In 2016, The Newtown Bee created a series of articles that shined the light on compassionate volunteers in Newtown who choose to help the lives of animals in need. Some help out at shelters or foster animals, while others raise money, donate their photography skills, or even read to animals.

One of the shelters nearby is a Danbury Animal Welfare Society (DAWS) in Bethel. It specializes in pet adoptions and foster programs, as well as rescue programs.

Teryl Flynn was a Newtown resident and operations director who had been working with DAWS for more than a year and a half, as of July. After coming to the shelter looking to adopt, she was impressed with how DAWS was run and became a volunteer. When she became a staff member she worked closely with the clinic and shelter managers, as well as the group of DAWS volunteers.

Some other Newtown volunteers that help the dogs and cats at DAWS are Laura Smolen, who originally came to DAWS earlier this year looking to adopt a companion after her 18-year-old cat passed away; Taylor Daniels, who was encouraged to start volunteering at DAWS from a friend already in the cat program; and Quinn Murphy, who grew up wanting to help animals her whole life.

Another local nonprofit animal welfare group is The Animal Center of Newtown, which currently helps rescue homeless cats, as well as running a successful Feral Cat Assistance Program that works to spay/neuter and vaccinate wild cats.

With no permanent shelter, The Animal Center relies entirely on a volunteer staff and foster network. Rick Child, Karen Dryer, and Angela Thill are just some of the many Newtown residents who volunteer their time and open their homes to cats in need of fosters. Volunteer Laura McHugh is the Foster and Adoption Program manager for The Animal Center. She described all the work and effort she puts in as very gratifying.

Monica Roberto, who is the founder and president of The Animal Center, said, "We may be a small, grassroots rescue group, but our results are big. In the past 11 years, we've saved the lives of more than 2,300 homeless animals in our community."

The Animal Center works closely with the Newtown Animal Control Center and helps foster some of their cats and kittens.

The Newtown Animal Control Center, at 21 Old Farm Road, is a no-kill shelter. It gives each animal that comes through the doors a chance to thrive, whether they live out their lives there or are adopted to their forever homes.

At its new facility, named in memory of the Newtown veterinarian Brian J. Silverlieb, dogs and cats are taken care of by dedicated staff, including Animal Control Officer Carolee Mason, Assistant Animal Control Officer Matt Schaub, and kennel attendant Amy Sullivan, as well as volunteer groups and individuals.

The nonprofit organization Canine Advocates of Newtown, founded in 1999, continues to be an active resource for the pound, as Canine Advocates President Virginia Jess explained. Her group gives extra support to the shelter and continues to provide advertising for the animals on its website. Canine Advocates also remains a source of contact for potential adopters who want more information on the dogs and cats available at the shelter.

Currently, the Newtown Animal Control Center is in the process of restructuring its volunteer program, but started its first Shelter Buddies Reading Program this past summer, inspired by Newtown resident Debbie DeBlasi. The program allowed children to sit outside of individual kennels and read to the rescued dogs.

The ultimate goal of the Shelter Buddies Reading Program is to help the dogs become more adoptable. The program is not only beneficial for the dogs, but it also helps the children involved develop reading skills and learn more about animals in a shelter environment.

This summer dozens of young volunteers from Newtown, including Ms DeBlasi's son, Nicholas, and Emma Wishneski attended the program sessions.

In August, two young animal advocates, Maddie Boroskey and Ellie Bepko, set up a table at NYA Sports & Fitness Center to raise money for the national organization Animal Welfare Institute. The best friends had been working together all summer during play dates and sleepovers to find creative ways to raise money to help animals.

The compassionate duo sold a selection of homemade baked goods including cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and even dog biscuits. They raised more than $100 from that sale alone. The girls continued their animal activism and also ran a table outside of Your Healthy Pet in September to raise more money to donate.

Growing up, skilled photographer Sarah Matula was also always very compassionate with animals. When she moved from the UK to Newtown in 2013, she began looking to adopt a dog and realized there was an extreme epidemic of animals in shelters. She also noticed that many shelters did not have clear photos of their adoptable animals.

She decided to volunteer her photography ability to help those animals have a better chance of getting adopted. She has since volunteered her time to take photos of animals at DAWS, The Animal Center in Newtown, the New England group Destiny's Road Animal Rescue, and various municipal pounds in Connecticut.

Combining her passion of photography and helping animals has been met with great success as many of the animals she has photographed were been adopted soon after her pictures went online.

Thanks to all the compassionate Newtown residents who dedicated their time, money, and skills to volunteer for animals in need, many lives have been positively impacted for not just this year, but also for the years to come.