The weather forecast showed clear, sunny skies on Sept. 24, 2023. The perfect weather for a fun run with the animals. West Ranch’s Cross Country team volunteered at the Castaic Animal Care Center and ran with three of the many dogs that were in the shelter, in hopes of getting more media attention toward the need for adoption. They ran two miles in total with three special dogs: Bubba the pitbull, Buck the husky and Smokey the border collie.
Senior and cross country team member, Alison Orwin, described her perspective of the event. “[Running with dogs is] more fun because the dogs have so much energy, and it makes it more enjoyable. I thought it would be fun [and] I was right.” The team enjoyed their time with their new furry friends, as they spent a few more minutes together before it was time to leave, in hopes that the three pups would be adopted soon.
Freshman Mazzlyn Ridder posted about her experience on Instagram, giving a spotlight to the three pups. She recollected her adventure running with the dogs: “I ran with the husky, Buck.” She added, “Running with the dogs [helps] bring out their personalities, so you can see how they actually are when you bring them home.” After a long time inside their kennels, the dogs had an opportunity to let loose and run for hours with the team.
This whole event could not have been done without the cross country coach, Coach Cirricione. As the team’s coach, she’s always looking for ways to make practice more enjoyable and this event was the perfect solution. She recalled, “I actually saw this being done at a high school in Florida, on social media and I was like, ‘Okay. We have to do this, this is amazing.’” Not only did it help the team practice, it also helped the community and its animals by spreading awareness to everyone through social media. Thanks to the many promoting posts of the cross country team members, animal-lovers are now aware of a new place to meet their future best friend.
Christine Quesada, the volunteering services director at the care center, mentioned, “We really want to do this more often… it’s definitely very cute and very fun, and we’re grateful for you guys [being] here.” While cross country’s run with dogs did help the shelter, the shelter’s own volunteers work hard to ensure that all the animals are adopted. Cynthia Ressler, one of the care center’s frequent volunteers, takes care of the animals at the Castaic Animal Care Center. One part of Cynthia’s volunteer work is teaching dogs loveable tricks: “Even the simplest tricks of sit, a handshake, taking treats gently, walking nicely [or] learning how to walk on a leash” can boost the chance of getting adopted, and running with the cross country team helped the animals greatly. A lot of the animals have little to no experience with humans. By teaching tricks, the animals get used to human interactions and become more appealing to future adopters.
After spending time with the dogs for more than three hours, Coach Cirricione had a couple last words to say: “[I feel] relieved, [and] overwhelmed, it kind of brought me to tears a little bit just to see these kids come out… They got out of bed and they came here to do something kind for the community and for these animals. And so I feel so proud of our team.” Even after running the whole day before, the cross country team still kept their grit and determination, and turned their focus to help local animals in need.
Wildcats, if you’re interested in adopting an animal in need, visit the Castaic Animal Care Center or go to their website.
