|
A man who helps rescue difficult shelter dogs.
Each day, including Christmas Day and New Year's Day, Darren Genson of Millersville, Maryland goes to his local animal shelter, Anne Arundel County Animal Services.
There, starting at about 7 am, he spends two hours every morning, walking dogs and playing with them in their kennels, giving them his loving devotion.
Often, he selects the difficult dogs, the dangerous ones.
Darren is a full-time insurance agent, but since he began volunteering in 2018, he arrives before work, and rarely has he missed a day at the shelter.
(Story continues from "Read More")
Darren became familiar with the shelter in 2015, when he and his wife came to donate food, after their loving pitbull, Rock, passed away.
There they met Charli, another pit bull, and they adopted her. "She is wonderful," Darren told The Washington Post. "She is a very pretty dog."
The shelter had alerted the Gensons that Charli had already been returned twice because of her horrific behavior. The Gensons took her anyway.
"She ended up eating four couches within the first couple of years," Darren told The Post. "Two of them all the way down to the frame."
Still, the Gensons kept her, and with time, Charli got better.
Darren learned from the shelter staff and animal control officers how to handle dangerous dogs.
Now Darren takes those dogs, walking four to six of them each day. He also spends about half an hour in their kennels, giving them treats and connecting with them.
Today, Darren has four rescue dogs at home, including Charli, now 11 - and for him it is a labor of love. "I think the dogs deserve it," he said.
|
