I heart volunteering

Dear MHRHS,
Over the past several weeks I have received several expressions of thanks from the organization in many forms – emails, personalized thank you notes, thank you notes to all at PSG, and the newsletter I just received in the mail. It appears, in no uncertain terms, that you are quite appreciative of our service. However, I’d like to take the time to thank YOU for all that you’ve given me.

My service at the Humane Society is something of a personal 180. I grew up terrified of most animals – particularly dogs, but cats in their curious ways always made me a bit uncomfortable. We didn’t grow up with pets in my house – an alleged “allergy” of my father’s - that seems to have disappeared now that they have a cat themselves. I got my cat during a difficult transition of my personal life. Not having been a “pet person” I was unfamiliar with shelters and the plight of shelter animals. That being said, I got my Dinah on craigslist. I don’t regret it though. She’s changed my life. I brought her home in late August 2007, and I guess you could say my “heart grew 2 sizes that day.” It wasn’t long before ASPCA commercials made me cry, and I was trying to catch the kittens living under my porch to bring to the shelter. After I completed graduate school, nights and weekends that used to be filled with crazy hours of reading and writing papers, now consisted of, well, nothing. I’d thought about getting another cat – trying to convince myself Dinah needed a friend – introducing her to other cats has never gone well, even those I didn’t purposely introduce her to, those wandering by outside, resulted in quite the display of frustration and anger on her part.

It was this past summer that I decided to volunteer. I’m not sure what prompted the decision really. One day I googled the Mohawk Hudson River Humane Society, clicked on the volunteer link, and the rest is history. I know it’s only been since July that I’ve been helping out – but what a difference a volunteer position makes! Stressful days melt away, as an innocent, lovey cat head butts my hand for a petting. Granted, my Dinah does wonders for stress level too, but there’s just something so great about how appreciative the PSG cats are. And something truly wonderful, when I let a cat out of his or her kennel and say “you’re going home today!”

There can never be enough “happy tails” on the MHRHS website, and it’s that thought that drives me. I enjoy chatting it up with people that have adopted cats from us while they are back at PSG getting cat food etc. Each sweet animal deserves a great home, and it fulfills a part of me, I didn’t know needed fulfilling, to be a part of that process.

So with that, I thank the MHRHS for giving me the opportunity to help out, and, perhaps without knowing, giving me the personal satisfaction that one can only get from giving selflessly to those in need.

Thank you, and happy holidays to the management and board of the Mohawk Hudson River Human Society!