By LOIS KINDLE
The Critter Adoption and Rescue Effort no-kill animal shelter in Ruskin is always looking for volunteers, including teens 16 and older. It’s a great place for them to earn community service hours towards Bright Futures Scholarships, while making a difference in the lives of the dogs and cats that temporarily live there.
“Volunteers are the lifeblood of the shelter,” said Gloria Blue, the nonprofit organization’s animal care manager. “Without them, we couldn’t keep the doors open.”
RULA URSO PHOTO
Mimi Sotonwa spends time with her favorite feline, a tuxedo cate named Angelina, in the C.A.R.E. cattery during one of her volunteer shifts at the shelter. Sotonwa loves cats but can’t have one at home since her father is allergic to them.
The “them” includes the efforts of teen volunteers, like Sumner High School senior Sanaya Sudderth, 17, who has worked at the shelter from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays for the past year.
It’s a perfect fit for the Riverview resident.
“I wanted to earn community service hours, and I love dogs,” she said. “Even after I graduate next May, I think I’m going to continue volunteering here. I plan to go to trade school to become an ultrasound tech like my mom or a veterinary assistant and later a veterinarian.
SANAYA SUDDERTH PHOTO
In addition to Ivory, the puppy she adopted from C.A.R.E., Sanaya Sudderth has two other dogs at home in Riverview: a French bulldog named Izzy, 3, and a pitbull named Macho, 8. Her love of dogs led her to do volunteer work on Saturdays at the no-kill animal shelter in Ruskin.
RULA URSO PHOTO
Sanaya Sudderth, left, recruited her friend and fellow Sumner High School senior, Olawunmi “Mimi” Sotonwa, to volunteer at C.A.R.E. Sotonwa started working at the shelter Saturdays and Sundays July 1.
Sudderth is currently in her high school’s Veterinary Assisting Program, which gives students the opportunity to learn about all aspects of animal care, including husbandry, grooming, proper restraint methods, lab skills, parasitology and preventive health care. They also get hands-on experience working in the program’s once weekly doggy day care, where they perform services like clipping nails, bathing, eye/ear cleaning, brushing, de-shedding and more for the dogs of teachers and students.
Upon successful completion of the program, Sudderth will take the Florida Veterinary Medical Association industry certification exam to become a certified veterinary assistant.
As an advanced student enrolled in Sumner’s Cambridge University’s AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education diploma program), she and four others completed a project to address global populations of stray animals. The goal was to provide solutions to the local governments of at least three locales of their choosing to address animal welfare.
Meanwhile, back at C.A.R.E., Sudderth spends her Saturday afternoons, walking, playing with and socializing the shelter’s canine residents, feeding them, working on their basic obedience skills and cleaning kennels.
SANAYA SUDDERTH PHOTO
Sumner High School senior Sanaya Sudderth and her classmate Zariah “Heaven” Sanchez hold a ball python in Sumner’s Veterinary Assisting Program, in which they’re learning about all aspects of animal care.
RULA URSO PHOTO
Seventeen-year-old Sanaya Sudderth holds Ivory, the puppy she bonded with while working Saturdays for the past year as a volunteer for the Critter Adoption and Rescue Effort no-kill animal shelter in Ruskin.
“I obviously like the experience of working with different dog breeds and meeting people who come to [potentially] adopt them,” she said. “And I’ve over 100 community service hours since I started.”
Sudderth met one dog at C.A.R.E. she just couldn’t resist. She and a puppy she worked with named Ivory formed a special bond, and the teen [with her parents’ consent] ended up adopting the dog. Ivory’s sister, Ebony, who was relinquished to C.A.R.E. at the same time as Ivory, got adopted the same day, Sudderth said.
Ivory now weighs about 40 pounds. She has two canine siblings – a French bulldog name Izzy, 3, and a pitbull named Macho, 8.
Sudderth even recruited her friend Olawunmi “Mimi” Sotonwa, a 17-year-old Sumner senior who lives in South Fork, to volunteer at C.A.R.E.
Sotonwa, who plans to become a prosecuting attorney, started working on Saturdays and Sundays at the shelter July 1. Since she loves cats, she chose to work with the shelter’s feline population. Her job is to feed, play with and help socialize the kittens and adult cats, clean litter boxes and feed its outdoor feral cats.
“Cats are my favorite animals, and volunteering here was an opportunity for me to be with them,” she said. “My mom doesn’t like cats, and my dad is allergic to them.
“[The job] is a great learning experience and good way for me to earn community service hours for a Bright Futures scholarship.”
C.A.R.E. is always in need of additional volunteers. Teens must be at least 16 years old to apply.
“We’ve had a shortage due to the change in Bright Futures criteria and greatly appreciate our teen volunteers,” said Joann With, C.A.R.E board president. “They’re so enthusiastic and a joy to work with. We’re very flexible with them and their schedules.”
Interested in volunteering? For more information, call Karen Transu, volunteer coordinator, at 813-645-2273.