Allison Wolff, a senior business administration-marketing major, has been a student volunteer for the Tenderheart Animal Rescue + Sanctuary for about a year and a half.

She posts pictures on Facebook, gets the word out when a new dog comes in, updates volunteers on walking times and talks to companies like BarkBox for fundraising.

She says the most rewarding part of volunteering for Tenderheart is the happiness of the new pet parents.

“Just seeing their faces and how happy they are with their new dog or cat is worth all of the hard work,” Wolff said.

Since the shelter opened, over 100 pets have been adopted.

A recent rescued animal that found its way to Tenderheart was a little kitten that was found frozen and stuck to a metal basin. The kitten was thawed out and had to have one leg and his tail removed.

“He now lives with my sister,” Wolff said. “He’s adorable”

Most of the animals that find their way to Tenderheart’s shelter because someone finds a lost animal and calls the police department, is then impounded and taken to the vet, and finds its way to Tenderheart.

According to Renee Jacobsen, president of Tenderheart, about five to six adoptions occur every month.

“We’ve had at least 100 adoptions in the last two years—more dogs than cats. We’ve had wonderful success with dog adoptions,” Jacobson said.

The process of opening Tenderheart started in 2011, the building opened in 2012.

Jacobsen decided to open the shelter after her 20 year old cat Tiela died and she reconnected with an old friend on Facebook who runs a shelter in Colorado.

After hearing stories from her friend’s shelter, it inspired her to open a place in Wayne where any animal, no matter how unfortunate, could come and find love and a forever home.

Tenderheart Animal Rescue + Sanctuary is a private, non-profit organization supported by the Wayne community, grants, donations, adoption fees and unpaid volunteers.

Volunteers are comprised of college students who help out for clubs or community service, and some community members who do it because they love animals.

The shelter currently has twelve cats and three dogs waiting to be adopted.