CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — In honor of Nexstar’s Founder’s Day of caring, staff here at 12 News spent their day helping our local animal shelters and, of course, making some new furry friends.
The day kicked off at 8:00 am and lasted until 4:00 pm at locations like the Humane Society of Harrison County, the Marion County Humane Society and Animal Friends of North Central West Virginia in Morgantown.
With our group spread out throughout the region for the majority of the day, there were plenty of ways for us to get involved.
12 News spoke with the director of the Humane Society of Harrison County, Frankie Dennison, on how the extra hands-on deck helped make a difference at the shelter.
“We’re a small staff and we’re always shorthanded, so a lot of those extra things we can’t always get to, they kind of go on the wayside. When we have groups come out and can do that for us, it just is amazing,” said Dennison.
From cleaning out litter boxes to bathing dogs, from landscaping to organizing and deep cleaning, there was something for everyone to do—although nothing can really top the fun that was had for both staff and the animals.
12 News also spoke with Animal Friends of NCWV shelter coordinator, Katie Short, on how volunteering benefits the animals.
“It gives us a little bit of more time to socialize with the animals, it gives the animals more socializing of course, it makes them a little more adoptable, so that’s a huge help, just kind of getting them used to new people, going for walks, which help with their leash training. It also helps us clean and get ahead of schedule for the day, so we’re able to spend more time with the animals,” said Short.
Although we got a lot of work done, animal shelters across north central West Virginia are always in need of donations, volunteers and families who can adopt and foster animals.
You can learn more about how to help the shelters we visited at the links below or reach out to your local shelter for volunteer opportunities or to find out more ways that you can make a difference.
