While many people spend the Fourth of July watching fireworks, volunteers in Sacramento are spending it sitting quietly with shelter pets.
Bradshaw Animal Shelter, one of Northern California’s largest open-admission shelters, has been hosting Comfort Sessions on the evening of Independence Day for the past six years.
“While the skies light up with color, our shelter pets will be facing the loudest night of the year,” the shelter wrote in a Facebook post ahead of this year’s event. “And that’s where you come in.”
The shelter invited volunteers to comfort animals during two sessions on July 4, from 7 pm to 8:30 pm and from 8:30 pm to 10 pm.
“Come sit beside them,” the shelter urged. “Read a book. Strum a guitar. Sing a song. Your calm, soothing presence can ease their fear and help them feel safe through the pops, cracks, and booms.”
Individuals and groups of up to five people can attend, including children with adult supervision. Volunteers only need to sign up and bring a camp chair, cushion or yoga mat, plus a book to read or a soothing instrument to play.
At the time this article was written, all sessions were fully booked.
“While many of us spend the Fourth of July looking up at the fireworks,” the shelter wrote in a Facebook post, “our shelter pets are hoping someone will simply sit beside them.”
One supporter who missed out on a session suggested another way to help.
“I just made a monetary donation to Bradshaw Animal Shelter in lieu of buying fireworks. It has become my annual tradition,” the commenter wrote. “The fireworks are torture for most animals, and it breaks my heart to see all the pets that end up in our already overwhelmed shelters.”
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