During this quarantine, you and your family may have decided that there is something missing from your household. Something with four legs and some whiskers. If you are considering getting a new furry friend or you just love animals, the animal shelter is the place to be. Of course during this virus chaos, hours are different and some things have changed at the shelter, but you can always look ahead at the future.

The Frederick County Animal Shelter located on Rosemont Avenue has plenty of animals waiting for their forever homes. This shelter does not kill for quantity control, and takes in any animal that comes their way. Animals are found as strays, surrendered by their owners, or rescued from abuse cases. When an animal comes in, they are given a couple of days off of the adoption floor to get used to their new environment. When they are moved to the adoption floor, anyone is allowed to come in and see them. If you are interested in petting or playing with an animal, a volunteer can help you out. Whether you are looking for a cat, dog, rabbit, hamster, or even a bird stop by the shelter to see what animals are in.

Volunteers make a big difference at the shelter. When an animal is stuck in a cage all day, they need some sort of attention in order to keep them from being depressed which can cause a lot of problems. Volunteers are able to open the cages, hold the cats, take the dogs out for a walk, and even set up a pen to play with a rabbit. Some animals are there for days while others are there for months, so it is really important that they have people to interact with them. In order to become a volunteer, you need to attend an orientation session and then sign up for training. Both of these are only about an hour and can be done within a week. I highly recommend becoming a volunteer when the quarantine is over because the animals will love the attention and I promise it will be the highlight of your day.

From the outside, the shelter is a brick building that doesn’t seem like a shelter, but when you come inside you will find a wonderful staff of people who are ready to help you find a new furry friend, volunteers that will gladly answer your questions, and you will meet the sweetest animals you have ever seen. Even in the quarantine you can still look at the animals! Just hop onto Petfinder and search for the Frederick County Animal Shelter. The shelter also runs the “K.A.T. Cafe” which you can check out on Facebook or at https://www.katcafe.net/. If you’ve never been to the shelter, stop by when you can and maybe you will fall in love with a critter!