They cut, they stuff, and they sew.
They are the Kennel Comforters, a group of volunteers who meet every month to make the kennels at the animal shelters a little more comfortable.
"We make beds for the animals in the county shelters, mostly for kitties, but also also for small dogs like Chihuahuas. They like to curl up in the little beds," said Carole Lee.
She has been volunteering with the group for 10 years.
"I just love doing this. Chatting with friends and doing something worthwhile. We always say, 'If we can't take the animals home with us, we could at least give them a comfortable bed,'" she said.
The Kennel Comforters do their work at the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services in Carlsbad. They form an assembly line that results in comfy beds for animals in the shelter.
Sue Mills and Carol Clarke started volunteering with the group eight years ago.
"We do all different sizes so that they fit different dogs. And if somebody wanted a specific size to fit a kennel or something, we could do that," Mills said.
The beds come in different sizes, patterns, and shapes, but they all have one thing in common.
"When I came in, they were doing just an 'x' or a circle. And my husband had been going through chemotherapy and they gave him a blanket that had a heart in the middle. So I started putting the heart in the middle. And then people said, 'Oh, maybe we like the heart in the middle.' And then everybody started doing them," Mills said.
The group sews a heart in the middle of each bed they make, and that heart travels to different animals in need throughout San Diego.
"They go to the to the two county shelters. They go to the San Diego Humane Society in Oceanside and also in Escondido," said Clarke.
Other locations include Rancho Coastal Humane Society and the Fallbrook animal shelter. But upon request, they can deliver to different shelters or animals in need.
All of the supplies used for the beds are donation based. Supporters can donate fleece or filling for the beds. They can sometimes upcycle items like blankets and hotel bathrobes.
Manny Salazar, the volunteer coordinator with the County of San Diego's Department of Animal Services said the group fills a huge void for animals in need.
"Without them, these (animals) would be on a cold surface floor. They are providing them so much more than comfort," he said.
Staff calls the beds "donut beds."
"We give them to cats and dogs. Also, our medical team will use them to restrain and to kind of comfort animals, too," Salazar said. "Cats love to be kind of held and squeezed in it. We call it a little like 'purr-rito,' where we just kind of hold them. We use it to vaccinate sometimes too."
He said the contribution from Kennel Comforters frees up funding that in turn supports different needs for the animals in the shelter.
And at a time when the shelter is experiencing high volumes of animals, every bit of help counts.
"We do do a lot of emergency types of situations ... hoarder cases, we work with relinquishments, with strays," he said. "So a lot of times people think that all we do is bring in those types of animals and they don't even realize that we too have an adoption center. And and it's so important to get that word out, so people are adopting in shelters."
But if adoption isn’t a possibility, volunteering still makes a difference.
Volunteers with little or no sewing experience are welcome to make a difference in an animal's life.
Kennel Comforters is accepting new donations and volunteers. They meet the first Friday and Saturday of every month at the County Animal Shelter in Carlsbad.
