PTertacks
with Jan Jaeger

HELPING THE HELPLESS

One thing about traveling; I get to read. OK, maybe it's not great literature, maybe it's People magazine. I happen to think People magazine is the perfect companion for a plane trip. It's gossipy and informative and just about the right amount of reading to be entertained through most standardlength flights. And this week, People magazine featured some very interesting and unusual animal rescue organizations.

But first, I have to compliment our own Nantucket MSPCA Animal Shelter, which does a great job of working with the needs of our island's homeless pets and with outreach through their Shelter volunteers. This year's Shelter "Volunteer of the Year," Geronimo's Manager Pam Rohdenburg, was so named because of her tireless advocacy for the racing greyhound and her many hours of volunteer work. A member of Grey2K USA, a grass roots political organization, and owner of two retired racers, Pam has been responsible for bringing greyhounds from the track to Nantucket for adoption. She also continues to keep Nantucket in the loop with Grey2K's ongoing lobbying efforts to attempt to effect the closing of the two operating tracks in Massachusetts.

Another of our MSPCA's mega-volunteers, Lori Smith, plans her vacation so that she can visit and volunteer at one of her favorite Shelters, Best Friends in Kanab, Utah. Best Friends is truly unique. The largest animal sanctuary in the country, this huge, sprawling facility will house approximately 1,500 homeless animals on any given day, including horses, goats, birds, dogs, cats and small animals. Their placement network is national in scope and their programs include adoption, spay/neuter and educational opportunities. Supported entirely by donations, about 20,000 people come to this out-of-the way sanctuary each year, where they welcome all homeless animals, visitors and volunteers.

In reading about the other unique shelters across the country, one common thread emerges - the commitment of an individual to go that extra mile for their cause.

Ginnie Frati of Hampton Bays, New York, was working as a secretary, but she had a lifelong interest in animal welfare. An incident with an injured woodchuck caused her to realize that there were no facilities to help with non-domestic animals in her area and this became the impetus for her to earn her license as a wildlife rehabilitator. She eventually quit her day job, opening the Wildlife Rescue Center of the Hamptons in 2000. Now, with her staff of 6 and 45 volunteers, she is able to treat more than 1,000 animals a year, half of which are eventually able to return to the wild.

Kelly Moyer left her job as a ConAgra food saleswoman in 2002 to found Tails of Hope, an organization that guarantees loving placement of a pet for its terminally ill owner. Supported entirely by donations, since its founding, Moyer and her volunteers have placed 1,200 animals with new caregivers.

Horse trainer Helen Meredith had already founded the United Pegasus Foundation to save retired racehorses from slaughter when she became aware of the plight of baby foals being sold to meat buyers. Baby foals were becoming the unwanted surplus of pregnant mares farmers were using to produce the estrogen used in the female hormone replacement drug Premarin. Meredith estimates her efforts have saved up to 4,500 foals. Even though use of this drug has been severely curtailed, thousands of foals are still at risk.

Wrapped in Kindness is an organization started by software marketing director Kate Bland of Lovettsville, Virginia, to help raise funds for people who cannot afford the expensive treatments they need to help their sick animals. To help her first recipient, Bland started knitting scarves which she sold online. Now she has increased her online offerings to include pet beds, totes and more, and in the last two years has raised more than $82,000 to help 83 pets.

In the year 2000, Boeing executive couple Alayne Marker and Steve Smith gave up their day jobs and turned their 160-acre rural Montana vacation home into the Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary, an unusual facility that cares exclusively for disabled pets. Their charges' difficulties range from blindness to neurological disorders to amputation. They have been able to find homes for half of their 80 dogs, cats and horses and provide a caring environment for their remaining residents.

If you want further information on any of these organizations, wish to give them support, or if you know of someone who can benefit from their unique assistance, go to the following websites:

www.grey2kusa.org; www.bestfriends.org; www.wildliferescuecenter.org; www.tailsofhope.org www.unitedpegasus.co; www.wrappedinkindness.com;

www.rollingdogranch.org I

Jan Jaeger is owner of Geronimo's, Ltd., Nantucket's pet supply and gift shop and is a member of Dog and Cat Writer's Associations of America (DWAA and CWA).. Her pets at home are Junior, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and three cats. At the shop are the cats, Messrs. Fish and Chips, Flower Bunny, Millie guinea pig and two budgies. Send e-mail to jan@geronimos.com.