Better Life for Shelter Pets
By Melissa Whittaker, RVT, Veterinary Product Support Representative, Animal Health, Bayer U.S.
I have been a veterinary technician for over 20 years. After starting at Bayer Animal Health, I decided to volunteer with my 13-year-old daughter at a local animal shelter. She could earn service hours for school and I could work directly around dogs and cats.
A client from the veterinary clinic where I most recently worked referred me to Midwest Animal Res Q (MARQ) in Raytown, Mo. From the first time my daughter, Gabel, and I went in to help over a year ago, we felt at home. All the volunteers are awesome, and I have made many new friends. The owner and two employees work at the shelter full time, and they’re grateful for the volunteer help. They truly know their calling in life.
They treat the animals at MARQ with such great care. The pets get time outside of their kennels every day, with the dogs frequently going outside in the huge fenced back yard to play. A few trainers volunteer there to work with the dogs so they’re mentally stimulated and can work through any mild behavior issues before being adopted.
My daughter and I usually go to MARQ two to three times a month for several hours each time. I typically draw blood to test the animals for heartworms, administer vaccines and microchip the animals. I always make sure to trim all the cats’ and kittens’ toenails so they don’t accidentally scratch potential adopters! My daughter walks the dogs and plays with the cats. She has gained confidence from her volunteering. I am a tough “boss” for her at the shelter, teaching her to have a strong work ethic, attention to detail and compassion for doing what is right.
It’s paying off. I contacted one of our local news stations in the hopes they’d feature MARQ on their Pay it Forward segment. My daughter was interviewed about her volunteering on the news and, to boot, the station gave the shelter a generous donation!
The shelter also won the 2018 Adopt a Pet.com People’s Choice Award that was sponsored by Bayer. As part of the award, the shelter received $4,000 in Bayer flea and tick prevention products to help protect the dogs and cats in their care. A dog named Ava was featured in the contest. She delivered 18 puppies in a first-time foster family’s home! All the dogs were named after Kansas City Royals baseball players, and MARQ got all 19 of them adopted. They’re now 1 year old and keep in contact with the foster mom through pictures and updates.
Power to the People
Through the People’s Choice Award, animal lovers nominated an animal organization of their choice by uploading a pet photo to their personal Instagram account that mentioned the name of the shelter or rescue they support and included the hashtags #TreatedwithLovebyBayer and #Contest. Adopt-a-Pet.com announced 20 finalist organizations, then consumers voted on Adopt-a-Pet.com for their favorite. The organization with the most votes, MARQ, received $4,000 in Seresto flea and tick prevention collars. Adopt-a-Pet.com randomly selected one of the remaining finalist organizations, Our Lil Bit of Heaven, to receive $1,000 worth of Seresto.
Volunteering at MARQ is so special for my daughter and me. I’m grateful for the experience and for Bayer’s contribution to the shelter too. This truly demonstrates our commitment to a #Better Life.
