Our "Best Friend" Honored Volunteer: Lori W.

 

Lori tell us.....

What BFLA programs/events/volunteer roles do you find yourself participating in? 

Generally I volunteer with the dogs, I enjoy walking them and taking them for "adventures" away from the facility for a change of scenery.  I also help with the laundry, spot clean kennels when needed and mend the beds and toys (including the kitty hammocks).  I  volunteer at offsite events like the Super Adoption Events and Strut Your Mutt as well.

 

I can't adopt or foster right now and I don't always have the means to donate monetarily but I do have time to volunteer since my two sons are both grown.  When I first signed up to volunteer, I figured it would only be on weekends since I live and work full time in the West San Fernando Valley but I now find myself at NKLA between 5-7 days each week.  The staff and volunteers are amazing and I want to be a part of making Los Angeles a no kill city.

My son adopted his dog from Wags and Walks in November of 2013 and I started volunteering with them in January of 2014.  NKLA had an express orientation that Wags and Walks invited me to attend and I started regularly volunteering at NKLA in June of 2014..  

 

When I'm not volunteering, I'm usually spending time with family including my grand pittie, Koufax who pretty much got me started on this path.  I also volunteer with Karma Rescue.  Lately I've been combining my creative side with my rescue volunteering side by making flower and bow ties for the dogs at NKLA and Mission Hills with the hopes that it helps to get them noticed more.

 

Do you have a favorite story to share about an experience volunteering with Best Friends LA? Share it!  
One of my favorite adoptions was Roomba's, I have a soft spot for the "quirky" pups so I was drawn to her and noticed that she was overlooked by adopters since she tended to stay in the back of her kennel.  She was one of those dogs that takes awhile to warm up to new people and although she did have a few meet and greets, everyone that met her said basically the same thing, they just didn't feel a connection with her.  She even seemed to intimidate some of the volunteers (she had a "see staff" by her name on the white board due to the fact that anyone walking her needed to know that she tended to eat anything she found, hence her name).  I started taking her offsite on adventures and bringing her into the front lobby area to get used to meeting people and to get her noticed more in her kennel, started putting flowers on her collar and dressing her up - she had quite an impressive wardrobe!  I mentioned to Claudia Perrone that it would be nice if Roomba could go on the Fox Good Day L.A. Pet Project and made sure that she had a cute sweater and flower to wear for her TV debut.  During the Zappos Adoption Event that started the Friday after Thanksgiving, Roomba had several meet and greets but still hadn't been adopted, then Sunday evening a lady came in specifically to meet the dog she'd seen on TV and  on-line (her profile picture was re-done with her in the heart sweater and flower she wore on TV).  I asked Katie if I could go in and talk to Amy before Roomba was brought in and I explained to her that she needed to give Roomba time to warm up to her and gave her some treats to help the meet and greet go well since food is definitely the way to Roomba's heart. I really liked Amy from the get go, especially when she told me she was the same way when meeting new people and I was on pins and needles hoping this was finally going to be Roomba's long awaited happily ever after.  The meeting went well and Amy asked me some additional questions about Roomba and they went home together that evening!  Today Roomba is being treated like the princess she is and many of us volunteers are following her adventures on Instagram @Roomba_woomba.  Her adopter kept her name because honestly, it perfectly describes her.  Dressing up Roomba was the inspiration for me to start making more flowers and bow ties for the dogs to help them get noticed.  
 

I currently have two kitties, Nikko and Nara - they are brother and sister and are 9 years old.  I've had them since they were 6 weeks old.  They are named after two of my favorite places in Japan as I got them just after I had visited my younger son in Japan back in 2008.