The staff may have changed and the building may have been a teeny bit older, but when I walked into the animal shelter tonight it was just as I remembered it over a year ago.
Bright lights, clean floors and crowds of people, all hovering about the convenience desk awaiting assistance. Some wore a frown and meandered about in a square of four feet, a perpetual state of confusion imprinted upon their faces. Many more had smiles that rose high into their cheekbones, an air of radiance cascading off their very form.
No, not much had changed as I wandered through the glass doorfront with HanaChana. Not too much, anyways.
There we were, the two of us, preparing to dive headfirst into the animal services volunteer brigade! And while Hana took a moment to soak in the constantly shifting atmosphere I let myself fall into the many memories I had left there.
I'd always wanted to volunteer at the animal shelter. And yet I never had the chance... Although I had literally worked right around the block at one point the hours the animal shelter had set for volunteers were never ones that worked on a full time work schedule. I was crestfallen when I had first found this out, but the news never stopped me from visiting almost once a week during my lunch break.
And as I stood there I puffed out my chest just a bit and turned to my "twin" and said "Come on, let's go take a tour."
Having been built as the new county animal shelter only a few years before, the rows of hallways and spacious visiting rooms were a welcomed sight. It was at this shelter that any adoptable dog over a certain age was led by volunteers outside and into play areas. Free to roam and frolic, they would certainly be more personable once someone stopped by for a visit. And a possible adoption.
I led us over to the cat play area first. A clean, happy little glass encased room that allowed light from the afternoon sun to pour in and over the felines. I adored this space because the cats that were docile were allowed to play freely together. Hopping atop scratching posts or crawling through plastic foldable tubes, there wasn't a single place a cat couldn't romp in the enclosure.
"We'll be in there alot, watching the cats..." I remember saying, though my eyes were fixated on the bundles of fur parading about the interior of the playroom.
And then it was over to the cages of cats, taking time to baby talk at them or compliment their fine fur. Some barely moved a muscle at our presence, preferring to finish the nap we'd disturbed them from. Others hopped right up the moment we were in sight, crying out and reaching at us through the bars.
Before long we'd moved over to the dog hallways and looked over the humongous and tiny canines there. Each one batted their pretty eyes up at us or barked with every step we took toward and away from them. I tried my very best not to linger at the puppy enclosures, lest I get any ideas.
"Just so you know, closing time's at five folks..." A voice mildly commented our way
Not too far from us was an officer peeking into one of the enclosures, her gaze gently swaying over the two dogs present there.
"Oh, no worries. We're going to be trying out for the volunteer program. At 5:30." I announced.
"Oh. Okay." She replied, and with no more to comment she slipped off and into another room, leaving Hana and I to our makeshift tour. It would only be a couple hours after that we would meet this woman again and be led through the same corridors during orientation. Our first step towards volunteering!
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