I would like to thank Salisbury Post and Josh Bergeron for their excellent coverage of our volunteer program at Rowan County Animal Shelter.

   We consider the program to be in its infancy and would love to see it grow. Giving credit to those in the volunteer program and promoting its growth were the reasons that the Board of Commissioners and shelter staff recently passed a resolution to designate a Shelter Volunteer Appreciation Week. The Post article helped us accomplish that.

I had some worries going into the program. These worries were based for the most part on issues that other shelters had experienced. Those worries have not come to bear fruit in our program so far. To the contrary, it has been a new way to meet people who love animals and to make it official for others who have helped us all along.

Thank you to Ella and Janet for their kind words about the staff and to Candace Honeycutt Terry for her words of support about growing the volunteer program. I agree with Candace that having volunteers has already improved the shelter. They lend not only physical support for getting the job done, but also great moral support for the staff and animals.

Yes, there has been a bump or two, but Rowan County Animal Shelter has seen a lot of progress and improvement over the last few years. I take no credit but place it with the staff, where it belongs.

We are not done. We look forward to an increasingly better future for Rowan’s animals. We are grateful for the help and support that got us here, and we are definitely grateful for the brightness that our volunteers bring to us and the animals at Rowan County Animal Shelter.

— Bob Pendergrass

Rowan County

The writer is director of Rowan County Animal Services.