Katie Walker and Joe Parsley both seniors at Bloomingdale High School, hosted an adoption event at the park in downtown Bloomingdale on Saturday. May 10th from 1 to 3 pm.  Katie had been at the shelter a couple of months before and decided she wanted to help her community become more aware of the pet overpopulation problem and the importance of spaying and neutering pets.  Katie and Joe realize that solving the pet overpopulation problem can be quite simple, spay or neuter your pet and adopt from a shelter as opposed to a breeder.  Katie and Joe arranged and got approval with their city officials for the event and put up posters in Gobles, Bloomingdale and Allegan to promote the event.  The Al-Van Humane Society had 2 dogs, 3 puppies and 3 kittens and took 2 applications that day and also collected $28 in donations.  Thank you Katie and Joe for hosting this event and Sharon Waldbusser, AVHS volunteer coordinator and humane educator and her daughter Madeline for working with Katie in making this event a success.  If you would like to volunteer for AVHS, you can contact Sharon at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call the shelter at 269-637-5062.

The Al-Van Humane Society is pleased to announce that we are launching a Foster Program.  We are looking for volunteers to foster animals that need a little help to get them ready for adoption.  Right now we have a need for Mother cats and their kittens who need a place to stay, until the kittens are old enough to be adopted.  If you are interested in helping, please contact Ruth at  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   or at 269-637-5062.

We are looking for volunteers to help with our ongoing programs and events.  We currently have a need for Saturdays this summer for dog walking and our off-site events, the volunteer would need to be available from noon to about 2 p.m. 

We are also looking for people to transport adoptable dogs to Decadent Dogs in South Haven, and adoptable kittens to Lakeshore Paints on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Animals need to be picked up at 11:00 am and brought back to the shelter at 3:30 pm. 

If you have any interest in helping out with any of the above needs, please contact Sharon at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   or give Sharon a call at 269-637-5062.  Thank you, we look forward to working with you.