Bittersweet...

Tim and I have been talking about resigning from our volunteer roles at Wellington SPCA for several months now. With thesis submission looming just five months away we recently submitted our resignation letters and arrived to work our last shifts this past Monday. For me the shift was surreal and anticlimactic. The staff had a special training session and so I wasn't able to assist with incoming animals as per usual. Instead, I roamed from room to room feeding, watering and cleaning cages. I syringe fed a cat that had suffered some kind of injury and then did something completely new: I hand fed a puppy who was staying in the hospital for observation and treatment. She was some sort of pit bull mix and this sweet pup was shy of human contact and cowered away from me when I opened her crate. Since I'd never hand fed a dog or puppy I wasn't sure what to expect, especially with this particular animal who was wary of people in general. Taking a deep breath I scooped a small handful of the wet/dry puppy food mixture and slowly brought it closer and closer to the pup. She was sitting in her puppy bed, as far from the front of the crate as possible, fighting the urge to even look at me. But perhaps she was hungry and couldn't resist the smell of the food. So we began the slow process of her slurping up the food in my proffered hand. Then we'd do another handful. Then another. And another. Until she had eaten almost all of it. I was thinking, "Yes! Success!". It was then I realized that I should take her out for a little walk to get her moving around and allow her to go to the bathroom. I wondered how this would go over since I'd have to handle her by the collar to attach the leash and then get her out of the crate. Thankfully, we were able to do this without incident but she was still very wary of me. As soon as I had the leash secured I stood up and hoped I wouldn't need to carry her outside. To my great relief she hopped from the crate and we took a stroll around outside. I have to say she was such a sweet pup and just needed a careful, slow hand. I'm confident she will flourish under the care of the hospital staff. Sadly, since it was my last shift I won't be able to keep track of her progress.

It's difficult to describe how amazing our SPCA volunteering has been over the past year and a half. Each week we faced new challenges but the work was filled with joy. Working with animals is incredibly therapeutic and I'm so glad we had this distraction through some of the most challenging portions of our study. And so it breaks my heart to take our leave but the time has come to cut down our commitments as we make strides toward the end of our respective programs.

If you want to see and read more about Wellington SPCA follow this link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wellingtonspca . Love!