On Saturday January 26, 2019, I went to The Laurie P. Andrews PAWS Center to learn more about the shelter and complete my volunteer application process by attending the orientation.
What is The Laurie P. Andrews PAWS Center?
Being nationally recognized as one of the largest animal shelters in the nation, PAWS has its doors open to animals that are captured by Animal Control, are given up by their owners, or are dropped off by the public. The employees and volunteers of The Laurie P. Andrews PAWS Center take these animals in with loads of love and quickly treat them to make sure they are healthy and clean.
PAWS is striving to become a No-Kill shelter; saving at least 90% of the animals that enter the shelter is the current benchmark to becoming a No-Kill shelter. In 2017, the PAWS facility was at 33% save rate, but in just one year, the percentage went up by 20% to a 53% save rate. In order to meet this goal, PAWS and Palm Valley Animal Center (PVAC) needs community support so that less animals are euthanized. They work with infinite amounts of life saving programs such as the PAWS Adoption Program, Rescue Program, and Foster Program, in order to save innocent animals and reach their goal.
With your help, PAWS and PVAC will be able to reach No-Kill status and thousands of lives of animals can be saved.
What I Did
At the beginning of the school year, two representatives from PAWS and PVAC came to Lamar Academy during a volunteer fair. I have always wanted to volunteer in my local animal shelters but I just did not know where to begin.
Ricardo Ybarra, the volunteer coordinator of PAWS, told me that I could easily register and create a volunteer account through their website. Once I created an account by filling out my information, I signed up for a Volunteer Orientation. Before a volunteer can interact with the animals and actually start working, they need to attend several trainings so that the animals can be treated with care and responsibility. Make sure you sign up for a training quickly, spots fill up very quickly due to the major interest of the community!
On January 26th of 2019, I went to The Laurie Andrews PAWS Center, located in Edinburg, at 11 AM. Since the center was not open to the public yet, I was greeted by a woman (I did not catch her name), and she led me and my friend to the conference room where Ricardo would be giving the presentation for the incoming volunteers. My friends and I took a seat and before us we had a blue folder, a pen, and a leash. To kill time, I opened the folder and found loads of handouts were in the pockets, which included papers with FAQs, a recruitment poster, a welcoming letter, and instructions on how to properly use the leash--basically everything we needed to know.
After 8 minutes, Ricardo came up to us and asked me for my volunteer form (since I am 16 years of age, I needed parental permission), checked if my parents had signed the form, and told me to go look for my name tag. After that, he went up to the front of the room and started talking.
After 45 minutes, Ricardo had left us well informed about the center and about what we can start doing with this basic training. He told us that if we want to interact with the animals, we need to attend to another training since the animals are to be treated with gentleness and respect. In order to schedule my next training, I easily accessed my volunteer portal and selected a date and a time for a Dog/Cat Care training.
The training finished at around 12:15 pm and I was in no rush so I wandered around the center to see the puppies and cats. I cannot wait until I am able to help in this amazing organization.
How To Volunteer
The registration process is so easy it will literally take you a maximum of 10 minutes. You just go to their website, https://pvactx.org/volunteer/, and click the big green button that says “VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION” in white letters. You fill out your information, click "done," and boom! You’re registered!
You will have access to see your schedule and this is where you chose a date for the Volunteer Orientation. Also, you will automatically be signed up to their Volunteer Newsletter, in which they inform you about upcoming events, trainings, and very cool statistics.
The day of your training, make sure you have your Volunteer Form signed by your parents if you are 16 or 17 years old!
Other Ways to Help
Do you have a busy schedule and just cannot make it to the trainings or become a volunteer? There are other great ways to help!
Be a Foster Parent to an Animal in Need
A foster parent is someone who selflessly temporarily opens their home, and their hearts, to orphaned and/or ill pets with specific needs.”
Donate, donate donate!
PAWS is always welcoming monetary donations that you can give for one time or subscribe to donate monthly.
Check out their Amazon Wishlist
Buy items from their Amazon Wishlist to help puppies and cats in need!
Visit the PAWS or PVAC facilities and take a new friend to your home.
Adoption fees start at $25 for cats and $50 for dogs!
More information on The Laurie Andrews PAWS Shelter :
Location: 2451 N Expressway 281, Edinburg, TX 78541
Website: pvactx.org
Email: volunteer@pvactx.org
More information of Palm Valley Animal Center
Location: 2501 W Trenton Rd, Edinburg, TX 78539
Website: pvactx.org
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