Alan Staub retired from teaching math six years ago and sought to do something useful to occupy his time.
He found just that, and countless four-legged friends made over the years since.
Staub has volunteered more than 800 hours of his time with the St. Charles Parish Animal Shelter, spending hours each week there walking the dogs and making their days just a little bit better.
“My family, we’ve always been dog lovers,” said Staub, who taught at Destrehan High, J.B. Martin and Harry Hurst among a list of many over his career in the classroom, including 24 years at J.B. Martin. “And so it was just kind of a perfect fit to do this. Pretty much my first week of being retired, I went and did the orientation. I’ve been going ever since.”
It doesn’t hurt that the outings offer a bit of mutually beneficial exercise.
“It really benefits the dogs … they spend a lot of time in the kennels, so it helps to be able to take them out for a walk. And it’s good for me too. I’m 64 years old now, so a little bit of exercise helps for sure,” Staub said.
On a typical day of volunteering, Staub is going to take multiple dogs outside for that exercise – exactly how many depends on the dog population at the shelter that day.
“Sometimes, it’s three or four. Sometimes, it’s 10 or 12,” Staub said. “If I have the time, and I usually do, I’ll walk them all. Of course, if it’s four, then I can take them for a nice, long walk. With 12, not quite as long, but I try to give every one of them some attention.”
And Staub gets their attention in turn. He’s become quite recognizable at the shelter.
“Some of the dogs stay there for quite a while, and I get to know them and they get to know me. When they see me, they get excited because they know they get to go for a walk,” Staub said. “When I see them get adopted, it makes me very happy. That’s a very rewarding feeling.”
Part of his motivation is simply that he doesn’t like inactivity. Beyond his volunteering, the outgoing Destrehan resident still educates through his business tutoring students who are preparing for the ACT. He and a group of fellow Ormond residents help clean the Ormond Boulevard area of trash and debris each week. And he’s a charter member of the 610 Stompers – though due to a hip replacement, he says he’s more moral support than an active dancer these days.
But the shelter dogs hold a special place in his heart. And today, one in particular holds a special place in his home as well.
Staub and his family adopted Linda, who was formerly named “Lafon,” as she was found in the Lafon Performing Arts Center parking lot prior to becoming a shelter dog.
Staub was helping another volunteer as they went with dogs to visit nursing home residents.
“So this little dog, I said, well I’ll take that one,” Staub recalled. “And she was just so sweet. And at the nursing home, she would walk up to each person and just fall over on her back so they could rub her belly. It just made me fall in love with her.”
Staub learned that Linda, who hadn’t found luck being adopted, was set to be among the dogs boarding an adoption flight to another state.
“I said, ‘hold on,’ “ Staub said. “I called my wife, she said ‘Let’s get her.’ We were not going to let her go anywhere.”
Another memorable experience as a shelter volunteer had nothing to do with dogs at all.
Staub volunteered to drive an injured owl to LSU’s veterinary school in Baton Rouge.
“I picked it up and it was in a cardboard crate,” said Staub. “And thankfully, my wife was with me when we were heading up there.’
Thankfully, because as it turned out – this owl planned a grand escape.
“It was kind of eating its way out of the box with its beak and its claws,” said Staub. “It started making a big ol’ hole, and we’re driving. Eventually it was big enough to where it was sticking its head through.”
Staub’s wife was able to keep the owl inside the crate, but given the damage done it was no easy task to get it inside the vet school – though that mission was ultimately accomplished.
“About six months later, there was another one. They said, ‘We’re going to put this one in a wire crate.’ I said ‘OK, thank you,’” Staub said with a laugh.
Staub credited a dedicated staff and group of fellow volunteers for making a difference for the animals, and says he’s glad to be able to be a part of that. He added he’d advise anyone to join in the fun.
“I’d encourage anybody to volunteer – there’s just a big need for it,” he said. “Once a week, once a month, every little bit helps.”
