CARENCRO, La. — On Jan. 6, Acadiana Animal Aid made a post to Facebook highlighting a few of the volunteers that helped to make 2023 the most successful year the shelter has seen.
"We had 260 participating foster families for the year, who housed 1,013 animals!" the post said. "We could never do what we do without our fosters, who took in 54% of all Acadiana Animal Aid pets!"
One of the foster volunteers celebrated was Cheyenne Vead, who cared for 43 dogs, including nursing moms and litters.
"I was never without a puppy or a group of puppies," Vead said. "I just love it. It's great. It's like you get all the fun without the responsibility of it. You get to play with puppies, cuddle with them, take them outside, take them on little adventures, and then they find their family, and you get that little memory with them."
The Facebook post also mentioned the volunteers who helped at the shelter in 2023.
"We also had 192 volunteers put in a total of 7,369 hours across multiple departments! That is a 58% increase in volunteer hours compared to the previous year!" the post said. "We are SO lucky and grateful for the time and energy so many of you give to our organization."
Even with this success, Acadiana Animal Aid employees say they have no plans for stagnancy in 2024.
"We still have our goals set very high," said Krista Deguelle, the foster and community outreach coordinator at Acadiana Animal Aid. "We want to surpass all those adoption numbers. I'd love to double my foster families and double my volunteer hours, but what I always say is I also would love to be out of a job, and that takes community to do that."
So, if you would like to get involved at Acadiana Animal Aid, whether that be through adoption, fostering, volunteering or donating, you can visit the Acadiana Animal Aid website.
There are tabs for each way you can get involved, and according to Deguelle, there is something for everyone.
Volunteering can be as simple as coming to take one of the dogs for a walk or spending time socializing with the cats in a warm room. Just fill out a form on the website, and the shelter will contact you.
Or you can become a "Guardian Angel" with a donation to the shelter.
The shelter makes fostering as easy as possible. There is also a foster form available on the website. The shelter will contact you, and when you come to pickup your foster pet, they will provide you with food, a collar, a leash, medication and anything else you may need.
