Do you love your furry friends? This article tells you how you can help and take care of the furry friends at the Humane Society of Genesee County.

When asked why it is important to volunteer and help the animals at the shelter, freshman, Kolin Doyle said that it keeps animals safe.

“To keep animals healthy and safe,” Doyle exclaimed.

Junior, Haidynn Bartholomew expressed how helping at the shelter not only assists the animals, but gives people a sense of responsibilty.

“I think people should volunteer at animal shelters. One reason is that the animals aren’t human so they can’t take care of themselves as well as humans can take care of them. It also gives you a responsibility over something and it can make you feel good or accomplished,” Bartholomew smiled.

The Humane Society of Genesee County is a no kill shelter that takes care of the dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and other animals the best they can with the little amount of help they have. They are looking for volunteers to help at the shelter. To volunteer you must have experience with animals. This includes recognizing when their behavior is off and how to take care of them.

Volunteers will have training through the shelter, and in order to become a volunteer and you must commit to spending at least five hours a month helping. There is a fee of $25 to volunteer, this money goes towards a t-shirt, administrative fees, and insurance. There are different volunteer positions including working with the animals or people.

One of the volunteer positions is Bark Buddy. This includes walking the dogs, brushing them, and playing with them.

The second position is a Greeter, which includes knowing background information on the shelter (programs, services, events, etc.) and they are stationed in the lobby to greet visitors and potential adopters.

The third position is the Kitty Cuddler, which includes playing with the cats, brushing them, scooping litter boxes, and making catnip filled toys.

The fourth position is Newspaper/Laundry, which includes washing dishes, unfolding newspapers for cages, and folding laundry; this position isn’t used very often, only when needed.

The final position is Party Animal, which includes being outgoing, having good planning skills to organize parties and fundraisers, selling tickets to events, and going to the events. These are all ways to volunteer to help the animals find homes. If volunteering isn’t an option for you, the shelter is always accepting donations.

Donations can either be monetary or items off of their wish list. People can even donate old towels and blankets. Some of the things you can donate are cat and dog toys, nyla bones, kongs, kitten formula (KMR 1st stage), puppy formula (Esbilac 1st  stage), canned and dry food, blankets, kuranda pet beds, non-clumping cat liter, dryer sheets, and laundry soap. They also have an amazon wish list people can purchase off of (click to get to amazon wish list)

When asked why people should donate to the Humane Society Of Genesee county, sophomore, Morgan Cronkright stated how she felt that animals should get a second chance at life.

“To give them a better chance at life and so that the animals can be cared for like people care for their family,” Cronkright expressed.

The Humane society also has some events coming up that you and your peers can attend, like Ties and Tails, which will be held on November 19, 2022 at 6 p.m. The event will be held at the Captains Club at Woodfield. The event consists of an elegant dinner and auction. Another event that will be happening is the annual ink for animals, which will be held on November 5th at 12 p.m to 7 p.m, November 6th at 12 p.m to 8 p.m, and November 7th at 12 p.m to 8 p.m. This event will be at Millennial Ink on Dort Highway. The tattoo artists will be doing tattoos of pre-drawn animals in black ink for only $35. If you or someone you know are interested in these events and want more details, you can go to their website or facebook page, which you can find by searching Humane Society Of Genesee County.

Overall the Humane Society of Genesee County is a fantastic shelter, but they would like to be even better by having more volunteers to help take care of their furry friends! So before you say no, think about all the cute puppy eyes!