Breeding second chances: Friendly faces of the Lillian Allbon Animal Shelter
Tucked away along the twisted Smith Road just outside of Amherst, Nova Scotia, sits the Lillian Allbon Animal Shelter. Established in Springhill, the haven for cats and dogs eagerly awaiting a new home relocated to the border town more than 20 years ago.
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But the shelter doesn’t just provide a second chance for its animals. It gives its workers, volunteers, and the rest of the community the same opportunity.
After 34 years working for the provincial government, Susan Trask retired and became a volunteer two years ago after her husband passed away in April of 2017.
“After he passed away, what do I do with myself? I was lonely,” said Trask. “And I love animals. I have two horses; I have two parrots; I have three cats; I have chickens and dogs. So, I came here, and I’ve been here since. They can’t get rid of me.”
Trask often brings along a furry coworker: her dog Fergus. The year-old border collie spends his time playing with the other animals, skipping along with one ear stuck stubbornly in the air.
Fergus also likes to play fetch with visitors. When you walk in the door, he sits at the welcome mat, waiting with a chew-toy placed at your feet.
Tanya Teed also brings her dog to work. She’s the manager and only full-time employee. To her, watching the animals go is the hardest part of the job. It’s also the most rewarding.
“You try not to get too attached to them because you know eventually they’re leaving,” said Teed. “But there is the occasional animal that you really, really like. But just knowing that they’re going to a new home, that really helps.”
Sometimes the thought of watching them go is too painful. Teed has adopted one dog and two cats herself.
Most animals arrive because they’re unwanted, abused, or because their families simply can’t afford to keep them. Some have been there for years.
Others only stay temporarily. The shelter houses those lost and waiting to be reunited with their owners.
Teed remembers being contacted by a concerned owner whose dog had broken away from its chain and wandered off. It was found days later wrapped around a tree, dangerously thin, and drinking water out of a nearby puddle.
By teaming with the Autumn House, a local home for abused women, the shelter also finds foster homes for pets of survivors afraid to leave them with violent partners.
Dubbed the Safe Pet program, their website says it “allows women to put their lives back together knowing their pet is safe.”
Trask said victims often stay with their abusers for their pets’ safety.
“It’s amazing the things people do for their pets,” said Trask.
Pumpkin, an orange domestic short-haired tabby, knows this all too well. When Teed got a report from someone who found a bag of newborn kittens at the end of her driveway, Pumpkin came to the rescue.
The three kittens were taken in, and Pumpkin fed them while nursing her own newborn litter. While two of the kittens did not survive, one from each litter, the rest of the combined lot has been adopted. Pumpkin remains.
Like Teed, Trask finds it hard sometimes to watch the animals leave. Although she loves them all, she says the hardest task is spreading it.
“The unfortunate part of working here is that you just don’t have enough time to love them.”