MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Pets Are Worth Saving received a much-needed face lift from a group of student volunteers Saturday.

The base’s Catholic youth groups — called LIFE TEEN, for high school students, and EDGE, for middle-schoolers — fixed up the aging PAWS building with some coats of paint and colorful artwork.

“They really did a good job,” said PAWS president Sabrina Leuthold. “They painted the inside and outside of our front door, they painted our hallway and they painted in one room. They did a lot of cleaning and they played with the animals.”

In one stray-animal room, the students painted Mount Fuji with a blue-sky background and a paw print on top.

Robin Moseley, the groups’ youth minister, said the students are taking on more community projects.

“We’re trying to stress with our teens that we want to activate our faith, really bring our faith to life in normal, daily activities and do service to others,” she said.

From 20 to 30 students helped spruce up PAWS on Saturday, Leuthold said. It’s housed in a former dental office in one of the older buildings on base, she said.

Currently available for adoption at PAWS are four cats and two red slider turtles that “don’t bite,” according to Leuthold.

Call PAWS at DSN 222-7002 for more information.

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