More than two dozen San Diego State University student-athletes spent Valentine’s Day volunteering at the San Diego Humane Society Saturday, tending to animals who are up for adoption.
Students on the SDSU volleyball, soccer, cross country, basketball, swim & dive and football teams spent the day competing for the attention of 1,200 dogs, cats and other adoptable pets at the Morena neighborhood facility, providing what SDHS spokeswoman Nina Thompson called “critical support to shelter operations.”
Ciara Jade Mitchell, a women’s soccer player, recorded a public service video urging San Diegans to adopt a pet.
“Being a college athlete is super rewarding, but sometimes it can be stressful,” Mitchell said. “Fun fact. Animals help lower blood pressure, so adopt today.”
The student athletes’ efforts will directly impact the animals through nutritional care, shelter logistics and adoption readiness, according to Thompson.
They hand-crafted 460 meatballs for canine enrichment and afternoon snacks, folded two large bins of laundry to help ensure clean kennels for 700- plus dogs, and prepared 100 adoption packets to help transition pets into their forever homes.
But it wasn’t all work. They also got to have their pictures taken while playing with some of the more than 700 dogs who are ready for adoption.
“I’m here because I love animals. I have a bunch of animals back home and I miss them,” volleyball player Annelise Rising said. “There are so many cute dogs to adopt here.”
To learn more about the San Diego Humane Society’s adoptable pets, visit sdhumane.org/adopt.