Some innocent, fuzzy and loving creatures may have been dealt unlucky cards, but students can give them a new life. The Milwaukee Humane Society is working to pair local students with adopted pets.
The adoption process at the Milwaukee Humane Society includes initial vaccinations along with adoption counselors who work with students one-on-one. Counselors work to ensure students can commit the appropriate time, financial responsibility and medical care for pets; they also help with pet-owner personality matching.
New pet adopters will also receive a bag of starter food, a certificate for one free veterinary service and a microchip-tracking device for their pet.
Sarah Collins, an adoption counselor at the Milwaukee Humane Society, said pet owners can expect spend $1200-$1500 each year. In case there isn’t enough cash stashed in a students’ pet fund at the moment, Collins recommends Care Credit. Care Credit is a credit card program that pays for pet medical expenses without interest as long as the user makes set payment dates.
Students interested in pet adoptions should also consider their property. Not every city apartment or home is pet-friendly. If students are interested in finding information about pet-friendly housing, the humane society provides a list of flexible landlords and properties.
There are countless pros to owning a dog as a college student. Students will always have a life coach who welcomes them home at the door, a best friend who supports them if they eat an entire pizza, an exercise partner who will help them work off that pizza and a stress reliever who will love them unconditionally.
Carrie Bingham, a UW-Milwaukee Alumni, adopted her Chihuahua, Cosmo Kramer, when she was 21 years old.
“Having a cuddle buddy every night to help keep the bed warm during the cold winter months and that he was always happy to see me after a long day of classes helped with stress,” said Bingham.
Not only does the Milwaukee Humane Society have dogs available for adoption, but they have kittens, cats, gerbils, mice, birds, Guinea pigs and rabbits. It takes a lot of helpers to keep all of these animals fed, clean and happy.
“You’ll find volunteers in every nook and cranny of this building,” said Vice President of Communication Angela Speed. “The Milwaukee Humane Society has around 1,200 volunteers (ranging) from 13-year-olds feeding orphaned baby birds to people in their 80s greeting people at the door.”
Once completing volunteer orientation, the center requires a six-month commitment of at least 2-3 hours per week. Speed said the Milwaukee Humane Society runs a very successful volunteer program that has very high retention rates.
“My favorite part of working here is the privilege and honor it is to be a voice for the animals,” said Speed. “Every animal that comes to us has a different story… I work with smart, dedicated and passionate people. I am proud to work with such an amazing team.”
Another avenue of volunteering that is in high demand right now is fostering. If a student cannot make a long-term commitment to an animal, or if they want to test the water of being an animal parent, fostering is a great trial run. Foster parents house animals for one to three weeks. These animals may be too young to be admitted into the adoption program, have medical issues, or perhaps came from abusive homes.
UW-Milwaukee students have the opportunity to make a difference in their local animal community by adopting, fostering or volunteering at the Milwaukee Humane Society.
If interested in being a part of this program, click for more information here.