Beth Wickward
Beth Wickward grooms a cat at the Kootenai Pets for Life shelter in Troy.
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Youngsters making a difference for homeless pets
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
March 11, 2008
Sometimes, just being there is enough to make all the difference in the world.
Weekly visits by students from the Seventh Day Adventist School in Libby are going a long way toward brightening the lives of down on their luck animals at the Kootenai Pets for Life shelter in Troy, said shelter director Judy Hyslop.
“It’s the best thing in the world for the animals, and it’s pretty good for the kids, too” Hyslop said.
The socialization provided by the youngsters makes the animals more adoptable and guarantees that they’re safe around kids, Hyslop said.
“This way I can tell everybody that there’s not an animal in here that kids cannot deal with,” she said.
In addition to walking dogs and grooming cats, the kids help out in many other ways around the shelter, like cleaning kennels and litterboxes, and providing fresh food, water and bedding for the animals.
The time the young volunteers have been spending at the shelter may be helping the animals find permanent homes. In the first two months of 2008, 24 cats and 11 dogs were adopted. As of the end of February, there were 24 cats and seven dogs at the shelter, along with another three dogs in foster care. Those are the lowest numbers in some time, Hyslop said.
Student volunteer Elliott Wickward said he enjoys walking the dogs and getting them ready for adoption, “because you get to teach them.”
Seeing animals find new homes has been a bittersweet experience for Beth Wickward and Hannah Chumley.
“It makes me feel happy that they get adopted, but it makes me feel sad that I don’t get to spend time with them,” Beth said.
“It makes me happy that they got a new home,” Hannah added.
The kids started coming to the shelter last year when the school was looking for an outreach or service program, said volunteer mom Leslie Chavez.
“It was something I’d been doing with my kids, and it was something where the kids found interest,” she said.
Other potential projects were discussed this year, but the kids wanted to continue their work at the animal shelter, Chavez said. In helping animals without homes, they’re also learning a life lesson about the importance of lending a hand to others in less fortunate situations, she said.
“I think that is what we were put on this earth to do,” Chavez said.
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Editor’s Note: See the March 10, 2008 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Monday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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