My Day at the SPCA

The Charlottesville- Albemarle SPCA is a nonprofit, no-kill animal welfare organization that provides shelter and nourishment for lost, abandoned, and homeless animals of the Charlottesville area. The SPCA’s vision is to save all dogs and cats that are medically treatable and place them into good homes. Last week I was able to go spend some time at this great organization and get to know some of the animals.

The first thing I saw when I walked through the double doors to get to the animals was the newborn kittens. Now, I’m not normally a cat person, but these kittens were irresistible. I wasn’t the only one who thought so either. A young girl, about 12 years old, loved them too! She kept telling me how she was going to take this small black kitten with white paws home, and I could see why. The kitten was nuzzled up into the girl’s shoulder gently purring.

After getting my dose of playing with the kittens, I headed into the first room of cats. Like I said earlier, I’m not the biggest cat person, but I was warmed up to them after playing with the kittens. The cats I saw were great and couldn’t wait for someone to take them home, but what I liked most about that room was seeing a volunteer playing with some cats. I was so impressed by the fact that this woman was donating her time to such a great cause. I then learned that the SPCA has many volunteers and is always looking for more to come help out, play with the animals, or even just take them for a walk.

It was then time for my favorite part, the puppies and dogs! If I wasn’t already gooey-hearted and dying to take one of them home, I saw this guy. Those puppy eyes are pretty tempting, as were the cuddling black and brown pit bull mixes in the next cage over. I then continued to wander back through both large rooms of dogs, totaling at least 25 dogs ready to be taken into a good home. Basically all hope was lost for me. I was ready to give in and take one of them home, until I saw a woman walk in with a staff member. The woman was carrying a bright red new collar and leash. She was about to take one lucky dog home; and she did!

Seeing how happy both the dog and the new owner were made me overjoyed. Spending the day at the SPCA made me even more excited that the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA is partnering with #ILoveCVille for Charlottesville Shopping Week as our Charity Foundation. For more information on the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, including a list of adoptable animals, go to http://caspca.org/.