York Town News
York Brownies help homeless pets at AWS
By Juanita Reed
York Brownies Troop 257 shared loads of love, and needed supplies, with homeless animals at the Animal Welfare Society in West Kennebunk. Pictured are, from left, Taylor Reed, AWS Education Director Barbara Wilkinson, Lily Kondos, Julia Harrod, Camille Stotz, Lily Oliver and Renee Abruzzese. Missing from the photo are troop members Lydia Jones and Haylie Sevigny.
Photo by Juanita Reed
Julia Harrod and Renee Abruzzese make fast friends with a couple of older cats who are waiting for their forever homes at the Animal Welfare Society's shelter.
Photo by Juanita Reed
As part of the troop's commitment to "make the world a better place," the girls were bringing bags and boxes of food, toys, treats, bedding supplies and more that they had collected for the many cats, dogs, bunnies and other critters living at the shelter.
The tour was lead by AWS Education Director Barbara Wilkinson, who explained the operation of the animal shelter and about pet care.
She introduced the girls to a number of pets ready for adoption, including some creatures they had never even heard of before. The shelter currently has two degus, pronounced day-gooz, which are an unusual cross between a chinchilla and a squirrel and have special dietary needs as their bodies cannot process sugar - not even the natural sugars in fruit.
When asked by one of the moms who traveled to West Kennebunk with the Brownies what animal would make a nice smaller pet for kids, Wilkinson told the group that her pick would be a rat. She went on to explain that rats are extremely intelligent and clean, and have friendly, playful demeanors.
After viewing the smaller animals, the girls had the opportunity to pet and play with the kitties. It isn't currently kitten season, but the shelter has a large number of older cats available for adoption.
"We like this time of year," explained Wilkinson. "It gives our older cats an opportunity to be adopted. Unfortunately, they often get overlooked when kittens are available."
She went on to explain that Maine has a huge unwanted cat population and emphasized to the girls the importance of spaying and neutering all pets.
Before leaving, everyone had a chance to visit the shelter's dogs. There were dogs of every size and shape. Several beautiful Rottweilers; Willie, a cute Jack Russell mix; a gorgeous solid black German shepherd named Kane; a handsome beagle/Springer spaniel mix named Jack, and many more were fed biscuits and given treats by the girls until they were on the verge of bursting.
In addition to this project, Troop 257 is currently collecting flip-tops from aluminum cans for the Ronald McDonald House in Portland. In March, the girls will be presenting a microwave oven they are purchasing with proceeds from this year's cookie sale to the Cape Neddick Baptist Church for the kitchen there.
For more about the Animal Welfare Society, visit www.animalwelfaresociety.org.
