Animal Rescue Foundation is looking for more volunteers to help, especially during the week, at Pima Animal Care Center.
With the help of volunteers, the care center at 4000 N. Silverbell Road is able to remain open for adoption from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays
Without volunteers on weekends, the care center would only be open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and it would be closed on Sundays.
Extended weekend hours are important because Saturdays are the center's busiest adoption day, said Richard Page, Animal Rescue Foundation's volunteer coordinator. The no-kill rescue foundation began in 2001.
Some people looking for new pets at the care center on Sunday said it is more convenient for them to shop for pets on weekends because of work, school and other weekday commitments.
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"We wouldn't be able to come during the week or be as persistent about looking," said Rhonda Garcia, 32. She and her husband, Jeff, 33, are looking for a family-friendly dog because they have four small children — ages 6, 4, 2 and 16 months.
Weekends are the best time for Toni Lopez, 67, and her 6-year-old granddaughter, Hunter, to look for a new cat because Hunter has school during the week, Lopez said.
Animal Rescue Foundation volunteers take extra care in connecting those who come to the care center looking for a new pet with the right animal.
Volunteer Carol Massicotte, 57, takes the time to meet new animals when they come in. She brings new dogs out to the center's holding pens, where she sits with them and learns about their personalities.
That way, when people come in looking for a pet with specific personality traits — such as how active it is — she can match them with the right animal.
Though it's important for Animal Rescue Foundation to keep the care center open on weekends, the foundation also needs volunteers to help promote adoptions during the week, said Page, 63.
"I know that we can get more animals adopted if we can get people here during the week," he said.
The foundation is especially looking for people who either are retired or have flexible work schedules, he said.
Page, an Oro Valley resident, has been working with the town to reach other residents who might be able to donate their time or money to aid Animal Rescue Foundation's work of finding homes for care-center animals.
In November, he gave a presentation to the Oro Valley Town Council on the foundation. The town put a flier about the foundation and the care center in residents' November water bills.
That same month, the town's newsletter published an article about the rescue foundation.
Town Manager David Andrews also put Page in contact with the Oro Valley Farmers' Market, where Page said the foundation has a table every other Saturday.
"Who's not an animal lover?" Andrews said. "It's a great organization. I think it's a very worthy cause."
To learn more
• For more information on Animal Rescue Foundation, go online to www.petfinder.com/shelters/AZ63.html or call 319-9292.
• To volunteer, e-mail arf_volunteers@earthlink.net.
• For more information on Pima Animal Care Center, call 243-5900 or go online to www.pimaanimalcare.org.
