According to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), there are approximately 7.6 million animals that enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats. Of the dogs entering shelters, approximately 35 percent are adopted, 31 percent are euthanized, and 26 percent of dogs who go in as strays are returned to their owner. Of the cats entering shelters, approximately 37 percent are adopted, 41 percent are euthanized, and less than 5 percent of cats who go in as strays are returned to their owners.
While the statistics are heart breaking, shelters like the Liberty Humane Society near AvePoint’s global headquarters in Jersey City, NJ, are dedicated to making a difference. For years, the Liberty Humane Society has given homeless dogs and cats a chance to be adopted into loving homes.
Last Tuesday, October 21, members of the AvePoint team lent a helping hand at the Liberty Humane Society as part of our Global Outreach Initiative. When it came time to decide which local organization to help, the overwhelming statistics noted above made it an easy call. Additionally, the month of October also happens to be National Animal Safety and Protection Month.
When our team arrived at the Liberty Humane Society, we were greeted by Melanie Pena, the organization’s outreach manager. Pena spent some time talking to the employees about the shelter and gave the employees a tour of the cozy facility. (Just to give you a visual – not much larger than a converted garage!)
After a brief introduction, Pena split the employees up into different groups and assigned projects to each group. Some of the employees spent the afternoon cleaning the kennel and cattery, others helped open bags of food and refill dog food containers as well as fill kongs (a very popular toy amongst dogs) with peanut butter, others cleaned bins of dog toys and did quite a few loads of laundry. The most satisfying job of all though, was getting the opportunity to spend time visiting with the dogs and cats afterwards.
All in all, the employees were thrilled to be part of such an important cause and a few have even mentioned going back to volunteer again. To learn more about the Liberty Humane Society, please visit the organization’s website. Stay tuned to hear about our next outreach initiative!
