Volunteer Tails

The mission of Animal Humane Society (AHS) is to engage the hearts, hands and minds of the community to help animals. The Volunteer Services department plays a major role in this exercise. The goal of the department is to cultivate a dedicated, capable Volunteer community that is meaningfully engaged in achieving the mission of AHS.

Meet some AHS Volunteers who have been recognized for their outstanding service.

 Katie keeps canines happy!

Katie has volunteered as a dog walker and advanced dog walker at our St. Paul location since 2003. She loves the reception she receives from the dogs. Katie says, “You are never in doubt that you are loved when you walk into the kennel area in the morning.” She was active on the Committee for the Morning Walk Program at AHS which promotes walking dogs outside twice a day to reinforce a dog’s habits if they’re housebroken. It keeps the cages cleaner and keeps the dogs happier.

Katie also previously fostered dogs. Her first foster was a miniature pincher named Ruby. Ruby ended up being adopted by a fellow nurse that Katie used to work with before retiring. Katie loves it because she can still visit with Ruby at her friend’s house! Another dog that Katie fostered from the St. Paul location was a nice, beautiful chocolate brown cocker spaniel with white flecks sprinkled on his chest. His name was Brewster and he had a severe eye problem. It took four or five surgeries to fix it. As you might have guessed, after all that, Katie was so smitten with him that she adopted him after the second surgery. Brewster loves Katie’s other dog, Mikey, a poodle. Katie finally decided it was probably better to keep walking the dogs and to stop the fostering as she wanted to keep adopting her fosters!

When she is not volunteering, Katie enjoys traveling, knitting, and eating out with the dog-walking friends she has made at AHS. Katie is also an avid reader of novels and loves to read Janet Evanovich’s books about Stephanie Plum and her sidekick Lula.

Thank you Katie for your dedication to the dogs at the Animal Humane Society! 

By volunteer Cindy Parsons