Vicki Foeldes has been volunteering at the Michigan Humane Society in Rochester Hills since March of 2018. It would be an understatement to say that she is simply a dedicated volunteer! She starts by bringing a change of clothes and lunch to her shifts. She then begins her day by assisting shelter medicine for three hours and spends another two hours socializing with the cats as part of our Pawsitive Start program. Pawsitive Start is a training program that focuses on the animals’ mental and emotional well-being while they are in our shelters until they find their new homes.

While volunteering as a shelter medicine assistant Vicki does a variety of tasks, such as doing laundry so that the animals can have clean towels, preparing food for the animals, and helping to sterilize surgical tools and equipment. In the afternoon, Vicki socializes with the cats by giving them treats and uses positive reinforcement to help them get used to human contact and love.

Vicki believes that all animals deserve love and respect. As an animal lover herself, she has a cat named Katsu. During her free time, she enjoys reading about animal behavior and says she likes to try out new techniques with Katsu.

“I really enjoy volunteering. It is very fulfilling and everyone from the shelter and clinic side are super dedicated,” she says. “My favorite part about volunteering is when I see the animals get adopted. When you see how the adopters look at the animal like, `this is the one.’ I love those moments.”

MHS is very grateful to have such devoted volunteers like Vicki who believe that animals deserve love just as much as humans do. Thank you, Vicki, and to all of our wonderful volunteers!

If you love animals and are interested in becoming an MHS volunteer, please visit our volunteer page.

Photo Credit: Michigan Humane Society