Less than 24 hours, that's so sad! We are learning a lot about fostering & adopting pets now that DD is volunteering at our local no-kill shelter. You are doing such an amazing, loving act of kindness!
DD is thinking about veterinary medicine for her career path & wanted to figure out if it's what she thinks it might be before tracking toward that college-wise. "cuz, ya know mom, that's like a minimum of EIGHT years of college, right?" Yes, she's 11.
Volunteering seemed like the best way to get a good look at the reality in a lot of ways & they recently revamped the program to involve the Jr Volunteers more. I talked to their director about letting the kids (who are interested) attend some of the medical procedures that they do on-site at their clinic. We also discussed bringing in guest speakers for the kid's monthly meetings - like large animal vets - and getting them starting on horticulture projects like planting some catnip (to make our own cat toys) or indigenous plants around the property. They are also old enough to start/participate in fundraisers at their schools for things that they always need like old blankets & comforters, washer/dryers, towels, cleaning supplies, etc. This shelter goes through $30K monthly just in vet/medical costs between care & medications & they receive no federal funding. Every little bit helps!