Volunteer Spotlight: Andy

This month we’re highlighting Andy, a volunteer-turned-foster-turned-adopter. He’s best known around the Jefferson Park pet resource center as the go-to guy for handyman projects. It’s thanks to Andy that the facility has all of the bells and whistles that make it easy to care for the dogs and cats there.

When and how did you first get involved with ACPB?

My wife and I first got involved with ACPB in 2012, when we moved to LA from San Diego. We have always been animal lovers and know there are so many animals looking for a loving and caring home. This is especially true for pits, and we just wanted to find a way that we could help. While in San Diego we also volunteered for a pit bull rescue group called It's The Pits and did what we could to help there.

What do you do as an ACPB volunteer?

I am an outdoorsy kinda person and so I started off with ACPCB by taking our dogs out for pack walks/hikes. It's a great opportunity for myself to unwind while doing something good for the pups waiting to find their forever home. I really enjoy the pack walks, it enables us to show off how awesome these dogs are, and hell, I get to hang out with an awesome puppy for majority of a day! I too am also a fairly handy person and have lately been finding myself at the Jefferson Park Shelter to bring it back into service after ACPB acquired it in April. There, I have a list all to myself, and if something is broken or needs to be installed, I'll be there to fix or install it!

What has it been like getting the Jefferson Park facility ready?

It has been a tough process that is still underway to make it perfect. However, it is very rewarding to know that we (ACPB) now have this great resource that will allow us to save more lives in LA!

What's been the best part of volunteering? The most challenging?

The best part of volunteering is of course the dogs and cats. However, that is closely followed by all the other amazing volunteers that are out there with you, with the same objective and passion for saving as many lives as possible and putting a stop to the spread of misinformation of "bully breeds". The most challenging?! Not laughing and being rude to a mother when she told her child not to come near a 4 month old, hairless pit bull shivering from the cold in a pink jacket... because "that is an attack dog...". This is when I have to bite my tongue and calmly educate the facts that pit bulls are not attack dogs and that they are amazing companions, etc., etc.

What would you say to someone who's on the fence about volunteering?

Volunteering with ACPB is an amazing opportunity to meet and work with a wonderful group of people with a shared interest in animal welfare and who are the voices for the loving animals that cannot be heard. What has been your most memorable ACPB moment? My most memorable moment with ACPB is when Mackenzie walks into our home with this baby hairless gremlin dog named Twiggy who we were to foster. She was frightened and covered in poop and it was when my wife and I were giving her a bath that we knew we'd be foster fails, and that our home would be the forever home and family for Twiggy.

Thank you, Andy, for everything you do!