GLASGOW — The only “pets” my father’s family had were chickens. My mother always said the dog her family had was her sister’s, not hers. The last of the fish I owned succumbed to an untimely death when my brother accidentally refilled the fish bowl with hot water.

I think these things qualify me as a novice pet owner. That doesn’t mean I don’t want a kitten more than lots of things, like a flat-screen TV or a sports car. Somehow along the way, I became an animal lover, which is sometimes a bigger love than I have for (some) humans.

I’ve only been in Glasgow for seven months, so I’ve been focused on getting settled as a Yankee-turned move-in Southerner. Group membership has been a side project for later on in my time here.

Fortunately for me, a volunteer effort fell into my lap in the most unfortunate of circumstances. An e-mail about four neglected and five dead dogs dropped by the side of a road here in Barren County brought me to the Barren River Animal Welfare Association, a little niche in the community that makes for much shorter conversations if you just use the acronym. And now that it’s been renovated, the shelter is better than ever.

The animal shelter was in the last phase of its renovation when I visited the poor dogs, who were covered in mange and yeast infections, besides desperately needing baths.

Luckily, with the new accomodations, the dogs had a huge washtub sink to get their baths and the workers have plenty of storage for medications and shelter.

When I went to the open house of the renovations last Sunday, I heard many people say they couldn’t believe how much BRAWA was able to do in such a short time. Many people recognized executive director Margie Patton for her ability to stretch a dollar as far as it could go, for the benefit of everyone involved.

Even she didn’t expect the turnout at the open house. Dogs, cats and humans alike plugged-up the halls to check out Rupp Arena (where the cats play), the kitty condos, a brand new boulevard for the bigger dogs and two special rooms for puppies who were eagerly climbing on one another to impress potential adopters.

It was while walking down the long hall of dogs that I passed Patsy, a poodle mix that was part of the quartet of worn down dogs that had shown up a few weeks earlier. Now her fur was growing back, the scabs were gone from her nose (as were the fleas) and she was sticking out her tongue, bouncing for passersby.

Sometimes that is all people see of the progress that is made in the community by bleeding hearts that just have a passion for helping out. Most of the people at the open house may not have seen the construction during its different phases, so they didn’t know the work that had gone into making this shelter a (hopefully temporary) home for displaced pets. To see the shiny new building and beautifully-tiled front desk, one would never know the staff, not to mention the animals, had been crammed in the same spaces, causing extra stress than was needed for everyone involved. But they continued their work because of the end result.

Maybe a little more altruism is needed in this world of instant gratification, or even worse, gratification for everything one ever does. Maybe things don’t look so great when the dog has a yeast infection and space is an extremely limited commodity. But to see the same dog perky and bouncing again in a brand new place built with her in mind makes things seem right to me. Seeing a kitten stick its paw out to you through the bars of his new home, away from the shrill bark of puppies who are too excited to know what to do with themselves, that’s gratification enough. They are all, like Patsy, as grateful or possibly even more grateful than the humans to have a place like the Glasgow-Barren County Animal Shelter, along with people that care enough to see it through.

I’m not very experienced with pets, but from walking the halls of the shelter I know how soothing pets can be. Though I can’t get a new kitten just yet, I think helping all of the ones reaching out for attention at the shelter will be good enough for now. It’s becoming a passion of mine, a lot like many of the passions of volunteers all over Barren County. Gratification can come from charity, and in ways you probably won’t expect.

I’ll bring my dad down to walk the chickens. Just don’t let my brother near the fish.

Susan Tebben is a reporter who covers local government, law enforcement and courts for the Glasgow Daily Times. She can be contacted by e-mail at stebben@glasgowdailytimes.com.