DSPCA Volunteering

I just want to start of by saying that I couldn't be more excited to start volunteering with the DSPCA (Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) especially after today's visit. After learning about the opportunities available to us as volunteers I can honestly say that I'm anticipating some great moments spent with caring people and loving animals.

Today was especially brutal though I must admit. I got off work this morning at 7 am and my appointment was at 11 for orientation so there really wasn't any time for me to sleep which I knew was going to be rough but the opportunity was too important to worry about the sleeping. Anyways, getting there was easy enough, I rode the tram for the first time and found my connecting bus quite easily. Getting off the bus, I realized that the DSPCA was pretty removed from everything which made for some beautiful scenery, much like the kind of scenery I pictured when I thought of moving to Ireland. Miles of green hills and trees, just gorgeous. 

Anyways, I got there and was greeted by some kind volunteers and got signed in before heading to a classroom with the other potential volunteers for a little presentation on the DSPCA. The presenter was super friendly and engaging and you could tell he cared for animals deeply. After the presentation, we took a tour of the facility which included a veterinary office, rescued farm animal area, puppy / dog training area, dog kennels, and a cat house. Walking through the area with the cats, my eyes literally lit up as I realized that one of the opportunities was to clean out the cat areas and spend time with the cats. Can you honestly think of a better way to spend 4 hours?

Anyways, after orientation I rushed out to make sure I could catch the bus back to Dundrum because I knew after the 1 o clock bus there wouldn't be another one until 4 and I was so exhausted I couldn't fathom waiting 3 hours. I made it to the stop and as a couple of the other volunteers reached the stop, we all discovered that in that particular direction the bus went from 10:50 am to 4:10 pm which meant I was going to be waiting 3 hours to catch a bus back. I was literally devastated because I was so bloody tired and my legs were already sore from walking home from work / to the bus / to the DSPCA. We all quickly realized we were going to have to walk until we discovered another bus that would take us back.

After over an hour of fatigued walking, I found a bus stop that serviced the city center. I then discovered that the area I was travelling to was more expensive than what cash I had on me and I started to freak because I literally had no idea how I was going to get back. Luckily, when the bus came I hid on the top floor of the bus and managed to avoid detection and ride all the way back to the city center. I then had to walk another half hour to get back to my hostel. By this point, every inch of my body was throbbing with exhaustion and I was approaching 24 hours of being awake. 

Before laying down, I wrote down the bus number I needed to reach the DSPCA and decided that when I woke up I was going to reach out to them and suggest additional buses because that is a major deterrent for people who may want to volunteer but don't drive. Hopefully I can convince them to add a few extra routes because without them, I imagine between working nights and volunteering, I'll probably keel over and die from exhaustion lol

The moral here is that I had and amazing day despite the hardships and I cannot wait to spend my days playing with cats, walking dogs, playing with puppies, and feeding farm animals. It's an actual dream come true and I'm so grateful that I forced myself to go despite being so overwhelmingly tired.

HAPPY VEG