SPCA offers furry volunteer opportunities

Volunteer Madison Corley exercises puppies while she volunteers with her mother at the Lakeland SPCA Inc.

Despite the possible heartache of staring into the eyes of a dog or cat without a home, brave animal lovers can take on furry charges at the SPCA Inc. in Lakeland.

The SPCA offers a variety of volunteer options, from walking the larger dogs in the kennels to taking care of the cats in the Cattery rooms.

Potential volunteers start by giving a four to six month commitment to the SPCA, and then fill out an application and go to an orientation. After that, potential volunteers call or e-mail and set up an interview with volunteer Manager Randa Richter to discuss interests and availability.

“[We talk about] whether you’re a cat person or a dog person or you want to be off-site because it’s too emotional for you here,” Richter said.

Volunteers who want to work with the larger dogs in the kennel also attend a clicker training class. Once through this course, these volunteers spend time with the dogs, taking them through the trails behind the facility and using the on-site agility course.

Volunteer and trainer Tina Graveson has been with the SPCA for over two years, and teaches the clicker training course. Graveson says the dogs respond really well to the positive reinforcement technique.

“We’ve had many dogs come in that only know to jump for attention, and then we put their minds to work and they’re just eager to please once they know what’s expected of them,” Graveson said. “And of course, that makes them ready to be part  of someone’s family.”

Graveson said her time at the SPCA Inc. in Lakeland has inspired her to become a professional dog trainer. Once she does, she says she would love to work professionally at the SPCA.

“I’ve trained with the general public, and my heart is here,” Graveson said.

Tish Sacks has been volunteering frequently for little over a year, and said she does whatever needs to be done.

“I walk dogs, I help in the administration area getting ready for events, I’ve been a dog handler for clicker class when we have big classes, I’m starting to do humane education, I’ve taken photos and videos for our online site—I just do a little bit of everything,” Sacks says.

Sacks started volunteering because she loves animals and trained her own dog with positive reinforcement. Sacks said she wanted to get into a shelter environment where she could get exposure to a lot of different animals.

Sacks has three pets and hasn’t adopted an animal from the shelter yet, though she has moments where she considers it.

“A couple weeks ago there was a cat crisis—there was a cat, and if nobody took that cat she was going to come home and I was going to have a long discussion with my husband,” Sacks said. “But someone adopted her, so she’s great.”

It can be difficult sometimes, Sacks said, because not all animals get adopted even if the volunteers spend a lot of time working with them.

“All we can tell ourselves is that we improved their quality of life and gave them some love and attention and care while they were here,” Sacks said.

SPCA Inc. in Lakeland has been open since 1979, when it was founded by Mary Stephens, EvelynMeierkord and Jennifer Lugenbeel.

The adoptions occurred initially through the homes of the founders as well as the Lake Miriam Publix until they received a donation that allowed them to buy the land at 5850 Brannen Road South. The shelter officially opened in 1991.

There are currently 1,000 volunteers in the SPCA database, with about 350 to 400 active volunteers.

The facility has also grown a lot over the years, said Richter, and will grow even larger within the next few months. There will be additions to the adoption center, and the clinic will receive 3 new exam rooms.

The puppy room will be renovated as well, the outside kennels will feature plexi-glass instead of chain link fence and there will be murals painted throughout. The goal of the renovations, Richter said, is to make the shelter more inviting and friendly.

Warren Cox, executive director of the SPCA Inc. located in Lakeland, said that the facility is always making strides toward helping more animals.

Some funding for these projects comes from services like the medical center, Cox said, but most of the money comes from individual contributions.

“There’s a lot of animals out there that need our help and we just have to be the advocate for them, and you can’t do things unless you have the money,” Cox said. “So you have to help people to help animals.”

Cox said that he has been in the business for about 60 years now, working at shelters in all different parts of the United States.

“I enjoy humane work,” Cox said. “Someone’s got to help the animals and be their voice for them.”