Honoring a lost animal by helping another

So, I recently became a volunteer for a local animal shelter (I am already a volunteer for a local rescue group)... I felt compelled to go, check it out and do some hands-on dirty work now that my daughter is getting older and I am able to leave her longer at home with "daddy." 


The shelter is a sad place... but when I leave there, I feel amazing.  My heart is warmed and I just LOVE spending time with those dogs.  There are those you just fall in love with instantly.  You love them all, but some just pull at your heart in ways that the others don't.  The same way I loved Ursa in a special way, you fall for some of the dogs... they hit you in the "right" spot (my dog crush is Gavin... see photo below)... 

So now I am addicted to walking the shelter dogs... because it's so amazing to be able to impact them by letting them out of their "cells."  I think about it every day and I think about those dogs everyday.  


And... as a special way to honor Ursa, I go there... spend some time and share some love... and I use Ursa's collar and leash.  It's almost like she is there with us, sharing time together alongside us as we walk around the snowy shelter grounds and play in the fenced-in pens.  Although if she WERE really there, she'd be stealing their tennis balls and running with them!  :)


So, I think a great way to honor a lost life is to give LIFE to another.   If you are mourning a beloved fur-riend, why not stop by your local animal shelter and volunteer?  Those dogs need love, too.


I always think, "if my dogs ended up in a shelter (if they werent my dogs obviously) what would happen to them?"  And I KNOW that they would be very hard to adopt out.  Ursa had so many "issues" that in the wrong hands, she would have been euthanized probably for not being adoptable.  But in reality, she was AMAZING.   In a home, these dogs have the chance to blossom and flourish.  In the shelter, you cannot see their true colors.  


So please... give these dogs a chance at life... they so deserve it.  It's not their fault they were given up.  Most cases are a result of the person's issues... not the dog's.  


Come on! Volunteer!!!!  The dogs need you.  (and cats!)


PS... I even went online and bought new snow boots in typical Camille-fashion. Why? Because I wanted to be able to stay out longer in the snow with the shelter dogs. haha  Yes call me a sucker for love.