Pasadena Humane Society Volunteer, a Local Attorney, is Finalist in Nationwide Event That Recognizes Volunteers

A Pasadena attorney who has been walking pit bulls for over 15 years as a volunteer at Pasadena Humane Society has been chosen as a finalist in the Hill’s Shelter Heroes Contest, a nationwide competition to recognize animal shelter volunteers and inspire others to start volunteering at their local shelters.

The contest sponsor, Hill’s Pet Nutrition based in Topeka, Kansas, picks 10 Hill’s Shelter Hero Finalists from thousands of nominations received in the annual competition, and leaves it to online voters to pick five winners. Each of the winners will receive a $10,000 donation from Hill’s Food, Shelter and Love for their shelter.

Lawyer Tom Ratanavaraha, Pasadena Humane Society’s 2015 Volunteer of the Year awardee, was selected recently as one of the 10 finalists.

Ratanavaraha has volunteered as a dog walker nearly every day since 2008, completing some 15,000 walks.

“Over the years that I’ve been here, I’ve never been bit by a pit bull. I’ve been bit by a Chihuahua,” Ratanavaraha says. “When I first started volunteering here, we didn’t even have a program where we could take dogs out of the kennels. Once that program started, I started trying to take out dogs that other people wouldn’t. It’s one of the greatest things in the world to see.”

Ratanavaraha relates that most people would come and walk the smaller dogs, but the pit bulls would always be stuck in their kennels and nobody would work with them. He started walking them years ago and has since stuck to the routine.

In a profile page for Ratanavaraha, the Pasadena Humane Society said his number one priority has always been that each dog gets out of its kennel at least once a day.

“Over the years, Tom has developed a special affection for pit bulls,” the Society says on the page. “He has a soft spot for underdogs and wants all dogs to benefit from the shelter’s enrichment programs. For Tom, the most important thing is to judge each dog as an individual, not by its breed.”

Voting continues until April 10 online at https://hillsshelterheroes.us.launchpad6.com/contest/1/entry/8

The five winners in the Hill’s Shelter Heroes contest will be announced on Monday, April 11, 2016.