Scotland Neck Youth Goes to the Dogs
Local Scotland Neck youth Kira Hopkins has literally “gone to the dogs”. She has been donating her time recently to the socialization and training of various dogs kenneled at the Down East Animal Refuge (DEAR) shelter.
Hopkins, teenage daughter of Tim and Debbie Hopkins of Scotland Neck, has been involved at the local, non-profit shelter for over a year. During that time, Kira has volunteered her time both at the shelter and at various fundraising events.
Kira’s day at the shelter very frequently involves assisting with the walking of all 32 no-kill shelter residents. She also assists in cleaning of the kennels and making sure all of the dogs get their fair share of food at dinner time. She realizes that it takes a special person to devote time to forgotten and abandoned animals.
Sometimes it can be challenging to take on dogs that equal her in both size and weight. This does not deter the young Kira from making sure all the dogs get the same amount of attention and love. She knows that each of the dogs has a different personality and each has to be handled on a one-on-one basis.
Kira is also always under the constant watchful eyes of other volunteers. Each shelter volunteer understands that it takes teamwork to accomplish feeding, cleaning, training, and socialization of the dogs. Plus, Kira realizes for safety reasons, it is always good to have others around while feeding 32 dogs with 32 different personalities.
When not at the shelter with the dogs, Kira can be found at various local DEAR attended fundraising events. During the Scotland Neck Car Show, Kira and several of her friends took it upon themselves to walk some new residents of the shelter. Kira knows the importance of making sure that the shelter keeps high visibility in the community. More exposure at events such as car show insures that people know that DEAR is eager to take in and adopt dogs out to good families.
DEAR is a non-profit, no-kill animal shelter that has been in operation since 2003. The shelter solely operates on donations, grants, and funds collected from various fundraising events. The shelter also depends on volunteers to assist with day-to-day operations. Please contact DEAR if you wish to donate your time at the shelter or at a fundraising event.
If you have a question concerning rabies clinics, adoptions, fundraisers, donations, or the DEAR shelter, please contact Down East Animal Refuge at 252-826-2500, information@downeastanimalrefuge.org.
(Story originally appeared in the October 17, 2007, edition of The Commonwealth Progress)