Volunteering with animals is one thing I like

Just got a call from the animal rescue group I volunteer with, asking me to transport cats through town tomorrow (it’s a long story). My instinct was to say no. Not because of the cats (I know I’ll love them at first sight), but because of all the people involved: the foster parents, the adoptive parents, the rescue staff.

So I’m sitting on the sofa, talking on the phone with the rescue co-ordinator, and she’s saying, “Can you take the cats?” And I’m thinking that it would be very easy to make up an excuse and say no. But I said yes. And I said yes because every time I volunteer with animals (walking, transporting), I find people easier to deal with. I know that there are studies on this — in fact, the sense of trust and ease that animals trigger is one of the reasons your therapist has a cat wandering through her home office.

I’ll update this tomorrow, but I think I’m going to be happy to have done the volunteer work. I am predicting a greater sense of connection with people post transporting cats. I’m going to try to monitor my reaction and report back. More to follow….

Update: Two days later. The volunteer work did make me feel slightly more connected, but I think the animals themselves were too absent from the equation. Since I was driving them across town, they were in carriers, and I didn’t “connect” with them. However, it was nice to speak to the adoptive pet parents. All in all, a mildly positive experience.