how do we convince a small city to open a shelter to volunteers

[ken lambert]

here in Forks Wa. the city owns a small animal sheter/pound but they wont open it to volunteers to run.several times they started but somthing always comes up to put it off. How do we convince the city council of the importance of this need to both the pets and the comunity? any ideas?

[Dee]

I think the starting point would be to get your facts togethor and go to a city council meeting and make your point on how volunteers are needed. Volunteers help not only to bring down the cost of having to pay people to keep the shelter going, but they also help to socialize the animals that are in the shelter. Its also therapeutic for the animals to be able to get that extra dose of love the volunteers give them. Keep putting the information out there, if you keep it fresh in their minds they will have to put more thought into it..

[Diane Wilkerson]

Dee, thanks for the input and this great information and I could not have said it better myself. Volunteers are so instrumental in helping shelter animals become more adoptable!

[Dee]

My pleasure Diane.. I volunteered at a couple of shelters when I was younger, and the impact volunteers have on these animals who would otherwise not get much attention is awesome.. Some shelters dont want to bother with volunteers because they feel they just get in the way..They should be happy that people want to step up and do the right thing instead of leaving these animals to sit in a cage with no love and attention at all... A few minutes of play time means so much to them.. I had a bad car accident back in 2006 so I can no longer volunteer in the shelters like I used to, but I do run a reptile rescue from my home, and continue to make donations to the local humane society and of course donate to the ASPCA... Keep fighting and putting the voice of the animals out there, they cant speak for themselves!!