Elnatan Lemma
The Heritage Humane Society Foster Volunteers are a critical part of our organization. Every year our amazing foster volunteers dedicate countless hours to caring for homeless pets that need extra attention and love. They open their hearts and homes to these animals and we are incredibly grateful for their dedication. Did you know that in 2019, a total of 555 pets were fostered!
This month we wanted to highlight one of these amazing foster volunteers. Elnatan fostered one of our long-term dog residents at the shelter, Pepper. Elnatan is currently a senior at the College of William and Mary. She is doing her studies from home this semester so she thought it would be a great time to foster. Below are some words from Elnatan about Pepper and her experience as a foster volunteer.
It is hard to list out the ways in which Pepper has positively impacted my life because the list can honestly go on forever. She is such a loving, smart dog that just wants to go wherever you are going and sit by your side. Although she is more of a medium energy dog, she loves joining me on my morning runs. So, my daily jogs have been a lot more fun with my buddy who stays right next to me the entire time. Even having an additional reason to just walk around my neighborhood without my phone as a distraction has been such a positive thing for my life. I think with the pandemic, more people are starting to appreciate any chance they get to go outside. However, having the first thing I do when I wake up be to go on a walk has made my days so much more peaceful and gives me more chances to appreciate my surroundings.
She has added to my happiness in more ways than I can explain. All of my housemates have loved having her around and having her give us more opportunities to go out to new spots that we can explore. We all love to cuddle up next to her while we are doing our work or watching a movie. The thought of not having her with me breaks my heart, but I want her to have the fun and happy life she deserves with all of the attention on her and no other pet. I feel so privileged to get the chance to love her as much as I do and get her to her next family with as much love and stability as I can provide her.
UPDATE! We are thrilled to let everyone know that Pepper was adopted on November 16 to a wonderful family! Pepper originally came to our shelter in July 2020 and Elnatan was an amazing foster mom to her. She gave Pepper a loving home while she was waiting for the right family to fall in love with her.
