I wrote in the past about my daughter having her friends give her donations for the SPCA instead of gifts for her 10th birthday party. They all had great fun getting gifts and we didn't feel guilty about throwing a huge party again.

We got in touch with the volunteer education coordinator at our local SPCA in Raleigh and she gave us a personal tour of the facility when we dropped off our donations.

Lots of photos and notes from things my daughter learned and wanted to share:

The new lovely SPCA center in Raleigh:


Hayley loved that the cats live in an open room with other cats and their own little cubbies:


A staff member's husband made PVC pipe additions for the cats to have places to perch and roam:


Our SPCA doesn't allow people to adopt animals they don't intend of keeping outside all the time. They have an indoor/outdoor room to show the pets enjoying both:


Kitties:




The SPCA also has bunnies:


Microchip investigation:


Happy dogs with space to play:


Puppies:



We have lots of donations:


Oooo a certificate for Hayley!:




Other neat things she learned:

-Our SPCA loves to have people to come visit the animals because it helps them get ready to move to new homes.

-Our SPCA is a no-kill shelter, so the animals aren't put to sleep.

-Our SPCA has a neat volunteer program for kids and parents.

-Our SPCA tries to keep most animals in group rooms because most people adopting from the SPCA have more than one pet.

-Our SPCA keeps kittens and puppies in more open cages because they are often young and new arrivals.