Since I'm so bored with my life and have nothing to do(lol), I went to volunteer orientation at Animal Control. Mostly I went so that I can help them when I have the time. Orientation was really interesting although it was about 2 hours long. There were a couple of families with young kids there. I think that's a great way to teach kids about volunteering and responsible pet ownership. It seemed like a pretty big crowd but I'm not sure how many they usually have. Miss Woo was there as well so it was nice to see a familiar face. We got to tour the whole place which was pretty cool. Even got to see the stray alligator that's cooling its heels in the intake area. Man, I hate when my alligator gets loose and runs the neighborhood and I can't find him☺ I hadn't seen their new cat room. It is awesome! It's just a big room where the cats can all hang out together and play or nap. There are big beds, a play castle, etc in there. Way cool and the cats all seemed to enjoy it. There were 3 little dogs in isolation including a Min Pin that couldn't seem to pass her temperment test. She really thought she was going to kill the whole group of us when we entered the room. The saddest part was the intake room. I've been in there before but this time it only had one occupant. A 12 year old Lab mix whose family was moving and didn't take her. She was shaking and so scared. She just broke my heart. I really think it would have been kinder for her family to take her and have her euthanized if they weren't going to take her with them. I'm not sure she'll ever even make it to the adoption floor given her age and she didn't look too healthy. Now she is alone in an empty room wondering when her family is coming back. That is just plain cruel on their part. But back to the orientation. They have so many volunteer opportunities. You can walk the dogs, play with the cats, give baths, foster, help with a form of temperment testing, go to offsite adoption events, help with office work, and so on. Their orientations are held once a month at Animal Control. They would like you to make a 6 month committment for a total of 24 hours during that 6 months. You can show up any time you have a little spare time to kill. You don't have to call ahead or sign up on a schedule or anything so it's very flexible. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to be doing but I'm sure I will enjoy it. If you get the chance next month, you should attend the training even if you don't plan on volunteering right away.