Accomplish With Kylie: Animal Humane Society
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Every year, 24,000 animals go through the Animal Humane Society at five locations across Minnesota.
Usually an animal only spends 10 days in the shelter before being adopted, but there's no time limit to how long an animal can stay. They couldn't help all those animals find great homes if it weren't for their 2,100 volunteers working with 300 staff members.
Also: The Animal Humane Society is hosting their annual "Walk for Animals' on May 2 at Theodore Wirth Park.
WCCO will be there to help them try to raise $1 million. For more information head here.
Kylie's Insight:
I have to be honest. I have avoided volunteering at any animal shelter for years.
I'm a huge animal lover and big believer in rescuing dogs (we had three back home until recently.) I've always had a soft spot for animals and so I stayed away from shelters for fear I would bring every one back home with me. Spending the afternoon with the Animal Humane Society really helped me realize how important it is to set aside your fears and emotions and just help in whatever way you can.
When we first walked in I spotted Koda instantly. She was a beautiful German Shepard mix and super shy in her caged area. I took her outside to the open play yard and within about 3 minutes she was a completely different dog. After a full sniff around she was running around then back again for a good scratch. I always knew how important it was for animals to get that social interaction and get out of their cage, but I had no idea it could happen in such a short period of time. Her entire body language changed. It was like those few minutes gave her a total refresh.
I brought Jason along with me and while I went for the biggest dog I could find, he grabbed the smallest. Watching him pick up Ruby, a little Chihuahua mix nearly broke my heart. She was so, so scared and shaking. I was almost worried we were making her fears worse. But he got her outside and soon enough they were rolling on the ground together like they'd known each other their whole lives (there are also some ridiculously cute pictures from that love affair in the grass.)
Next, we hit up the cat rooms for some socializing. While we were all about it, the first room of cats couldn't care less we were there. (It probably didn't help that I tried to pet all the cats like they're a dog -- I'm more of a dog person.) But we found kitty love in the next room - especially Jason! He made an unbeatable connection with a massive cat appropriately named Goliath. I continued to try and win their love with overly aggressive scratching and treats … I'll probably just stick to dogs.
After learning that the animals at the Animal Humane Society were adopted out so quickly (on average only 10 days – if that!) I found that I was able to let my time with them be just that, and not worry about leaving them behind. Besides, as we were leaving the shelter was opening to the public and there were a TON of people already filtering in to look at the dogs. I have no doubt that many of the animals I saw that day are already happy and in love with their forever homes.
