LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The mission to help animals find a place to call home has been a long, ongoing one.
Shelters all over the county spend every waking moment trying to provide the best for our furry friends.
The team at the Lexington Humane Society takes on the challenge for all of the animals in need across Fayette County.
“There are times when we will import from other shelters and other rescues and places outside of the county. 99% of the time, it’s local within Lexington,” Director of Community Relations Meghan Hawkins said.
“Within our local community, they keep us busy with the dogs and cats.”
More than 450 animals currently call the Lexington Humane Society home.
So many cats, dogs, and other creatures need around-the-clock care.
“You have to take the dogs out, you have to clean the cages, you have to feed them, you have so scoop boxes, you have to feed the cats, there’s a lot going on,” Hawkins said.
“We really need that help just to prepare to open.”
LHS doesn’t open up for the public until 1 p.m., taking every second to be prepared for folks to visit their potential future adoption.
That’s where the backbone of volunteers comes into play for the organization.
Dedicated helpers like Emily Lawrence have volunteered at the humane society for four years.
“Working with the humane society is just such a rewarding thing to do. You get to actually see the impact you’re making on these animals' lives,” Lawrence said.
“Especially when you come, and you’re here all the time, you can really see them hopefully get adopted quickly or, if not, you can really have an impact on their time here at the shelter.”
As Hawkins said above, the work at the shelter goes beyond just playing dogs or cuddling kittens.
On a given day, Lawrence will feed the dogs, fetch them water, clean out the cages, and do the laundry.
The list goes on.
“There’s always a mountain of dishes to be done when there’s so many animals to take care of. We’ll wash cat litter boxes, food dishes, bowls, baskets for the cats to sleep in. Anything that needs to be cleaned comes through here,” Lawrence said.
That doesn’t mean it’s all busy work; there are some more interactive ways of helping.
The Train-A-Bull program, for instance, pairs dogs and volunteers together for obedience training.
“Basically, we get assigned a pitbull to work with. One volunteer to one pitbull, and they stay with that pitbull until they get adopted.”
The road to adoption is a long wait for some animals.
It could take a day, a week, a month.
Some pets have been in the shelter for at least 100 days.
That’s where humane society leaders are grateful for their volunteers who put so much time and effort into helping.
“To put it into context, we have over 500 volunteers in our database. I think they’ve completed over thousands of hours just throughout the year,” Hawkins said.
“It’s amazing to be surrounded by people with the same and mission that you do. That’s made it so easy for me to stay here for over 10 years. I know that I’m impacting and truly making a difference.”
If you want to learn more about volunteer opportunities with Lexington Humane Society or look into adoption or foster care, click here.
