Yesterday, I finally volunteered at the Veterinary Clinic here on Ft. Drum. The clinic houses abandoned dogs and cats in their very small and limited kennel facilities. I applaud them for their efforts ~ there’s always a need since military bases have a higher than average pet abandonment rate due to moves (especially when moving overseas), deployments, etc.
I only had enough time to walk two of the dogs but since I live only a couple miles from the clinic, it’ll be a very convenient place to pop in when I have an hour or two to spare. I picked the biggest dogs to walk and they were both so well behaved and SWEET. One was a pure-bred German Shepherd ~ gorgeous. I can’t imagine someone willingly giving up such a wonderful dog so there must have been some extenuating circumstances. So sad. And lucky for FM, there’s a two dog limit for on-post housing so I can’t be tempted to bring home an extra dog 😉
Since I’ve eaten way too many Girl Scout cookies over the last month, this will be a win-win situation. The dogs need time out of their small kennels and I need to get some extra miles in on my daily walk.
Displaced Beachbums 
Bookbabie: yeah, I know what you mean about pets and being able to travel. I always feel so bad leaving them with strangers while we’re gone.
As far as volunteering, it’s easy to get attached and that’s why both our dogs now are shelter rescues. My husband laughs that we don’t even get to name our dogs ~ they already come with names. But, still I volunteer and can only hope that the 1/2 hour or so a day that the dogs have with me brings them a little bit of joy in their lives. I’m happy to report that the gorgeous German Shepherd that I walked the other day was adopted on Friday! Hopefully he’s found a forever home this time.
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Sounds like a win-win situation for you and the dogs. We are petless right now, although we kitty sit our daughter’s cat and I often go over and let my son’s dogs out. I could never volunteer at a pound, we would have a houseful of pets and I promised the hubby we would take a break so we can travel. Both our cat and dog died when they were fifteen and the last years of their lives they needed lots of attention. Now if we only had more time and $$ maybe we would actually travel more!
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