Animal shelters are full of love and affection from both the animals and the employees and volunteers. Everyone works together to help creatures both big and small feel happy and content while they wait for their forever home.
The people at Bored Panda have collected photos of the reality of working at an animal shelter and the results are the most adorable thing you’ll ever see.
“This Fluffy Boy Came Into The Shelter I Work At”

lentilbeanz / Reddit
“Rescue Shelter Volunteer Caught Taking A Cat Nap”

cm40 / Reddit
“Working At An Animal Sanctuary”

lnfinity / Reddit
“Busy Morning At W2R HQ, Practicing Our Nativity Play”

Wags To Riches Pet Services – Mountsorrel / Facebook
“My Local Animal Shelter Posted This Little Purrito”

suzygreen / Reddit
“The Cat Shelter I Volunteer With Has A Program That Brings Senior Cats To Visit Seniors In Nursing Homes. This Says It All”

MichaelJFoxxy / Reddit
“My Friend Who Works At A Shelter Found Them Like This”

ns156 / Reddit
“My Local Humane Society Has A Tough Time Getting Any Work Done Sometimes”

grizzlyblake91 / Reddit
“I Fulfilled One Of My Life Dreams This Summer… I Got To Volunteer With Sloths!”

brindlelindy / Reddit
“I Was Photographing Dogs For The Humane Society And Out Of Nowhere, A Dog Attacked Me”

jedimustafa / Reddit
“Girlfriend Said It Was Therapeutic Working At The Humane Society”

channelten/ imgur
“I Volunteer At The Humane Society And This Girl Shook My Hand When I First Met Her! Dogs Are The Best”

chipperblueberry/ Reddit
“This Is ‘Jinkies’. She Came To Our Animal Rescue Facility With Her Brother And Sister After They Were Found By An Individual. She Has A Genetic Eye Condition Which Makes Her Partially Blind. That Doesn’t Stop Her Though!”

wildwondersutah/ Instagram
“This Is What Life Is Like When You Volunteer At An Animal Sanctuary”

lnfinity/ Reddit
“My Mom Volunteers At A Shelter, She Came In And Found One Of The Puppies Like This”

ShyneBox / Reddit
“Local Shelter Posted These Little Ones On Facebook. Titled ‘Golden Raindrops In April'”

ridethepony93 / Reddit
“When You Don’t Feel Well It Is Nice To Know There Is Someone There To Keep You Company”

wildwondersutah / Instagram
“A Fellow Volunteer Caught A Picture Of Me Getting A Hug And A Kiss From One Of The Friendlier Wolves At My Local Sanctuary”

dulce_somnium / Reddit
“This Pupper Was Dropped Off At The Shelter Where I Work”

OgreAoH / Reddit
“Volunteered At The Humane Society Yesterday To Take Pictures Of The New Arrivals. This Little Guy Was Exceptionally Happy”

silver516 / Reddit
“Just Look At Those Two!”

trysparseliai/ Instagram
“I Volunteer At An Animal Shelter And This Little Guy Turned Up As A Stray”

WhenSophieGetsAngry / imgur
“This Is Armand From The Shelter I Work At!”

lustylovebird/ Reddit
“There’s This Amazing Cat Called Jaws At My Shelter Right Now”

IspeakAustralian / Reddit
“‘Of course dogs can fly!’-Rio”

coloradoanimalrescue / Instagram
“Meet Kane, A Happy, Deaf Dogo Argentino And Ex-Baitdog Used In Fighting Rings, Also The Newest Transfer To The Shelter Where I Work”

amydur / imgur
“My Mom Volunteers For An Animal Rescue. She Sent Me This”

bminus / Reddit
“Many People Asked This Shelter To Save Even More ‘Farmed’ Animals And This Is Their Rescued Little Pig Lino”

rifugiomiletta/ Instagram
“I Work For My Local Animal Shelter. One Of Our Dogs Went As A Banana. He Was The Star”

cassie_dilla / Reddit
“We Went To Volunteer At The Shelter Today, And When I Tried To Put This Puppy Back In His Kennel, He Just Wasn’t Having It”

cestalyne / Instagram
“One Of The Perks Of Doing It For An Animal Shelter. This Guy Had My Heart Melting”

Cloudpico / Reddit
“Just Started Volunteering At The Local Animal Shelter And Was Not Prepared For The Cute Overload. This Greeted Me At First Sight”

IdoWantOut / Reddit
“You Too Can Make A Dog Look This Happy. Volunteer At Your Local Animal Shelter. This Is Linus At Austin Animal Center”

glitch46 / Reddit