Giving Back

Samantha Jayne & Ian

Before Janan was born, I had 2 dogs and 2 cats that were my original "children".  Samantha Jayne, a black-tri Australian Shepherd, Logan, an Aussie mix and Ian & Isabelle, the cats).  Within the last few years they had all passed away and my (now ex-) husband would not allow any more pets. 


This was tough for both me & Janan having always had animals around.  So, after the divorce it was one of the first promises I made - that we would bring animals back into our lives.

Our Oliver

After we got our own place, we found a wonderful no-kill shelter here in Tucson called The Hermitage.  The day after Christmas, Janan's first pet that she was there to help pick came home.  His name is Oliver and he's a real character.  

Our Katybelle

Two days later, our Katybelle came home and she's completed our new family.

Since that time, we've often talked of going back to the shelter.  I've made donations of food when I could, but recently found out we could volunteer at the shelter directly.  Today, we spent over four hours doing just that.  


It's SUCH an amazing place!  I truly thought we would be put to work cleaning litter boxes or some other manual labor, but when we arrived we were specifically asked to "spend time with the FIV+ kittens, because they need the socialization".  That their first thought was to these kittens (and then, later, to the "shy babies" - cats who aren't so much the lap cats) almost brought me to tears.  

Janan & Karo - an FIV+ kitten

Of course, it was a dream come true for Janan!  She got to spend four hours playing with cats AND it was seen as an important job!  


We'll definitely be going back.  

Janan & Buddy - one of the "shy babies".
He turned out to be a real "talker" while with Janan.
(No shock there, right?!)