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Approximately 6.3 million animals enter a U.S. Animal Shelter each year, and nine hundred and twenty thousand of those are euthanized every year (ASPCA, 2022). It is incomprehensible that this happens in the United States of America.

Growing up I was taught to love animals. In our family we had two dogs, a cat, and my little brother had a turtle. We fed them, made sure they were healthy, and it seemed natural that I would use my required volunteer hours for high school at an animal shelter. Although I started with the rudimentary tasks, such as cleaning out the cages, I soon graduated to walking the dogs and helping with adoptions. Because the shelter did not have enough volunteers, I was able to complete my required hours within a few months. When the hours were done, I found that I wasn’t done. I just could not leave these helpless creatures.

Fast forward to my first semester in college. My English professor required us to do Service-Learning and encouraged us to do something about which we were passionate. Since I was still working at the Miami Animal Shelter, I conferred with the director of Service-Learning on my campus and my professor. During this meeting, I decided that I would start a club on campus with a focus on animals. The club would not only focus on increasing the number of volunteers, but researching how we could stop animal testing and encourage a more ethical treatment of animals overall.

My first step was to start the club. I met with the Director of Student Life and filled out all of the necessary paperwork, and my professor who had initially encouraged me in this process, agreed to be the faculty advisor. I started talking to students to see if they would join. I created a flyer to advertise, and faculty on campus shared it with their classes. Over seventy students join in the first semester.

I held bi-monthly meetings for the new organization, and we got straight to work on our mission. We first wanted to increase the number of volunteers, so we took to Social Media and created YouTube videos and Tik Toks about the animals at the shelter explaining how we need volunteers and donations. This initiative proved very successful. Not only did the animal shelter bring on twenty-three new volunteers, but they received more than $750.00 in additional donations. We then created a proposal for our college’s research symposium, and we were accepted. We presented our work on the ethical treatment of animals to over 220 people in attendance. Our campus dean was so impressed, that we will be sharing our work in an upcoming publication of the faculty-student research magazine, Polygon.

I will be graduating this year, but I know that this organization is in good hands. I am confident that this work will continue. While it feels gratifying to volunteer, knowing that I have left a lasting legacy to help our animal friends is truly