A Thanksgiving Romp Allows a Respite

Like hundreds of Washington area residents, Lynn Foster and Teri Nevarez spent a good part of Thanksgiving feeding the homeless.

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And walking them. And petting them. And cleaning out their kennels and litter boxes.

Foster and Nevarez were among a half-dozen volunteers who spent part of their holiday at Friends of Homeless Animals, a dog and cat shelter nestled in a bucolic, 40-acre patch of woods in Loudoun County.

The volunteers allowed the eight paid staff members who care for the animals to spend the holiday with their families, said Joe Pillera, director of the facility. At any given time, the shelter, which does not euthanize animals, is home to about 120 dogs and about 60 cats, including a dozen or so feral cats that roam the grounds.

The animals come from across the Washington area, including from animal shelters in Prince George's, Montgomery, and Fairfax counties that at times are forced to euthanize animals when they are at capacity.

The people who showed up for Thanksgiving duty are among approximately 50 "hard-core" volunteers who help care for the animals, Pillera said.

For the volunteers, many of whom have adopted animals from the shelter, it was a labor of love.

Foster arrived about 8 a.m. to help clean the kennels, feed the dogs and make sure the ones that needed it got their medication. She walked more than a dozen dogs and handed out treats to Celeste, an affectionate "hound-hound-hound" mix.

By noon, Foster's T-shirt and blue jeans were liberally smeared with dried mud from dogs joyfully leaping on her.

Foster, 51, couldn't have been happier.

"When you drive up and all the dogs are barking because they know you're here to walk them, that makes it all worthwhile," Foster said.

Foster, who works as an accountant for a French restaurant/bakery and lives in Reston, said she would join an in-progress Thanksgiving gathering with friends later.