Hello friendas and friendos! Today I'm taking you on a field trip to the Austin Animal Center where I am lucky enough to volunteer. We’re peeling back the curtain on what it’s like to walk among all those kennels of homeless pets. Maybe you've never been to a shelter before, maybe you have adopted your dog from one but have never been back. Maybe the thought of going scares you or makes you cry. But I'm still bringing the shelter to you because volunteering is all about truth and beauty, and yes some pain, but more than anything, it's about hope. As I take you behind the scenes, walk around the shelter campus, meet and interact with the shelter dogs and the badass, wonderful people who work there and volunteer there, I'll be chatting with you about the importance of caring for animals. Because it's never just about animals. It touches every person who that animal ever has or will ever love. It's about community.If you’re an animal lover who has thought about volunteering at the shelter, this episode is for you. I hope you will join me there someday! And if you're already volunteering, dedicating your weekends, making the animals more adoptable by your very presence, I bow down to you. Simply put, you make the world a better place, not for glory, but for meaning. Your good energy is a lifeline, animal shelter volunteers and staff. You are so fun. You are my favorite peeps. You are heroes.Join The Animal That Changed You community on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook -- we're waiting to welcome you! Feel free to check out the website while you're at it.Please leave a rating or review of the show. Your support matters so much!Feel free to call ‪(415) 787-3159 to leave a short story about the animal who changed you - we might play yours on our next episode!Woof, meow, oink, moo, cheep (of course you know that means thanks for listening.)