Get involved! Centre County PAWS

Whether you are an in-state or out-of-state Penn Stater, most of us are away from home for an extended period of time. This means we are away from home-cooked meals, normal weather patterns and friends and family — including our pets! If you are in some serious need of puppy love, and if you’re looking for a way to get involved in the State College community while you’re at it, get involved with Centre County PAWS.

“Centre County PAWS is committed finding forever homes for cats and dogs, educating citizens on responsible pet ownership, providing spay/neuter assistance and ending pet overpopulation,” says Linette Courtney, the president of PAWS. To help PAWS achieve its goals, Courtney says there two main ways that students can become involved: adopting and volunteering.

If you wish to adopt a dog or cat, there is an application process to make sure “the pet’s needs are met by the owner and the owner’s needs are met by the pet,” she says. If you’re not quite ready to take on the responsibility of caring for a pet during college, volunteering with PAWS is another option. Interested volunteers can fill out an application for the designated area they wish to work in, and then they will be trained before working.

“We would like to go out of business,” Courtney says, “but until all our pets have a home, we continue with what we do!”

“Since beginning my internship and volunteering at PAWS, I have felt humbled by the amount of people who truly care about animals,” says Lauren Burrell, an intern for the organization and a sophomore advertising major. “There are so many volunteers at PAWS who give a large amount of their time to the animals when they already have a very busy schedule.”

Burrell says the best part of working at PAWS is all of the “success stories you hear about every day. The dogs and cats who never thought they would get a second chance now have a loving home.

“No dog or cat deserves to go through suffering and, by volunteering, I know I am helping the animals get that much closer to the family they deserve,” she says.

Interested in volunteering or adopting? Go to the PAWS website to get more information!

Photo by Jill Podhor