As a college student, it’s hard to imagine setting too much money aside for anything other than the basics, especially when it comes to an expensive pet. The hardest part about this could be wanting a furry companion to get you through those long nights of school work. Lucky for you, people now tend to adopt animals from an animal shelter instead of buying pets from a breeder. So, as Behrend a student who wants to adopt a loving pet, where can you go?

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With multiple animal shelters here in Erie, opportunity awaits in many places. The ANNA shelter is the closest to the Behrend campus among all of them. It is located on East 10th Street, with a short 10-minute drive from campus. It is an association that has more than ten years of history of rescuing and helping homeless animals to find their new home.

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Ruth Thompson, the founder of the ANNA shelter, started this organization in 2004 after saving a dog, Anna’s, life. Ruth met her furry friend in the police station after she was found by police and was scheduled for euthanasia. Ruth took her home and cured her. By watching Anna become better and better, she decided not to only have her own pets at home, but also to develop an organization, helping more injured and neglected animals. Ruth started this organization and named it after Anna in a small residential house. This organization has continued to grow over the years, and was able to purchase a larger facility through donations. The shelter has grown from the original one dog to eighty-four dogs, one hundred and twenty-five cats and a dozen horses currently.

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Although the ANNA Shelter has been in existence for more than ten years, its mission statement and goals have remained the same since the beginning: To provide pets that are lost and scared on the street a safe environment to wait for their owners or a new responsible home; To give pets, that are abandoned by their parents, a chance to have a new family with lifelong promises; To cure pets that are injured or sick a great medical care, all the staffs in the ANNA shelter have been working for years. While achieving these missions takes a lot of efforts, laughter remains a constant in this particular shelter. Matt Thompson, the Public Relations person of the ANNA shelter describes the staffs that work at the shelter as people who “tend to think things in a positive way.” They never view any problem as trouble, as they love working with the animals. He also notes that they will do anything for the shelter and the animals to solve problems, no matter how busy or tired they are.

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In order to achieve these goals, the ANNA shelter has many programs. Like all the other shelters, people can adopt or surrender animals on location. It is important to mention that this organization has a small animal clinic next to the shelter to provide professional medical care. More interesting is that they also have some programs tied in with other organizations. For example, one of the dogs was seen in a play at the Erie Playhouse this past December. Another program was seen around the same time where people could take holiday pictures with Santa with a dog provided by the shelter.

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Those people who would like to adopt or surrender an animal are encouraged to go to the shelter anytime during its open hours which are from noon to 7 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday, noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. As for people who would like to volunteer at the shelter, you are welcome anytime during the working hours as well. The only requirement is to sign an agreement sheet at the front desk.

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Because the work is heavy and the staff is often not enough, the ANNA shelter always welcomes more volunteers. As a nonprofit organization, the shelter always needs help from the community to donate more life necessities. However, the most helpful thing that people can do to help neglected animals and the shelters like ANNA shelter is to adopt animals instead of buying.