Motivation comes in sweet little packages

Last night I was privileged to attend a very special event at North Shore Animal League. It was a meet and greet for the runners. There are 50 of us but a lot of people are out of state and it was a Tuesday night, so there were about a dozen of us at the event.

I was kind of nervous to go. I've never been to a shelter before. Both of our dogs are rescues but we got them through foster families. I didn't know what to expect and I hoped I would be able to handle seeing all those animals in need of a home.

The people who work at NSAL are amazing. Yes, it's incredibly sad to see so many animals who need homes. But the people who work there are so upbeat and positive that these animals will all find loving homes.





They talk to the animals and take them for walks in their dog park, they make every animal feel special from the second they are admitted to the shelter. They have a tough job though. One woman teared up when she told us how NSAL worked with a shelter in Texas that was going to exterminate 43 dogs. They used all their connections and resources and within 12 hours every single one of those dogs was placed. The sad thing about those triumphs is that they are short-lived. There is always another puppy mill or kill shelter. They were telling us how excited they were to have so many empty cages because then they could fill them up again. Their job is never done.

A lot of the dogs were older. It was so sad to see them scared and shaking in their cages. Older dogs have a tough time getting adopted. No one wants the medical problems that come with an older pet. The people at NSAL don't give up though. They do a lot of education with potential owners talking about the benefits of taking in an older pet.






There were lots of puppies and younger dogs, too. Last week NSAL helped break up a big puppy mill and almost all of those puppies are already adopted. There were some pregnant dogs who were given nice quiet places to rest. This pug is ready to give birth any second.










The campus is very impressive. When I pulled in the parking lot I thought it was just the one building but there is also a stand-alone medical facility, a cat building, and a behavioral center where new animals are assessed for the appropriate type of home they need to be in.











Their newest building is called "Noah's Ark" and it's amazing. It's a giant facility where they can handle emergency situations, like mass rescues from Hurricane Katrina or the rescues from a busted puppy mill. The animals in there, sadly, are a bit traumatized from their experiences. The NSAL thought of every detail and there are medical and grooming suites within the building so those animals don't need to move around too much until they are more adjusted. This sweet girl was a rescue from another shelter. Happily, she may already have a home!

Beth Stern was there to meet us. She was super nice. She signed copies of her book to everyone and met with each of us to ask how our training was going. I didn't ask to take a picture with her which was stupid. I always feel like I'm bothering someone but I realize she was there because she's proud of the team she started, she wanted us to know her. I'm in a bunch of group pictures we took and we shot a commercial while we were there. They did a bunch of takes so I don't know which one they'll use. We all got to hold puppies for the shoot. :)

When I wrote yesterday how I was lagging in motivation this week and I hoped last night could turn it around, I meant it. And it did. Some of the volunteers at the shelter thanked us for running the marathon and said they could never run 26.2 miles. You know what? I could never do what they do. Their job is way harder and I'm going to remember that every time I feel like complaining.