First timer?

From the 5th grade, when I started doing volunteer jobs, I fell in love with it. Although, until this September, I only did service at sports events, one of my goals was to become a volunteer at an animal shelter. The main reason for it was having a dog of my own and the articles I read after the quarantine explaining the animal shelter crisis. Which means that they have too few workers, too many animals, and too few spaces for them compared to the animal number they wanted to take in. Well, look at me now, a long-term volunteer at the "Lesė" shelter!

FIV free cat room

As I entered the shelter, I could smell the odour of dogs and cats. It was a bit confusing because there were a lot of guests as well as volunteers coming in and out with the dogs. As the volunteer training started, the overwhelming feeling only strengthened because of all the information I was given. Although the responsibility finally set in when I needed to put all of the knowledge I gained in the last 30 minutes into practice, As the kitten named Gitė stuck its paw out of the cage, trying to reach me, I knew that I wanted to choose the first quarantine as my responsibility. Luckily, I was not alone, and there was another woman helping me out with the cleaning work, but after my first job, I felt proud of myself. But the training was still not over, as I needed to take care of the free cat room. However, it was way easier and more relaxing. After the training finished, I had to fill out a test, and when I got the results, I was delighted to see that I was invited to join the long-term volunteer team of "Lesė".

FIV room cat Murzius

The first time I officially visited the shelter as a worker was eventful as well. I had to clean up the same rooms as I did before, so that made work easier for me, although now instead of half of the first quarantine, I had to do it all by myself, and instead of one free cat room, I did two. As the time passed, I felt more and more at home with the place, especially because the senior volunteers answered my every question and helped out if needed. I finished the work in 2.5 hours instead of the 3 hours that were appointed; therefore, I decided to go into one of the free cat rooms to play a little bit with them. Murzius was the first cat I actually petted, although, if I'm being honest, the cat I fell in love with the most was Preslis...

FIV room cat Preslis

All in all, this first experience formed my perspective on shelter volunteers and helped me grow as a more responsible, sensitive, and hard-working person. While connecting me with a community filled with lots of accommodating people and pets, which need our support and love.