Thursday, April 8, 2010

The Experience of a Lifetime

As someone who genuinely enjoys giving time to service, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Kanab, Utah in January through the MOVE program at SMC. Myself, along with 6 other students and a staff member traveled to Utah to volunteer at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the largest no-kill animal shelter in the country. It truly was an amazing, eye-opening experience that I will never forget.

Not only did I get to see the Vegas strip all lit up at night :) (we flew into and out of Vegas), but I also got to meet some really amazing people, and help out those who really needed it.

The whole group with our group coordinators and Petey the Dog :)

One of my favorite things that we were able to do while in Utah was "doggie sleepovers." Each night we were able to bring a dog home with us, to give them some time away from the sanctuary. The first dog we brought home was Snowman, a pitbull mix, who was rescued during Hurricane Katrina. When they first found him he was walking around with a stuffed snowman in his mouth ... hence the name snowman. (So cute :-) I know!!!)


Next came Shotgun, a chocolate lab rescued from a garage sale in Texas. He was so cute and goofy and just wanted attention all the time.


Then there was Kilo, a young, hyper black lab who was rescued from a shelter that was known for euthanizing animals after a certain period of time.


Then last but not least came Trevor, another black lab that was actually staying in a foster home. However, his foster mom was out of the country at the time, and he was so depressed being at the shelter that he refused to eat. So we took him home for the night and gave him all the love and attention that he needed.



Not only did we get to work with dogs, but also with cats (walking and socializing with them), rabbits (feeding and cleaning pens), pigs (feeding and walking ... yes walking pigs ... with popcorn, it was sooo cute ... surprisingly), and horses and donkeys (cleaning pastures). Oh, and how can I forget puppy classes :-)

Another experience that really touched me was meeting one of Michael Vick's fighting dogs, Little Red. They actually think that she was used as bait to train the fighting dogs, because her teeth were all filed down. It was just so sad to think what she had been through, I mean she was so cute and little and sweet, but completely scared off us. She would barely come out to see us the first time we met her. But as we continued to stop by and visit her, she started to become more comfortable and by the end of the week she was running up to us, jumping up on the fencing to be pet. It was so cute!!!


We also had the opportunity to go to Zion National Park, which was such an amazing, beautiful place. The craziest part was seeing wild big-horned sheep ... they were so close, like close enough to touch if we wanted to!

Since I'm on the topic of service I guess I'll also talk about the other programs on campus that I participate in ... I've volunteered with Cause for Paws a lot, working with rescued greyhounds (they are so cute)! I've also done work at King Street Youth Center through the Anthropology department, working with Somali Bantu refugee children. I also did a lot of service while still in high school, going on environmental break away trips to Tennessee and Maine, as well as West Virginia with Habitat for Humanity.

I'm not quite sure why, but I really do have a passion for helping others. I just can't stand to see someone, anyone in pain. Especially while in Utah, all those animals wanted was love, and yet they had been denied that all their life. It's just so sad to think about ... but when you did give them the attention and love that they wanted, you could really tell that they appreciated it. I really felt like I was making a difference and that was just an amazing feeling.

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