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Harrison County Animal Control documentation (1/2)

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Harrison County Animal Control documentation (1/2)

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This is Santa, the new Siamese cat who was adopted my second day there.

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At the Santa’s Workshop event, I was asked to work at the “face paint” station. I put “face paint” in quotations because I was definitely not painting kids’ faces. I was mostly applying temporary tattoos of emojis to their arms and hands, but occasionally I would draw a really bad snowflake or Christmas tree on a kid’s cheek with washable markers. In the end though, the kids didn’t care what it looked like. They were there to have fun, and having anything put on your skin that’s not supposed to be there is fun to them.

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This is Tony, the four year old cat who got adopted by a couple the second day I was there.

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I chose to volunteer at Harrison County Animal Control because I love animals and want to help them in any way possible. I have volunteered at the New Albany Floyd County Animal Shelter in the past and wanted to go back there for this project, but wasn’t able to work it into my schedule, seeing as they are a bit more strict on who volunteers and when. However, I’m really glad I was able to go to Harrison County instead. I got to spend much more time with the animals and I felt like I was helping them more than anything. They told me they wanted me to spend time with the animals and give them some love as they did the real work elsewhere. One of the ladies said that she appreciates volunteers so much because they don’t have to worry as much about the animals getting the attention they need since they’re very busy.
While I was there, I spent most of my time with the cats. I love dogs, but most of the time I was there they were getting a lot of attention from a group of school kids who were visiting. I did, however, take one of the dogs outside to walk around, go to the bathroom, and play with her. The rest of the time, I was in the cat room. I was able to get out each of the cats and pet them and play with them. A couple of the newer cats were pretty scared of the place, the other cats, and all the people, so I made it a point to hold them and calm them down a bit.
On the second day, a lot of people were coming in to look at the cats. I had gotten to know the cats pretty well, so I helped a few people out in getting to know them as well, which allowed them to narrow it down to which cat would be the best for them. I was able to help the oldest cat there, Tony, finally find a home with a couple who had intended to get a younger cat, but eventually fell in love with him instead. Another lady came in looking for a specific Siamese cat she had seen on the shelter’s website. She talked to me for a long time, asking me questions about Siamese cats when I told her I have one of my own, and thanking me for spending time with all of the cats. I offered to take her picture holding the cat she wanted so she could send it to her boyfriend, which ended up being the deciding factor in her adopting the cat.

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Harrison County Animal Control documentation (2/2)

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Harrison County Animal Control documentation (2/2)

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Baby Joy was the only dog I was able to spend time with. She was super sweet, but didn’t want to be outside for very long on a nasty day.

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All in all, I think community service is a great way to give back and everyone should be expected to give back to their community. I think it should be required in school because a lot of us students wouldn’t do it if we didn’t have to. Most of us are pretty busy, so it’s easy for us to say that we just don’t have the time for things like this. But if it’s required, we will make the time, and that’s where we really gain from it. Although a part of me wished that I had been able to sleep in the morning I went to Georgetown Elementary, especially considering I had been so busy the previous week and that weekend that I was hardly getting any sleep, I realized that some things are bigger and more important than me. In working with the kids, I really felt like I was a part of my community for the first time and that the people around me were truly benefiting from me being there, even if just a little bit. And at the animal shelter, I know I did a lot of good. It really makes me feel amazing to know that a couple of cats’ lives were changed for the better because I helped someone give them a forever home.
The only issue I had with the assignment itself was getting the pictures required. Especially at the Santa’s Workshop event, everyone was so busy the whole time, including myself, that I wasn’t able to ask anyone to take pictures of me or take any myself. Also, a lot of parents don’t want their kids to be in pictures that will be shown to people they don’t know. As for the animal shelter, I definitely took a lot of pictures, but most were of just the animals, with the exception of a few selfies. The staff was always busy, so I had to prop up my phone and turn on the timer to get full pictures of me interacting with the animals, which was a hassle.
Other than that, though, I thought the project was well done and I’m really glad I had to do it. It goes without saying that I wish I had I been more organized and prepared. But in the end, I learned a lot from this project, and I gained a lot too. I will definitely make time to do things like this more often, and will likely be back at the Harrison County Animal Control very soon.

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When I first went into the cat room, I sat my keys down on the bench and when I turned back around, Shelby was laying on them.

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Rainbow here was scared of the other cats. I was able to lured her out of her hiding place and calm her down a little bit.