It is hard to get motivated some days, especially on a dreary, rainy Friday morning. However, when David and I volunteered for FOTAS by bringing two Aiken County Animal Shelter dogs into the Cumberland Hills Assisted Living Facility, we were greeted so warmly by the residents that we quickly forgot that the sun wasn’t shining.
This was not our first visit to the facility, and it was so wonderful seeing the faces of our friends who enjoy the pups each month.
There are so many dogs at the shelter, but we wanted to bring two that would not be too playful or overly affectionate for those we were visiting. We decided on a small shaggy, neglected little dog (he found a home later that day thanks to our small dog wait list) and Enzo, a three-month-old pitty puppy.
One of my favorite residents always greets us in a wheelchair. She comes to see us before the others, and we talk about the pets she has had over the years and her daughter’s love for dogs. I was sure she would prefer the small shaggy dog but nope, she said the pitty pup was more her type. It was so cool to watch her stroke this puppy and his little tail would not stop wagging!
The director, Sky, told us that some residents couldn’t make it down the hall to see us, yet they were the biggest animal lovers. She led us to their rooms.
The first woman we met was lovely and she had a room FULL, I mean FULL, of photographs of her past dogs and horses. She brightened up when she saw the pups. This graceful woman enjoyed petting the dogs and thanked us for the visit. She reminded me to not put my face directly into the face of a dog as it can make them uncomfortable, and I could get bitten. I wonder if she was a teacher. I will ask her during our next visit.
The woman we visited next really broke both of our hearts. She was so pretty in all coral, laying down in a chair. She warmly welcomed us in. She touched the dogs and began to cry. She said her pets were just taken the day before to her family in Pennsylvania, since residents cannot have pets. You could see the pain in her eyes and she choked up. She started to pet the puppy and told him that she loved him and asked us to visit again soon. I am so looking forward to seeing her in a couple of weeks with more dogs.
As pet lovers, we cannot imagine living without our furry companions. It must be lonely without them. The men and women we meet at Cumberland Hills understand that they cannot have animals where they live. The joy we see in their faces when they are able to connect with a shelter dog or puppy is pretty spectacular.
We meet so many kind people and it is always rewarding and yet always hard to leave. The shelter dogs love to visit and they appreciate the love, attention, and the kind words softly spoken from the residents.
I am counting the days until our next visit.
By Kathy Cagle, FOTAS Programs Coordinator
