By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
“They’d hear me talking and come to the door meowing,” Phyllis Sharp said with a fond smile. Sharp is Sherwood Animal Shelter’s “cat lady” and was named its volunteer of the year a few months ago.
Sharp, a North Little Rock resident, began volunteering at the shelter last June. Her daughter had volunteered before her, but isn’t now due to illness.
Initially planning for a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule, she comes in to spend at least an hour most days the shelter is open. She feeds the cats treats and helps them socialize by petting them, speaking to them and even singing to new feline residents on occasion.
“Just getting them friendly (is the best part of volunteering),” Sharp said. “My exposing them to humans makes them more adoptable.”
She talked about how her 12-year-old cat, Miss Kitty, looked like a Russian blue and had to be put down because she developed a tumor.
“I think if I had a cat at home, I wouldn’t spend as much time with these,” Sharp explained.
She also said she enjoys helping the cats out because there are often more volunteers available who prefer dogs.
Volunteers who help take care of shelter hounds include the Hum family of North Little Rock and Rebecca Ellerbee of Cabot.
Ellerbee, who has been helping the shelter out for about a year, said, “I like bonding with the animals here and seeing them adopted gives you the satisfaction of knowing they’re going to a good home.”
Lara Hum, also of Hum’s Hardware in Gravel Ridge, has been volunteering since August and brings her daughters, 17 and 12, and her 7-year-old son to the shelter with her.
Shelter employees even hang Jonah’s (her son’s) coloring- book pictures, like the one last week of what looks a lot like a lizard, on the metal filing cabinets behind the front desk.
“It’s good for the kids to learn to give back,” Lara said. “We love animals…we help the animals in some way, we help them be more comfortable while they’re here.”
The family owns four dogs and began volunteering after seeing “Last Chance Highway”, a television show that follows a group of animal rescuers.
They feed the dogs, bathe them, do laundry and play with them in the yard as well as helping out with shelter fundraising events, like the pet fair in April.
Lara’s 12-year-old daughter, Sydney, also takes pictures of the animals to post on Petfinder.org, an online database of adoptable pets in the care of about 10,000 animal-welfare organizations in the U.S., Canada and other countries.
The family comes every day during the school year and they show up nearly every day now.
The shelter, at 6500 North Hills Boulevard, is currently hosting a photography contest. Individuals are invited to email a photo taken of an animal currently available for adoption from the shelter to sherwoodpaws@gmail.com by July 29.
The purpose of the contest is to promote the available pets at the shelter.
An entry cannot be a professional photo and it should include photographer’s name, the animal’s control number, a phone number and an email address.
The shelter has a small selection of bows and bandannas, but participants are welcome to bring what they want to use.
The winner will be determined by the number of “likes” it receives once it is posted on the Sherwood Shelter Facebook page. Photos will be posted until July 29 and the winner will be announced on Aug. 1.
