We all have a favorite furry friend back home that we miss on the daily. We miss their outlandish squall of wagging and yelping, welcoming us home from our school day. We miss forgetting to let them out to potty and the look on their face when you return home and they just can’t hold it anymore. We miss that head tilt when they want just oneee moreee treattt. Sometimes we lay in bed scrolling through our photos to find far too many pictures of our pets.
The Athens-Clarke county animal shelter offers a type of service like no other. The shelter is open Thursday- Tesday, 10a.m.- 4 p.m., and closed on Wednesday. At the animal shelter, you can have a furry friend for a day, an hour or even just a few minutes. You go to the shelter, sign in, and listen to a quick orientation about handling the dogs, how to take them out of their kennels and most importantly where the treats and toys are.
You can kiss, pet, play with and even bathe the cuties if you feel like it! And you know what else? It counts as community service! It’s giving back to our temporary community while we are away at school. Why not give back in a way that’s FREAKIN' AWESOME, like playing with dogs!? The shelter keeps track of when you sign in and out, this makes it easier to count your hours when you need to. This is a fun and easy way to give back to your community. Just going for an hour fills your soul with puppy love, so you can hold over until you’re home, or back at the shelter!
When you go you will see that usually the dogs are not in tip-top shape. They look lonely, tired and like they could use some good ole lovin’ on. Sort of like us college kids. As you walk towards their kennels to take them out to play you can see their faces light up. You see them look at you with their puppiest of puppy eyes. You can see their tails wagging so hard it looks like they just might shake their whole back end off. You attach the leash to them. Then, some may jump, some may sniff and others may even slobber attack you right off the bat.
Their joy radiates.
You find it flattering that someone or something finds so much pleasure in someone they just met. Their level of excitement rubs off on you. You eventually know them by name and spend hours talking to them about how their life is. The process is stress relieving; the dogs don’t care how you look, how much you watch Netflix instead of studying or that you failed your accounting test last week. They are just glad to see you.
Visiting the animal shelter is therapeutic to the soul. It gives you a nice break from the human world, and you leave with a smile on your face that lasts the whole day.
