If you know Beth, you know she’s always smiling!
As a 100% volunteer run animal rescue, AARF literally wouldn’t exist without our volunteers. We’re shining a light on what it takes to make a volunteer rescue work by spotlighting the people who make AARF happen!
For 12 out of AARF’s 14 years of existence, Beth French Arthur has been behind the scenes helping to make miracles happen for animals in need. She first got involved in animal rescue during graduate school when she was looking for a way to destress that didn’t cost a lot of money, which led her to volunteering as a dog walker for BARCS. Once she’d graduated, she wanted to keep volunteering but dog walking was no longer the right fit for her life, so she became a volunteer with AARF. At the same time, she was learning about canine behavior training with her rescue dog JJ and our friends at Pet-U-Cation.
Over the decade plus she’s been with AARF, Beth has held many roles. Her very first AARF “foster” was a dog that AARF didn’t have a foster for, who was living at a boarding facility – luckily, as Beth says, we don’t have to do that anymore thanks to our network of dog fosters. Since then, she’s been a regular foster, dog foster coordinator, and behavior coordinator. She’s even served a term on the board! Currently, she volunteers as a dog foster coordinator and is on the events committee, helping to plan different events to raise funds and awareness for AARF’s work. Beth and her family have welcomed 25 dogs as fosters, plus assisted other fosters by temp fostering another 10-15 while their regular fosters were on vacation or needed extra help.
Beth still thinks back on her very first “foster” lovingly. At the time, she was living in an apartment where she was only allowed to have one dog – JJ – so regular fosters were out. But AARF had pulled Munchkin, a pocket pittie, into rescue even though we didn’t have a space for her. Beth took her on as a pseudo foster. She would visit her at the boarding facility, walk her, and work on training. She took her to adoption events and marketed her for adoption. Her favorite story is when the big 2016 snow storm came around, she snuck Munchkin into her apartment so that she would get to enjoy the snow with Beth and JJ.
Les was another AARFie who really left a mark on Beth. She and her now-husband Steve had fostered a few dogs before Les, but his story was different. He came to Maryland in a transport that AARF volunteers led to bring 44 animals from Texas after Hurricane Harvey. They had originally had another foster from that transport, but after that dog was adopted, they were able to take Les on as more experienced fosters. He walked with a prominent limp, which was later discovered to have been a result from severe abuse that had caused his cartilage to wear down and constantly rub. Despite the pain he was in and the trauma he had faced, Les “loved with his whole heart.” After getting him through surgery and physical therapy, Beth and Steve found that they loved him so much that they couldn’t let him go – he became their first foster fail.
Simba and Yoshi, Beth’s AARFie foster fails.
Their two resident dogs currently uphold Les’s spirit, as both are AARF foster fails. 6-year-old Simba, a corgi, and 12-year-old Yoshi, both came into their lives at times when they needed dogs who were good with kids – Beth and Steve have two under 7. “They are the most mellow and wonderful pups,” Beth says. “They are happy just to be with their kiddos and play and then hangout with me on the couch as I read.”
Speaking of reading, Beth, a Harford County resident, was behind AARF’s inclusion at the Book Fair at Bel Air. This is just one of the many events that Beth has worked on as part of the events committee, helping to get AARF in front of people who can change lives by adopting, fostering or donating.
When we asked Beth what a person considering volunteering with AARF should know, she had a simple answer: “AARF is a family. The people at AARF have helped me through high highs and low lows. From buying dog themed dog items when I was pregnant with my first child to talking with me in side chats about our favorite books.”
Thank you for everything you do, Beth!