Aisha Al-Rizzo is a biology major in Fulbright College.

In the era of the seemingly never-ending pandemic, it is vital to step up and take care of one another. Now, I know what you may be thinking; helping others is obviously imperative during this time. However, was there ever the consideration of helping our four-legged friends?

Although the work may seem to be at a small scale, caring and tending to shelter animals go a long way. I had the privileged opportunity to volunteer a couple times in the cat shelter at PetSmart. From cleaning cages to making sure the kittens get enough playtime, every small action mattered.

Being in a time where social distancing and quarantining are commonplace, shelter animals nowadays don’t get daily human interaction. Having the ability to socialize the cats, as well as simultaneously improve their living conditions, was something heartwarming. Being able to spend time with kittens also helped decrease some immense, pent-up stress from midterms week.

In particular, with the assistance of my good friends, I would let out the cats by individual crate to let them get time to socialize and play; meanwhile, we would clean out their cages, refill their food and water bowls, replace litter, and take note of any abnormalities present. Furthermore, we would make sure that each kitten would be passed around by each volunteer to get equal attention, care, and love (which I believe is the best step).

On the topic of shelters, I want to talk about the importance of adoption. Looking at a positive perspective from the pandemic, adoption rates have actually increased, despite the decreased interactions in shelters. There’s so much importance behind the notion of adoption; with the problem of overbreeding and lack of spaying/neutering in stray cat populations, a large population of kittens accrues. With the constant filling up of animal shelters and sanctuaries, not every kitten can have a loving home assigned to them, even if there’s a spot guaranteed at such shelters/sanctuaries. This leads to cruel mechanisms, such as euthanasia to help contain this population burst. Ways to combat this is to “not shop, but adopt,” which encourages adoption over purchasing from a private breeder (which also can have inhumane aspects involved).

Overall, getting the opportunity to volunteer, as well as be educated on the advantages of adoption over private breeding companies, was something worthwhile. Although it isn’t something extremely complex, like a research internship, or perhaps a study abroad endeavor, I believe it’s still a great, beginner’s experience for volunteering work. I got to expand my opportunities in the time of a pandemic, as well as do some form of positive change, albeit small (and four-legged).