Cathy and Toni would rather play with dogs than work
Written by Amy Abern, Best Friends Staff
Several people are taking volunteerism to new heights at Pets Alive. Some volunteers have fallen so hard for the Virginia puppy mill dogs, they’re rearranging their lives to take part in theirs. Take, for instance, gal pals Toni O’Brien and Cathy Pahl. They played hooky from their day jobs and lost a day’s wages to spend time with the Pets Alive newest residents.
These two women have been volunteering at Pets Alive just about every weekend since the spring. And apparently, that’s not enough time.
“I work as a vet tech,” said Toni. “I’m around animals all day. What does it say that I’d spend a day off to be here?”
It says that there’s much fun to be had and a lot of unconditional love to be spread around by spending time with these wonderful animals.
Cathy and Toni were on site when the dogs first arrived almost two weeks ago in the middle of the night. As veteran volunteers, there’s nothing they haven’t seen. At least until that night.
“It’s hard to describe,” said Cathy. “The door of the truck opened, and there were all these faces looking at me. It was amazing --- so moving. And really overwhelming.”
Toni
(Pictured left) felt the same sense of awe, but quickly filed the emotions away and went into action moving the animal crates out of the truck.
“It was completely surreal,” she said. “I knew that if I stopped for one second and looked into one face, I’d break down and cry.”
Two weeks later, they still fall victim to the “awe” and “awww” factor, every time they visit the dogs.
“Well, just look at this baby,” said Cathy, holding up puppy mill survivor, Cricket. “What could be better?”
Toni walks Hannah, all wiggles and ecstasy over any human that looks in her general direction. “I’m amazed at how much they like people,” says Toni. “And considering where they’ve come from, they have no reason to like people. It’s really something.”
Thanks to volunteers like Toni and Cathy, the puppy mill dogs now have EVERY reason to like people…
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LEARN MORE ABOUT PUPPY MILLSPuppy Mill Frequently Asked QuestionsCommon statistics and general information about puppy mills.
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Photos by Amy Abern