken, and adoptable. Consider fostering an animal at times of overcrowding if you cannot make a long term commitment to an animal. Luckily, overcrowding is not generally a problem during the winter months, so animals needing foster homes will be the sick, injured, or "long-timers" at the shelter. All the same, if you're thinking of fostering a pet in the future, it's a good idea to sign up for an orientation. Fosters are currently needed for cats!
Mary Greaves, the Volunteer Coordinator for the Animal Rescue League, can be reached at 412-661-6452 ext. 231, or at mgreaves@animalrescue.org. Anyone interested in volunteering is asked to attend an orientation. Orientations consist of a general introduction to the facility, safety and handling training, and hands-on training with an experienced volunteer. To sign up for a session, head over to 6620 Hamilton Avenue and sign up in the main lobby.
Elizabeth Shaw, animal-loving librarian and DLIS Adjunct Professor, has also been very active in recruiting and coordinating volunteers. She has even set up a Yahoo! page and listserv for volunteers to communicate easily (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gone2thedogs/). Contact Liz at ejs24@azizatech.com . Also be sure to visit the Animal Rescue League's Web site at http://www.animalrescue.org. Volunteering is a wonderful way to make life a lot more fun for these animals and to get away from the books for an hour or two. It's well worth your time!