By MARISA LORANGER, Staff Reporter.
Saginaw County Animal Shelter has just welcomed its new director LeeAnn Ridley. Ridley is trying to change how the shelter accepts and trains its volunteers.
For now, the shelter does not accept minors as volunteers because they are considered liabilities. Ridley is trying to persuade the board to allow minors to volunteer, especially for high school students who need community service hours to graduate.
The shelter was holding 28 cats and 37 dogs at the end of February. It is a low amount of animals for the shelter but they only have 15 volunteers.
Kaleen Strobel, a volunteer at the shelter, really enjoys helping the animals out. “I just love the animals,” explained Strobel.
To volunteer, you can do an application online or in person. The online application’s are at saginawcounty.com or, in person, the applications are avaiable at 1312 Gratiot Avenue.
The application has a breakdown of jobs and descriptions. There are plenty of jobs such as: dog walkers, cuddlers, socializing with the animals, food runs, cleaning cages, transporters, helping with adoption events and giving dogs baths.
“Working with the animals that are scared and socializing with them, then watching them get better is really rewarding. It feels good to make them happier,” explained Strobel.
The shelter plans an orientation once a month and the volunteer prospects come in to watch a video on what to look for in the animals behavior; then they’ll shadow another volunteer for 10 hours (which can be done in increments). This month there are two orientations planned, March 25 at 2p.m. and March 28 at 11a.m. Any prospects looking to volunteer are welcome to come.
The shelter does not turn dogs away but they can turn cats away after the 30 cat limit. There are laws that govern dogs, like being on a leash and not being allowed to roam around without an owner; whereas cats have no laws pertaining to them.
The shelter is a no-kill shelter, but if animals are terminal or aggressive, they are put down. They have cats with FIV (AIDS) that they are treating.
“We treat a lot more sick animals than euthanizing,” said Ridley.
The shelter is also trying to find jobs for people who can’t work with the animals because of disabilities. The jobs would include washing dishes and filing paper work. Volunteers are needed seven days a week.
“For the people of Saginaw, it’s their shelter, so if they want to volunteer they should come here, it’s their millage, their shelter,” explained Ridley.