Monthly Volunteer Profile: Jocelyn Levesque

For Jocelyn Levesque, volunteering and animals go together.

Jocelyn started at the Winnipeg Humane Society about 10 months ago, where she volunteers in Feline Enrichment, cat condo assistant, and has just started in the nursery as well. She picks up all the extra shifts her schedule will allow, which usually means she’s at the shelter for up to five shifts a week.

Her love for animals and the appreciation she has for the WHS are evident when you speak with her. “What I love here at the WHS is you get to touch the animals, and you get to see a difference in what you’re doing. I love that!”

In her Feline Enrichment position, Jocelyn works with cats that are afraid or need a bit of playtime. Spending time with the cats helps get them more used to people and to this new environment they are in at the shelter.

“It’s so special when you see a cat who at first is so scared of you, but over time – and sometimes I’m here a few times a week – you see them start to come out and interact with you. You see the change on the cat, and it’s really rewarding,” she said with a smile.

“The volunteers all get involved with the cats,” she continued. “We had one long-timer cat get adopted recently and we were high-fiving each other because she had found a home. We’re so excited to see a cat get adopted, especially those that have been with us for a while.

She recently had a rare opportunity to meet a former resident of the Cat Condos. A friend of hers had heard Jocelyn talk about a slightly cantankerous big orange cat who was a longtime resident at the WHS. So, he adopted him, wanting to give him a good home.  Happily, both are doing very well.

Jocelyn also loves meeting the people at the WHS – staff, volunteers, and visitors. “I love meeting people and hearing their stories – are they new cat owners, are they adopting a playmate for their current cat, did they recently lose a cat, what kind of cat are they looking for, for example?” she said. “I love being with the cats and being an advocate for their well-being.”

As of this writing, Jocelyn has only worked two shifts in the nursery, so there’s probably more to learn. But on one shift, she had to look after and feed a one-day-old kitten (in the incubator) and another who was a month old. “There are two of us who are responsible for all the care, including food prep and feeding,” she pointed out.  “Keeping them warm and clean. Helping them with elimination, like their mother would have done. We also do cleaning in downtime when there are no kittens to tend to at that moment.”

Some might think that Jocelyn loves cats so much that she’s a foster failure in waiting. But she has a reason not to bring any fur babies home right now. “Newman [my cat] is 14 years old and the love of my life, but he hates other cats. Maybe that prevents me from bringing home more. I don’t want to disturb his routine.”

She’s enjoying her time with Newman but is ‘definitely considering’ fostering for the WHS when circumstances allow. And having passed 10 months as a volunteer, Jocelyn has her sights set on the 10-year mark, because of the animals and the people.