A young entrepreneur presented Manteca Animal Control Officer Peggy Miller with funds to help with the needs at the animal shelter.

It represented the profits from the 10-year-old’s lemonade stand.

Christian Duran, a fifth grader at Walter Woodward Elementary School, set up his stand Sunday next to a stop sign at Wellington and Woodward avenues.  He had help from his 12-yer-old sister Andrea and her friend Natalia.

The young lemonade salesman attached an 8x10 paper sign to the front of his shirt and used his “barker” skills to attract motorists as he yelled “lemonade” at the top of his lungs.  While it was going for 50 cents a glass, Duran said one man gave him $5 in exchange for a cool drink.

Duran’s mother said her son is always saving animals from a blue bird chick that fell from the roof to a rabbit and a small puppy.  While only going into the fifth grade, he said he hopes he can become a veterinarian someday.

When he learned of the volunteer program that is being set up for the operation of the new shelter, he asked his mother if he could volunteer. Pound Master Les Rowe said that the minimum age is 16, but if he came with his mother with both volunteering, it would be OK. 

Standing by the entrance to the dog pound, his mother flashed a smile at her son signaling they were going to be a team helping out at the shelter.

The young man smiled back when she said they could come on Thursdays to give a hand at the shelter.  He might even be able to walk some dogs and get them out of their cages, he learned.

Duran said he likes dogs better than cats, saying they don’t scratch as much.