Some people have a heart for animals. Susie Prince of Susie Mae Design and Chamblee City Lifestyle partner is one such person. Susie says she has been volunteering her time at the shelter in Chamblee since 2018.
Susie's love for animals all started when she was a young girl growing up in a home that always had a dog as part of the family. It’s not surprising to learn that Susie missed the companionship of having a pet and was in her senior year of college when she got her first dog on her own. “I really love animals,” Susie says. “And I just felt like I wanted to have a dog of my own.” With a job and some time on her hands, she says she felt she could handle the responsibility of having a pet. “Just being able to care for something is like doing something bigger than just caring for myself,” she says.
After turning to Petfinder, Susie found her new pet. “I went and met her, and she was a perfectly sweet little thing,” she says, adding that she weighed about 70 pounds. “I absolutely adored her right away, so I adopted her and brought her home.”
Susie says as her dog got older and didn’t go on as many walks, that’s when she started volunteering at the shelter and walking the dogs there. She explains that at first volunteering can be a bit overwhelming. “You show up and there’s more than 500 dogs there, and you know that even if you spent your entire day there, you can’t walk all those dogs,” she says. You’ll barely make a dent in the 500 dogs. But here's the thing - Susie stresses that every little bit can help, and while you can't help all the dogs, you CAN make a difference for the dogs you can walk.
Susie went through the orientation and has even mentored new volunteers through the volunteer process, and she now spends her time helping in the shelter and the animals there in a variety of ways. “It’s been extremely rewarding,” she says about her volunteer work at the shelter. She’s even managed to adopt a couple of pups over time. “One of the greatest joys is to see an animal become relaxed and happy,” she says. “Just getting to experience an animal feeling good again is fantastic.”
She says with two adopted dogs at home already, she’s reached capacity. And if you’re concerned that you’ll want to take them all home, Susie says that the reality is that you know your limitations, and that's not likely to happen.
If you are considering volunteering, Susie suggests attending the orientation at the shelter first to see what volunteering at the shelter is all about. There are so many options including opportunities that don't include actually handling the animals. For example, if you’re a technology person, you can help with technology. If marketing is your thing, there are ways to help with marketing. There’s something to fit everyone’s skillset and comfort level. Susie says at the shelter in Chamblee, they are fortunate to have a committed and robust volunteer community, but she adds that there are only so many hours in a day, and they can always use more help.
Susie says that other ways to make a difference is by spaying and neutering your pets. Overcrowding is a big problem, and there’s a real need to reduce the number of animals that come into a shelter. And if you're thinking about getting a new pet, consider adopting from the shelter.
For more information on volunteering, fostering, and adopting, lifelineanimal.org.
"One of the greatest joys is to see an animal become relaxed and happy." Susie Prince