Potter League Provides Home to Aquidneck Island Animals

By: Stepanie Savage
Posted In: News

Nestled down a long dirt road, past an open field and a sign with the words ‘dog crossing’ on it, is one of Rhode Island’s top animal shelters, the Potter League.

Committed to making a difference in the lives of animals, the Potter League was originally founded in 1929 as the “Newport County League for Animals.” Today, the Potter League takes in over 1,500 animals a year, opening their doors to each and every unwanted pet on Aquidneck Island.

As you enter the recently reconstructed, environmentally-friendly building, you may be surprised as to how clean and sanitary the shelter is. To enhance their effectiveness in providing animals with the best possible home, this newly designed ‘green building’ is almost entirely recourse-efficient. Everything from the unique architecture of the building’s slanted roof, allowing it to collect and recycle rain water, to its use of environmentally-safe building materials, has earned the Potter League recognition as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) project with the U.S. Green Building Council. The Potter League is the only animal shelter in the entire nation to have received this recognition, as well as the only building in the state of Rhode Island.

What really makes the shelter so successful though, isn’t its use of renewable energy, or even the animals’ spacious environment; it’s the hundreds of dedicated volunteers who have put in the time and effort to enrich the lives of animals. Every day new people inquire about ways to get involved, and every one of them is forwarded to the Potter League’s own Director of Volunteer Services, Joyce Barton.

In her ninth year with the Potter League, Barton has always had a passion for animals. Prior to her job now, she was once a volunteer herself at the Bristol Animal Shelter in Bristol, R.I. Nowadays, Barton is responsible for overseeing every volunteer that walks through the doors. From the time she gets to her office at 9 a.m. until the time she leaves later that evening, Barton is busy communicating with volunteers, assigning them to specific events and providing them with one-on-one training in caring for the animals.

There are numerous ways for volunteers to get involved, from taking dogs on walks of the property, to fostering young kittens in their home, working at the front desk or helping the shelter stay organized. One family of volunteers, the Offenberg’s, has been volunteering their time for over four years. Cris Offenberg of Middletown, says she first heard about the Potter League when she moved to the island in 1988. Throughout the years, the shelter has helped her and her family to find their missing Golden Retriever and more recently, their runaway cat, Chester. Although Chester has since managed to sneak away from the house yet again, he was originally adopted from the Potter League. “I visited several cat rescue centers when seeking to adopt Chester because my daughter specifically wanted an orange tabby kitten for her birthday which was in December and a tough time to find a kitten,” said Offenberg. “The Potter League was by far superior to all other locations I visited.”

Offenberg, along with her two oldest children, Nate and Tori, has not only volunteered during the shelter’s visitation hours at which time they walked the dogs and played with the kittens, but also each year at the annual fundraiser, Have a Heart. A silent auction, the fundraiser is held every February and all benefits go directly to the Potter League. In the past, Offenberg has been responsible for assisting with the auction as well as with clean up. “I think that the number of volunteers they recruit and the funds they are able to raise yearly are a direct result of them accomplishing their mission,” said Offenberg. The Potter League’s vision has always been to create a place in which animals are afforded fairness and the same rights as humans so as to live with dignity.

Aside from keeping the animals company, volunteers also play an important role in cleaning each animal’s cage every day. Not only are these roomy cages kept clean, but each one also has a heat radiated floor to keep the animals warm and comfortable. As for the cats, each cage is ventilated with its own air so as not to spread germs from any potential infections. For those animals that are sick, the second floor wellness suit, with its brand new examination rooms, is available to house ill animals until they are healthy enough to move downstairs with the other animals. And to give animals their peace and quiet, the dog’s cages are surrounded by sound-proof walls to block out any barking. “It’s just like home,” said Barton.

At the end of the day, Barton says it’s all about seeing the animals happy; that is what makes her and everyone else’s job so enjoyable. “The animals all have such wonderful personalities and what they offer to humans is truly a very special relationship.”

If you or someone you know might be interested in making a difference in the lives of animals, please contact the Potter League at 401-846-8276.