Antelope Valley Dog and Cat Rescue, Inc.

We received a comment today from a new Volunteer he seemed to get it just right visited the sanctuary today (April 21, 2009) for orientation after speaking with the volunteer coordinator, John Sholl. My idea was to visit the sanctuary and review the operation to figure out how I could be of the most help. Upon Arrival I met Vilma, the founder and caretaker of the sanctuary. What a wonderful woman! Her spirit is full of love for the animals and wants nothing more than for them to feel her love and to have a safe home with lots of food and attention. Vilma showed me around the sanctuary and as we visited the kennels, she was able to tell me the story of each and every dog; where they came from, how she was able to rescue them, how long they’ve been with her, and all about their temperament. We then moved on to the cat cages where there were an abundance of cats all mingling with each other. Each of them too had a story and Vilma was able to share some of them with me as we looked on. After the tour I asked Vilma to share with me the needs of her sanctuary. As many as the needs are, and as overwhelming as it may seem, Vilma keeps her head up and plugs on with the daily task of taking care of the animals. As a self proclaimed senior citizen with two hip replacements, Vilma has more spunk and voracity than I do at 30 years of age. I can’t tell you what my visit to the sanctuary meant to me. My experience cannot be explained in words. I commend Vilma and all of the other volunteers for their efforts and commit to them that I will assist in any way that I possibly can. Patrick "John" Kossow