Our volunteer team members are matched to portfolios that not only interest them and play to their strengths, but also develop them personally and professionally. Passion that reaps its rewards is what makes for a sustainable volunteering career. Here is the story of one of our Foster Care Volunteers, Riley.
From a very young age, I have always loved animals. My
mother used to tell me a story from when I was two years old. When I would go
out with my mother, I used to love to try and pet every stray animal that I
saw. It didn’t matter whether it was a cat or dog. I simply wanted to share my
love with the animals I encountered. One day, a dog tried to bite my hand off,
but my mother pulled me away in time. I was bit startled, but unfazed, so I
continued to play around with stray animals and my love just continued onwards.
I had always wanted to have a pet, but the day did not come
until I was twelve years old. My mother’s friend and I brought home a gorgeous
three-year-old female Basset Hound, whom I fell in love with at first sight. My
second dog came along a few years later. Having animals in the house was
amazing. Their unique personalities and beautiful faces just lit up my days.
When my older one passed, it was one of the most painful experiences of my life
and to this day, it makes me sad to think of the day I received the awful news.
My love of animals even extended to my eating habits. When I
was thirteen, I decided to stop eating meat. Giving up beef was easy because I
was scared of Mad Cow Disease. Giving up the other meats came about mainly when
I thought about how the animal ended up on my plate and the suffering it had
endured. Then, at the age of sixteen, I gave up seafood, when I realized those
animals also suffer when they are killed. Finally, several months ago, I decided
to become a vegan because I had learned more about dairy and egg farms, and I
just hate the idea of any animal suffering on my behalf.
When I was younger, I had played around with the idea of
becoming a vet, but never taking it too seriously because I was always weak in
science when I was in school. Over the years, I wanted to volunteer at animal
shelters back in New York, but I was too consumed with many things in my life.
When I got to Singapore, I had the urge again to volunteer, so this time around,
I went ahead and volunteered. I
had had enough of spending all my time being too involved in my day job, which
I didn’t like very much anyway. I needed more happiness in my life.
I began to spend my Saturdays volunteering at the kennel for
Action for Singapore dogs and at Love Kuching. I had always loved dogs and had
the most experience with them, so volunteering at the kennel was an easy
decision to make. Before joining Love Kuching, I had heard about it from a
friend that had adopted her cats from there, but I was still unsure about
adding to my volunteering schedule. Then, on one fateful night, I came across
an injured cat, whom you all know as Nelly. My husband and I were the couple
that passed the contact details of Love Kuching to the rescuers. That night
changed a lot in me. Not only did I hate the fact that I did not know how to
help Nelly, but I felt slapped in the face by the reality that I should just go
ahead and make my love of animals into a career. That entire weekend, I was
worried sick over Nelly until Elaine reassured me that she was fine. Over the
course of that weekend, I had come to the realization that I want to make
rescuing animals into a career and that I wanted to also join Love Kuching in
order to help cats as well.
Currently, I am a Receptionist at a GP clinic and I have
pretty much been in customer service my entire working career. Customer service
has never been my passion. It’s just a role I’ve found myself in as a matter of
convenience and also due to a lack of vision. The night of Nelly’s attack was a
real kick in the butt for me and the experiences that I’ve had with all the
cats and dogs I’ve met while volunteering have also opened my eyes. In spite of having had an unlucky start
at life, each dog and cat I’ve come across has shown to me a remarkable
resilience. Without a helping hand, they would not have the chance to be so
strong. I want to be one of those helping hands for animals in distress instead
of merely crying about the situation. A career as a veterinary nurse would
provide me with such skills to truly help, which is why I have ultimately
decided that it will be my career choice.
Animals are precious and we should use our knowledge and open hearts to
protect them from suffering.
Gary sleeping soundly after his seizure.
Balloon looking at me from his cage.
Playing with Sunkist and Teapot.
Gorgeous dog from the kennel being sweet as always.
Treasure is always an inspiration. Thriving even with a permanent spinal injury.
Nelly all curled up for a nice nap.
My first two dogs, Sassy (left) and Honey (right).
