Rinesa Kabashi, cub writer
Bark N’ Bitches, a place where people can adopt, shop, and indulge, calls itself, “A retail shop with the heart to rescue.” They are Los Angeles’s first humane pet shop. Freshman Danna Roseman contributes to the store as a volunteer there.
“I first heard about it from a friend who volunteered there, and she really liked it so I thought I’d give it a try. I wanted to volunteer because I love working with animals, and it also gives me an opportunity to receive community service credits,” Roseman said.
By taking this opportunity, Roseman has created relationships with dogs and has learned about responsibility.
“The shelter teaches me to be alert at all times and how to treat a delicate situation responsibly…such as a dog running away or threatening a customer,” Roseman said.
Seeing animal abuse has had such a strong impact on Roseman.
‘“I empathize the impact of animal abuse and now I’m much more aware of it. I confront the results of animals’ abuse weekly and am directly influenced. I feel like the harmful effects of animal abuse is not stressed enough,” Roseman said. “People think animal abuse just hurts the animal itself, but it also impacts the environment. Kids who witness animal abuse are more likely to become violent or abusive in the future.”
Roseman’s mother Karen Roseman witnessed Danna’s love for animals at a young age.
“Ever since Danna has been a young girl, she has always loved to help out animals. There was this one time where her friend was going to step on a bee that was on the floor struggling to get back up, but Danna stopped her. She picked up the bee and laid it gently on a flower. I knew then and there she would be intrigued about learning more about animals,” Karen said.
Roseman has created a desire for working with animals and is considering using the skills that she is learning for her future career.
“I definitely would like to work with animals in the future. I’m planning to become a vet and I would be working in a shelter-type environment a lot! Plus, in a shelter I get a hands-on experience and a lot of community service which can help me in vet school,” Roseman said.
Although Roseman is far from her future career, she is preparing for it.
“At the end of the day I feel like I made a change by helping animals,” Roseman said. “Even though it is not big, it is still a step towards progress.”