Offering Friendship and Love to Dogs in Need: The Montgomery County Friends of Animal Care and Control
Welcome to Featured Rescue Friday! This week we are featuring the Montgomery County Friends of Animal Care and Control, a rescue operating in Christiansburg, Virginia that I was fortunate enough to visit last weekend with some friends.
The rescue has been working at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter since 2006. Not only have volunteers and employees given their love and attention to the dogs, but adoption rates have also risen in the last ten years because of their help.
The rescue is located at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter
“The [rescue’s] main goal is to care for and get the dogs adopted out of the shelter,” said Gretchen Distler, who has been a volunteer for the past five years and recently joined the rescue board. “The group also fundraises money to get the dogs medical care. We have a foster program, so our group pays supplies, medical bills and food to the foster families. It’s a good thing.”
My friends and I had an amazing experience when we visited the shelter. We got to meet and walk a few of the dogs, some of whom were strays while others were given up and had been staying there for months.
While a lot of the younger dogs were active like a young beagle named Tony, others were a little more subdued and just needed somebody to sit and spend time with them, like Carl, an older boxer and hound mix.
Tony is ready for a day of exercise
“We have older dogs that we often sit with in the kennel,” said Sandra Muse, who has also been volunteering for five years. “If they’re scared or if they just got here and you don’t know what kind of dog it is yet, whether it’s social enough to go out, you observe it to determine what its personality is like. Some of the older dogs we sit with just so they know they’re loved because some of them unfortunately come in with diseases or things that are more terminal, so we try to make their lives better for them with the time they have.”
A total of 36 dogs were available to walk when we visited. According to Muse, the shelter no longer experiences a slow day when it comes to volunteers. From Christiansburg locals to students from Virginia Tech (who live in the neighboring city of Blacksburg), the rescue enjoys a lot of help in walking the dogs and giving them attention.
“Before, Saturday was the only day you could get dogs out,” said Marilyn Wheaton, a current employee and former volunteer. “If you wanted to adopt during the week, you had to walk in, say ‘I want that one’ and adopt it without meeting it.”
Opportunities for adopters and volunteers have opened up since then. Now, dogs can be walked through out the week, not including Sundays.
“We know the dogs a lot better, “ said Wheaton. “We’re able to evaluate them a lot better. We’re able to council adopters a lot better. Overall, everything is working to the benefit of the adopters and the dogs.”
Gretchen (left), Whitney (middle) and Sandra (right): The lovely Friends of Animal Care and Control
After getting to know a few of the dogs and seeing how passionate the rescue was about making their lives better, I asked Wheaton why adopting was so important.
“If you’re just looking for a companion, we have plenty of perfectly nice dogs here,” said Wheaton. “They’re perfectly good pets, whereas if you’re not looking for a specific function for your dog, I’m not sure why you would spend the money buying a purebred when there’s plenty of dogs who could lose their lives or spend months in a kennel if nobody adopts them when they’re perfectly nice pets.
Meet Sango, a very energetic Rottweiler and Siberian husky mix.
Along with volunteering and fostering opportunities, the rescue is involved in other activities to promote adoption, such as taking the dogs to festivals, the local farmer’s market and downtown Blacksburg.
On top of that, the rescue has even hosted its own festival.
“Last year we put on our first Fur Fest,” said Distler. “It was an event to promote adoption and responsible pet ownership. We had about 300 people. We had food trucks and bands and local rescue groups from around. Our second one this year is going to be on April 23.”
Since 2005, the employees and volunteers of the rescue have made a lot of progress in improving dogs’ lives, and they aren’t showing any signs of stopping. From dog walking to hosting festivals, the rescue is dedicated to helping dogs and getting the community involved.
For more information on volunteering, adopting or donating, you can visit their website.
You can also check out their dogs on Petfinder or their Facebook page.