Compassion in Action

Compassion in Action

By Lily Shook

SENECA, Pa, February, 6, 2025 - “One of the things I wanted to do when I retired was to volunteer at the humane society. I have had dogs my entire life growing up and, as an adult, they have given me a lot of pleasure and I thought it's time to give back,” stated Yolanda Vargason, volunteer at the Venango County Humane Society.

At the Venango County Humane Society, the volunteers and staff come together with determination and become a community of people with love for cats and dogs, helping the helpless. 

“I think the people there are very conscientious. They really like the job that they do, and they really care about the animals,” Vargason explained.

When it comes to 5 year volunteer Yolanda Vargason, when she's not nursing or delivering food to schools in her free time for Love INC. (Love in the Name of Christ) in Titusville, you can find her spending quality time with the dogs at Venango County Humane Society. 

“When I go in there and they just got a new dog from somewhere, and it’s growling and snarling, I just kind of slowly make friends with it. And hopefully, by the time I leave, or at least after a couple days, I'll be able to pet it, and it basically becomes my friend,” she explained.

Vargason’s daily routine consists of cleaning the kennels and socializing the dogs as much as she can. Socializing dogs includes taking them to a room dedicated for socialization, going for walks (in the summertime to an area that is a mowed path that is welcome for anyone to come walk the dogs safe and away from traffic), having a different dog every day by the front desk that is gated, or just by simply letting them out into the gated runs on the facility. 

“I basically socialize as many of the dogs as I can. Some of them are pretty afraid, and you just gradually have to try to win them over. But a lot of the time, most of them just love to be hugged,” she stated.

Vargason shared a time when the center had a dog that was an escape artist. She explained that the dog was able to climb out of its individual kennel through the top, and then run loose around the facility. This happened many times and one time even managed to escape outside by pushing down the doorknob. 

“The dog was determined. It’s funny. He was so determined to leave.” 

Another story Vargason told was about the adoption of a dog with separation anxiety.

She said the dog was frightened a lot and, when left alone in a home environment, would destroy things due to anxiety. An employee temporarily fostered the dog until it found its forever home and was adopted along with another dog with special needs. They are doing great, and the owners even send pictures around Christmas time of the dogs and their family dressed up in Christmas sweaters together on the couch.  

Stories like this are common at the Venango County Humane Society. 

Retired probation officer, Dan Prichard, who has been manager at the Venango County Humane Society for five years now, recounted the story of his own dog: “When she came in, she had been seen being thrown out of a moving van…and was very human aggressive.”

Prichard said that he worked with her and she adjusted well; now, he takes her to schools to do awareness activities with students. 

Another memorable story that Prichard shared was of a dog being saved right before Christmas the first or second year he was manager at the shelter. 

A farmer believed his puppy had mange, so he began dousing her daily in kerosene and burned off all of her fur. 

Prichard recalls the dog was “pretty far gone.” 

The veterinary staff found out about it and was able to get the owner to surrender the dog. 

“We didn't know if we could save her,” he said, but they did, and she was rehabilitated and adopted. 

“Occasionally, probably three, four times a year, she still stops in and sees us. And she's a beautiful silver lab at this point in time; you'd never know she ever had any kind of traumatic experience before.”

Prichard remarked that “the sheer number of cats and dogs that we help every year is amazing.”

“We’ve had a number of animals that were brought in near death that have become pretty vibrant dogs and cats,” he noted.

Speaking about his position at Venango County Humane Society, Prichard said:

“It’s a rewarding experience. I don’t know anybody from our financial people down to more especially the animal health care workers that work directly with the animals that are not impacted by the different animals that come through. I’m trying to think of anybody that’s been here that hasn’t adopted either a dog or a cat from the shelter. I can’t think of anybody that works here on a regular basis that hasn’t adopted at some point.” 

It is obvious that those who work and volunteer at the shelter have put their compassion for dogs and cats into action and are examples of what heroes look like. 

The Venango County Humane Society is located at 286 S Main Street in Seneca, PA.