humane society -lacey chun

To gain some service hours for National Honor Society at Hillcrest, I have been volunteering at the Utah Humane Society. The activities that I take part in are walking dogs, brushing cats, cleaning kennels and litter boxes, etc. This activity is not only fun, but it also is doing good for the homeless animals in Utah.

How does this activity relate to NHS's purpose?
This activity relates to NHS’s purpose because it allows you to participate in service activities while contributing to the community. It builds character because you get to meet new people and gain customer service skills while caring for animals.

What did I learn?
I learned through the Humane Society that many animals are given up or abandoned every single day. I didn’t realize the extent of this until volunteering at their Utah shelter. Most of the time their kennels are filled up completely, which is very unfortunate. Their goal as a no-kill shelter is to have all animals adopted by loving and caring families.

“Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.”
                    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

The above pictures are of some of the animals that I have met while volunteering at the Humane Society of Utah. In the dog pictures, I took them outside to the outside kennels to run around, play fetch, and go to the bathroom. The Humane Society always has a lot of animals, so I spend my time trying to get each dog outside for around 20 minutes. The Kitty City at the Humane Society includes around 20 cat condos, which are rooms with about 5 cats in each. They have toys, blankets, litter boxes, and even flat screen TVs that play bird videos. I think it is really fun to spend some time in each room with the cats and brush them or pet them.

Review of the Humane Society:
My honest review of the Humane Society is that it is a great institution because it has a no-kill policy. All of the animals are treated very kindly by the staff, and volunteering is extremely easy and fun! I plan to continue volunteering at the Humane Society even after my membership in NHS because it is fun to hang out with animals all day, and it really makes me feel good to know that I am helping to get these animals adopted. Overall it has been an amazing experience for far!

I would definitely recommend anyone who needs service hours or even just wants to pet animals to volunteer at the Humane Society. The volunteering process is very easy, you just sign up online then have an orientation day. At first I thought it would be a hassle to sign up, but the staff there is very welcoming and volunteering is basically whatever you want to do. Most days, I either walk the dogs or pet the cats. SIgn up at their website https://www.utahhumane.org/, it is a blast!


​