International Day of Charity: Giving back to BFAS

The International Day of Charity is held every year on September 5 as a day to honor the life of Mother Teresa, who died on that same day in 1997. The day was established in 2012 by the United Nations to commemorate the tireless charitable work she led against the suffering from poverty and hunger.

I’d like to briefly tell you about a experience I had with an organization that I volunteer for regularly as my way of giving back. The organization is called Best Friends Animal Society and they have an amazing animal sanctuary located in Kanab, Utah, which is about a 4 hour drive from Las Vegas, NV. Here is my story:

Timidly stepping inside a small room, watching the floor carefully since there are about five or six kittens curiously greeting us, the woman who didn’t give me her name, explains that Amy, the woman I was supposed to meet, is quite busy at the moment as she is overseeing several cat houses at the same time. I immediately feel tiny paws climbing up my left shin, but don’t react to it since the kitten’s claws are not piercing my skin underneath my black yoga pants. Rather I maintain eye contact with the woman who is telling me that many of these kittens will be leaving for Los Angeles in the next couple of days. She says she hopes they will soon be adopted when they get to LA, as I look around the tiny room.

There are approximately 10 kittens in various areas in cat beds, feeding in one of a few metal dishes filled with either wet or dry food, drinking from bowls of water, or snoozing in some cat condos, a shelf that spans half the wall, crates and fabric cat boxes. I can’t help but notice there are several cat toys strewn about the floor including balls and feathered toys. When she reaches for the white calico kitten who has made it up to my thigh and is playfully batting at the small hand sanitizer that is hanging from my fanny pack, she tells the kitten, “You will get adopted real quick, won’t you!” I can’t help but laugh, amused at how bold and playful this kitten is compared to all the others at my feet who are still investigating my presence and sniffing at my black boots. The woman points out her favorite kitten that is perched on a wood beam above our heads near the ceiling as we take a couple steps to the door that leads to the outdoor caged area, called a catio (a patio designed just for cats), which is double the size of the interior room.

She proceeds to tell me my task for the shift is to socialize with the kittens because they will have to grow accustomed to being touched, pet, picked up to hopefully be adopted. I excitedly thank her, feeling like I won the lottery for my very first volunteer shift at Best Friends Animal Society, because I thought I would be cleaning litter boxes and cat throw up as I had read about, not playing with them!

The climbing calico who enthusiastically greeted me upon entry, followed us outside and once again demanded my attention trying to climb up my leg. I notice an Adirondack chair at the far end against the back fencing and make my way to sit down and the calico jumped into my lap, climbed up my chest onto my shoulders and wrapped himself behind my neck. I couldn’t help but smile as I heard his content purring in my left ear. I immediately told him, “You really are going to get adopted quickly with how friendly you are!” It’s not long before I find myself with 2 other cats in my lap. The socializing has officially begun.

Almost 2 hours later, Amy found me. During that time, I tried spending at least a little time with each kitten, aside from leaving the ones that were clearly cat napping alone, including one in a condo box making the cutest quiet snoring sounds. She thanked me for volunteering and stressed the importance of socializing the kittens, especially those that are more shy. Cats are already at a disadvantage with being adopted because they are not as popular as dogs and tend to have much higher numbers than dogs as well. Cats who are shy or act scared around people have a lesser chance of being adopted than those that are friendly.

Amy then referenced two black and white cats that especially could use coaxing with socializing, saying one has a black spot on its face. I responded, “Oh, do you mean this one?” pointing to the cat sitting on the left arm of the chair, which I had been petting for at least 15 minutes already. “Yes, that one! Great that you are already socializing that one, but there is another with similar coloring that also is very shy. Usually I have to really look around to find those two.” I immediately recalled a similar colored cat inside that walked away from me when I tried to engage it, remembering I thought that its left eye appeared infected, since it was pink, slightly oozing and noticeably swollen all around. I made note to try to find it again later. Amy told me to please feel free to go to the other room as the kittens there could also use socializing time and I spent the rest of my shift doing exactly that.

I hope my quick story gives you some insight on the very first volunteer shift experience I had at Best Friends Animal Society at their Sanctuary in Utah. I have since volunteered there a couple more times for a total of 3 weeks and hope to make it out there again soon. If you want to do some charity work that makes a difference with animals, I highly recommend this organization to either donate money or time to.

To learn more about my volunteer vacations or Best Friends Animal Society, I welcome you to check out my other previously published blog posts titled: Volunteer Vacation: What is It?, Volunteer Vacation: About Best Friends Animal Society, and Volunteer Vacation: PLANNING for BFAS THE Sanctuary.