MASON COUNTY, W.Va. (WOWK) He may be small, but a Mason County second grader is already making a big impact when it comes to finding homes for pets up for adoption.
Eight-year-old Coley Roush is a huge animal lover, and on Thursday he visited the Mason County Animal Shelter with his mother and grandma to say hello to some of his furry friends.
“As long as we can remember, Coley has had a fascination with all kinds of animals: reptiles, creatures of everything you can imagine,” said Lisa Honaker, Coley’s grandmother.
Honaker said because of her grandson’s interest in animals she started taking him to the local animal shelter to see all the cats and dogs, and Coley said when he saw all the animals that needed to be adopted for the first time earlier this month it broke his heart.
“Because some small pets can’t do important things that they need to survive on their own,” said Roush.
To address his concern, Roush and his Grandma started a Facebook page about two weeks ago called Coley’s Corner. On the page, he posts pictures and videos of animals that need to be adopted.
The page already has more than 100 members, and Jessi Hall, who is a dog warden at the Mason County Animal Shelter said the page is already making a big impact on adoptions and interest.
“When he talks about the animals on the video, if you have watched the videos, you can tell he is interested and his interest piques other people’s interest,” said Hall.
Roush and his family aren’t just raising awareness on animals that need to be adopted, they are also raising awareness on things the animal shelter currently needs like food and supplies.
“Newspaper. . . shredded newspaper is huge here at the shelter, and they are helping get the word out,” said Hall.
Roush said he wants to be a zookeeper when he grows up, and his grandma said he has visited the Columbus Zoo about 17 times since he was born. She also said Jack Hanna is his hero.
The second-grader from New Haven, W.Va will be visiting the Columbus Zoo on December 30 and 31 for the Winter Kids Camp, and while he is there he hopes to inspire other kids his age to help out their local animal shelters too.
Hall said the Mason County Animal Shelter has about 17 dogs and 23 cats that need to be adopted.
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