I have been an avid animal lover all my life. You can find
pictures of me when I was three dragging an old tom cat by the neck to some place where I could pet him. I have to admit
that when at my grandmothers, I was known to put a cat in the clothes closet so he would be there when I got through eating!
Until my early twenties, I did "all things cat". I was brought
up with hunting dogs and was not allowed to play with them because it would "mess up their hunting ability". Then someone
gave me a puppy and a whole new world opened up.
In 1999 I started volunteering at Richmond County Animal Control.
A group of volunteers got together and started Augusta Animal Rescue Friends (AARF). I was in on the initial planning
team. Our group provides outside adoptions and fostering for "pound puppies" and cats. Animals requiring simple
medical attention cannot survive at the shelter; funds are sorely lacking and they are understaffed and unprepared for such
care. That is where AARF comes in. In my time as a volunteer with AARF, I have become acquainted with animals of all
sorts - from purebreds to mutts, feral cats to spoiled cats. I've learned a lot about animals and their care
in the past five years.
I am now a member of the Executive Board of Augusta Animal Rescue
Friends. We are trying now to shape AARF for the future, when current volunteers step aside for new volunteers.
Even though it's necessary work, my joy is derived from the animals, not my position.
I have pet sat in the past for friends and family. When
corporate restructuring eliminated my position, I turned to the thing I really loved -- animals. I love what I do and
the animals I pet sit know it.
