High Life: A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Pet Project Fetches Rewards

On a typical summer morning Marina High School’s Crystal Keller can be found working as early as 7:30. The main difference between her job and those held by most others is that Keller doesn’t get paid.

Though the idea of losing valuable sleep without monetary reward would cause many to cringe, to Keller that does not matter. The 15-year-old sophomore has been a volunteer at the Huntington Beach Humane Society since August, 1991, and sometimes devotes as many as 10 hours a day to doing what she loves best: caring for animals.

“I think it’s a good opportunity, and it’s nice to know I’m helping out,” Keller said. “It’s beneficial to see the animals be adopted after they’ve been in the shelter.”

Keller is not alone in her devotion to the animal world. Other county high school students have found animal shelters to be the perfect place to wait out the recession while gaining valuable work experience.

“Every time you go into the cage, they’re just so ready to love you, and they just want you to pet them and play with them,” said Sheila Whitney, 15, a sophomore from Cypress High. Sheila has been a volunteer for several months at the Seal Beach Animal Care Center along with her twin sister, Stacey.

“The point is to just be there,” Sheila said. “Our main jobs are to pet and love the animals. That’s probably one of the best things for them.”

That’s often one of the best things for the volunteers, too, who often get more satisfaction from an animal’s unconditional love than from money.

“I’d rather be a volunteer than get paid for something that I love to do anyway,” Sheila said.

The Seal Beach center is operated in conjunction with the city’s Police Department. Except for an animal control officer who is paid by the city, the center is run entirely by volunteers.

The junior volunteer program has been in operation for two years. Students interested in participating must attend two one-hour classes on training, regulations, legalities and animal care. Upon completion of the classes, students and their adult sponsors work together for at least 30 hours. After that, the students are able to care for the animals on their own.

An interesting aspect of the volunteer program is the notable absence of boys. The two shelters contacted did not have any high school male volunteers at the time of the interviews, though some boys have spent time at the Seal Beach center while working toward Eagle Scout recognition.

According to Annelle Aviani, past president of the center, “There’s certainly a higher ratio of girls to boys. It’s probably due to the focus on nurturing. Sometimes boys find it wimpy. Plus, they’re more involved in sports and that kind of thing.”

Tisha Wagner, Keller’s boss and assistant kennel manager at the Huntington Beach shelter, agreed. “I guess more girls like animals and guys prefer sports and cars,” Wagner said.

However “wimpy” nurturing may be perceived, the hands-on training is beneficial for the volunteers, who “don’t get involved in the paperwork or behind-the-desk work,” Aviani said.

One of the most important aspects for many of the volunteers is that the shelters they work at being pro-life, only putting animals to sleep if they are sick or suffering. Both the Huntington Beach and Seal Beach shelters follow this policy.

“I could never work in a place that puts the animals to sleep,” said Jennifer Gonzalez, 15, a sophomore at Los Alamitos High. “Seeing them one day and then coming back the next, they’d be gone, and you’d know where they were.”

Gonzalez’s mother, Jackie, is the current president of the Seal Beach center.

Keller, who also said she would not work in a shelter that killed animals, has assisted in animal rescues. Her most recent was the July 19 effort to save pets abandoned during the earthquakes in Yucca Valley.

“After the Yucca Valley quakes, thousands of animals have been abandoned out there,” Aviani of the Seal Beach center said. “They have a shelter that has room for 34 dogs, but now they have over 100. They’re killing an average of 50 dogs a day, every day.”

Keller had planned to drive to Yucca Valley with some other shelter volunteers, but was told the night before to remain in Huntington Beach to prepare its shelter for the arrival of the animals. She stayed and helped Wagner, who said that “the majority of the dogs (from the rescue effort) have already been adopted. But I don’t think I could have made it without Crystal.”