Carrying them out of the truck, we realized this may be the longest time they had been outside their entire lives. As we unloaded the six puppy mill rescues from our partner, we knew they were in for a long road to recovery, but it was worth it so they could be free. Ranging from 10 years old to barely one, all six had lived in cages barely larger than their bodies, forced to stand on metal grating their whole life, never walking on the ground or even outside.
Manny M. has been a volunteer for only 7 short months but has already logged more than 400 volunteer hours! He truly found his “place” when he landed at AAWL and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him as part of our volunteer family. Manny has achieved one of the highest rankings when volunteering with our shelter dogs, a K3 volunteer, and is also a Mentor to new volunteers and a Playgroup Lead. For some volunteers coming into the shelter can be an overwhelming environment that can leave people feeling lost. Manny is not one of those volunteers!
We first met Dolores at AAWL when she was dumped through our front door as a 6 week old kitten. Terrified, she ran everywhere on a dislocated foot trying to hide. After a lot of coaxing and treats, we 
were able to catch her and start tending to her injury. During her exam, our veterinarian knew something else was wrong, proved by a very scary x-ray: Dolores’s stomach was full of trash! In the weeks of surviving on the streets, she had eaten plastics, sticks, and other pieces of garbage.
Mike M. has been a volunteer at AAWL for the past 4 and a half years, logging more than 3,550 hours of volunteer time! He started out as a Dog Walker, and still does that almost every visit to the shelter, but he really found his place volunteering in our shelter clinic helping animals get ready for adoption. Since volunteering in the clinic, Mike has regularly logged between 80 – 100 hours each month helping prep and recover animals during their surgeries.
Charlie and Caleb had a tumultuous life before coming to AAWL. A gentle man living in rural California provided a safe haven for dogs he found dumped in the desert near his house for years. As they wandered to his property for food and water, he invited them into his ever-growing pack of abandoned animals. Charlie and Caleb were two of those abandoned animals. They became friends at the small house and looked out for each other like brothers.
Susan has been a foster volunteer at the Arizona Animal Welfare League longer than any other staff member has been around. We didn't even have electronic reporting at the time she started so our reports are a bit off, but we estimate that in the 14+ years she has been a foster volunteer she has fostered more than 600 dogs/puppies with us!
MichThere is nothing we love more than when we get volunteer duos! Duos can be siblings, friends, or in this case, a husband and wife team volunteering at the shelter together. Sherrie M. started volunteering at AAWL in 2014 and 2 years later she convinced her husband, James M., to join the AAWL volunteer family.
