Why Animal Rights are Important: Volunteering at Humane Animal Rescue

My belief that animal rights are important lead me to this specific interest which I explain in this essay. My goal was to learn more about the sacrifice animal volunteers give up, in order for the animals to find a loving home. This is my introduction on what I did at Humane Animal Rescue, and my journey from the start of the project on February 2nd to the memorable end on March 10th.

My Volunteering Experience at Humane Animal Rescue

I made it to Humane Animal Rescue at 2 PM, so I can check around the shelter. The role I signed up for was rabbit care, and I felt my experience with rabbits would land me a spot at the shelter. During my time at the shelter before the volunteer orientation, for the rabbits they would hold this rabbit romp on Saturdays. A rabbit romp is a time when all the rabbits would be given a large space, divided by X-pens so they can stretch and run around for 3 hours. This was held from 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM. I spent a hour with the rabbit care crew before my animal volunteer orientation at 3 PM. One of the rabbit care volunteer greeted me, and asked me why I showed up to the rabbit romp. I talked about my experience about rabbits. I told them that I adopted 2 rabbits from the Humane Animal Rescue branch, and I was interested in learning more about the different services at the shelter. I was doing a research on a learning experience to see what it is like spending time to serve animals and learn more about the side of animals. My goal was to help educate other people who were interested in rabbits and see first hand why people enjoy spending time as an animal volunteer. What type of joy and happiness, one obtains when an animal finds a better home. I spent my hour before the volunteer orientation getting to know some of the rabbit care team, and what to expect as an animal volunteer. The animal culture always intrigued me as a person growing up. Life comes first and there is no differences in the eyes of animal life advocates.

Some values I wanted to better myself on was the new meaning of life. A different perspective of life and what that was all about. Life is a broad term but it is anything that is living. In terms of the value of life it seems humans are valued more than other life forms on this planet. Finding the true meaning of life from a different perspective of animal life advocates would help me see a different concept. The sense of connection from one life to the next was an interesting value. The sense of being a community united on one goal to rescue neglected animals and provide resources to end those problems. I was in charge of monitoring the different rabbits within the Humane Animal Rescue system. There was two sites one at the North Side and the other at the East End. It was my job to make sure there were no major changes in the rabbit’s diet and making sure they are doing well in their environment. The animal shelter can be a stressful place for any animal due to their previous background. Providing them with human interaction is one of the key steps on helping them regain trust. The daily interactions help the animals build their unique identities, because some allowed a sense of trust at a different stage of time. That was the true test of communicating to animals. How do people put themselves in the animal’s perspective where nonverbal communication is one of the barriers. Challenges like that creates passion to better serve and protect those unique animals. I was able to meet great mentors on how to better communicate with the different animals there. I would spend five hours at the shelters learning more about myself and the animals. It was a different perspective on life and how it can be represented in many unique ways. It is about showing equality and signs of care for all life. That is what makes each thing on earth unique. By following that mentality it allows people to grow stronger as a community. Only when people are united ideas come to fruition and changes happen. Good things happen when a group of people who share a passion work for a great cause.

Motivation & Learned Values

The idea of making a difference brought me to Humane Animal Rescue. Learning more about the reasons why people volunteer to show their love and finding a solution to animal abuse around the world. The experience of spending time around giving neglected animals another chance was what I was after. I met a lot of great people who vowed to give every second of their time to reward the animals with attention. Volunteers came from different backgrounds, but one thing in common was that they all had a passion to give animals a better loving experience than their previous relationship with a human. The motivation to get involved to solve the problems of senseless animal abuse and better awareness around the issue. These are some moments that I cherish from working with great people and learning from them, why helping animal is so rewarding. Here are some stories from talking to the volunteers around Humane Animal Rescue, and how they impacted me in a positive way to join the battle on solving animal abuse. I met a nice lady volunteering at the shelter was eight years, “Her life was at a crossroad, she was lost during that time. No idea where to go and what paths were cleared for her to perceive. She visited an animal shelter at that time that later rebranded to Humane Animal Rescue. Her eyes were opened from the type of work shown by the caring people helping out neglected animals left in their hands. Since that moment it changed her life, despite her heartbreaks she found a place where she can find a new meaning of life. There was something about showing love and kindness to the animals that people given up on. How she learned something different about life and the responsibility on loving animals.” Listening to her really opened my eyes about the current issues surrounding the abuse of animals, and ways I can better improve the problem.

Meeting Good People at Humane Animal Rescue

Volunteering at Humane Animal Rescue allowed me to join a community with great people that only have intentions on giving animals their best experience. I spend a lot of my time learning from people that gave me different ways to create a stronger bond with the animals. It was more than spending time to accomplish a certain task. The environment was made for everyone there to connect in a powerful way. The goal from Humane Animal Rescue was on creating life long lasting connections with animals and the people who join and leave with a better invaluable mindset. I learn quickly that Humane Animal Rescue was an environment where people were close and shared the same passion to provide time and love for the poor animals that had to endure so much of pain in their lives. During my time at the shelter meeting new people was part of the experience. From strangers visiting to see certain animals they want to adopt and provide a better life or those seeking a companionship. Also I met great people who spent time there aiding the animals, because without some of these great people helping comfort the animals some great adoption moments probably would had not happened. It was a place where everyone made sure the people that visited and whoever stepped foot inside the facilities felt better than they left. Humane Animal Rescue was a place to create connections with great people that cared about life. The goal was providing the animals the best companion during their stay at the Humane Animal Rescue shelters, and a better more stable home for their future with love. Everyone had an edge to go beyond their normal capabilities to lift everyone up when the bad news hit. The environment was made to help educate anyone who entered the doors of Humane Animal Rescue.

Making a Difference for Animals

Helping animals was a great difference maker and there was a great emphasis on doing that at Humane Animal Rescue. The culture was built on giving back to animals for what they suffered through human exploitation. It was about making a noticeable difference in each of their lives. No matter the species the end goal was to make them better than before and help find that bright future home. It may seem like a daunting task, but it was the small things that lead to bigger pictures on improving lives of animals in great ways. Some little things include just walking the dogs, getting to know people that come by to visit the shelter, and cleaning the animals there. Every second counted at the Humane Animal Rescue shelters because there is potential to find a loving home for the animals as the time ticks. The difference makers weren’t just the people who worked within the Humane Animal Rescue system. It was a hub where people who wanted to provide something more for the animals. I met a lot of people who showed up to the shelter just do donate towels, food, and other supplies to aid everyone. It was about sharing passions and providing anything was the thing that mattered most. Humane Animal Rescue was providing the little things to acquire that bigger picture. Small steps lead people to better things and that goes the same for helping animals. Making substantial change takes time and to obtain that it requires a community where everyone is deeply entrenched on the same motives. People were happy to represent what Humane Animal Rescue meant and the image of being animal protectors. Every effort was given to create a lifing saving impact mentality. Everyone had their eyes open for a challenge because that brought the best out of the people within the community. That urge to create a huge difference provides the opportunity to better lives and advocate against cruelty.

Animal Rights and Shelters are Important to the Community

Humane Animal Rescue was not just a place for adults. Children and younger generations share that same passion on creating a better world for animals. It is about making that difference and animal shelters provides that unity on creating solutions on animal cruelty. I met a lot of young people that came to visit the animal shelter. Talking to a few of the younger groups that attended events at Humane Animal Rescue, they all admired what animal shelters do for animals. These are some conversations I enjoyed. “Animal shelters provide abused animals a better home, where they can stay safe. Animal shelters help teach and assist people around the community on better serving animals. Animal shelters help a lot of animals find new homes and find their missing homes. Animal shelters are a great place where abandoned animals find a better home. Animal shelters provide the best animal care given to the animals before finding them a home. Animal shelters provide shelter for animals and shields them from the harsh outside problems. Animal shelters are full of people who love animals and care for them. Without Animal shelters abused animals would not be given a second chance and their lives would be endangered. Animal shelters help bring people closer to learn about the importance of life.” Those words left a huge mark on my mind while I spent my time at Humane Animal Rescue. Kids who visited the shelter were passionate about spreading awareness about animal abuse. It goes beyond the main concept of what animal shelters do for animals. It is a huge hub of connections that spread to the next generations on valuing life on earth. It is about seeking change and spreading awareness about the exploitation of animals around the world. That starts from the top and spreads to the younger generations that continues to lead the charge on solving the issue.

Why Animal Rights are Important?

One huge important value I saw through actions during my time at Humane Animal Rescue was the importance of animal rights. Animals suffer a lot and normally they can’t speak out against those actions or sometimes live to show the scars of those actions. Humans do things that are cruel to animals and the need for awareness was part of the reason behind animal shelters. They provide a bigger voice for animal protectors around the world. At the shelter I met a lot of people who cared more for the animals than other people. The world was meant for other things beyond the existence of humans. Animal exploitation is a main issue that needs to be addressed due to the pain and suffering caused by humans. Like humans animals deserve the rights to live freely and not suffer through pain or other inflicted damages. It is not about a certain pyramid where one species power above the rest. It is about a world where all living things share a common concept of a balanced environment and ecosystem. Every living thing should be considered a place in the world and a value of respect for their existence. It is about giving voice to other life on earth and providing them the protection they deserve. Humans have more of a responsibility on keeping that promise because of our special capabilities. With those abilities it is up to us to shoulder the extra load on providing a better environment for the life of others that can’t really ensure their future. It is more than using a certain group of life forms for benefits. Humane Animal Rescue demonstrated it was about companionship and a sign of unity. Friendship goes a long way and it is about sharing the same pain or sorrows in life. It is about disregarding what makes each life different and forming a basic principle of being equal.

Conclusion

Based on my experience from volunteering at Humane Animal Rescue I was able to grow with many different values from the animal caring culture. The importance of making a difference stayed close to me. Learning more about animal rights and creating an environment for equality is what is most important for life on earth. There should be no conflicts based on different backgrounds. Everyone should unite on solving issues and creating strong friendships. It is about the greater experience and that was the best part learning about the animal culture. It was not about how much I knew about certain issues, but having that drive to soak in things from a different perspective. Interaction with animals and other people was part of the great experience. The animal culture was about reaching outwards and spreading passion. Connections go a long way and it means more when those connections last a lifetime. The bond was one of the strongest I had ever experienced from a group of individuals. It was always about going beyond the ‘I’ and empowering the people around each other. We were all difference makers finding ways to provide the best for animals. The culture and vibe was all about passionate drive to do things the right way. There were no shortcuts and all operations followed a call of connecting to people with that same drive. Humane Animal Rescue connected people from different professions. Donators came from different areas of expertise, some from huge bank companies and tech companies that share that same value on life. Without a community sharing the same mindset places like Humane Animal Rescue would not exist. It is a place where life matters most and nothing is worth more than a group of people that share that vision.