Brent Y.
Yelp
I've heard of PAWS Atlanta for quite some time, but I never made the effort to actually get involved. It wasn't until last month (August 2018) when my dog died from a tumor (4 yrs old.), that I searched for PAWS. Not only would volunteering help bring love to animals, it would definitely help me cope with the loss of my Rottweiler.
Volunteer Sign-Up: The volunteer process is EASY. Go online to their website and complete the volunteer form. This asks for basic information as well as what you'd be interested in doing as a volunteer. There are different options, but I selected dog care, cat care, and photography. I love dogs and I'm a photographer, but I selected cats as well to use this experience to be around them more and see if I like them or could see myself as a kitty owner.
* Once the form is submitted, you'll receive an email, followed by another email that tells you to sign up for an orientation. In order to be an official PAWS Volunteer, it is required that you take orientation. Orientation is held at PAWS Atlanta every Saturday morning at 10:30am and lasts about two hours. You only have to go to ONE orientation.
Orientation: Once we arrived to PAWS, we were taken to the outside trailer, where the room is set up "office meeting" style. Upon arrival, you must sign a waiver. They email them and ask you to print them, but they'll pass out copies if you don't have yours. We then had an ice breaker, where everyone introduced themselves, how we heard about PAWS, and what ultimately brought us here to volunteer. After that, our host have the history of PAWS, what they do as a organization, and what we'll be doing as volunteers and other safety issues. After the orientation, we were taken on a tour of the campus.
Cats: First on the tour was the cat facility. For obvious reasons, the cat facility is separate from the dogs. Inside, there are different rooms that holds several cats for different needs. For example, one room is called "Weight Watchers" where all the kittens inside are considered over weight, another room holds cats that have been at the facility for over a year, another room holds kittens, etc. There was even a cat segregated in the hallway completely by itself. We were told this cat had FIV, the cat version of HIV and that it doesn't affect humans. After getting the rundown, we were given 15 minutes to play with cats, which my wife and I spent that time in the kitten room. Definitely fell in love with sooooo many kittens! If you're low enough to the ground, they'll jump on your back. I could've stayed in this room ALL DAY. I really didn't want to leave.
Dogs: There are two dog facilities on the PAWS campus, one for the small-medium dogs/pups and one for the large dogs. We first went inside the small-medium dog facility and these pups were adorable. I literally wanted to adopt TWO on the spot. I'll never forget Perry. She was this cute Pitbull Terrier mix that couldn't keep my fingers out of her mouth. Once I fell in love, we were taken outside to see the grounds of where volunteers are allowed to play with the dogs, walk them, etc. Next was the large dog facility. THIS room was way more intimidating. These HUGE dogs looked like they wanted to bust through their cages and eat us. I've never heard so many deep barks in my life. I felt like a visitor in a psychiatric ward looking through the window of each patient, while monitoring their activities on a clipboard. I'm sure these big guys and gals are just as friendly, but I think I'm gonna babystep my way into those big'uns.
Overall, we had a great time at PAWS Atlanta. I'm DEFINITELY coming back at least weekly. After the tour, we could basically do what we wanted, so we went back to the cat facility and played with more kittens. I'm almost 100% sure we'll eventually adopt a pet from here, but in the meantime, this is definitely a great way to practice being pet parents.