Pet Talk

By Cathy Davis
    The house across the street from mine is painted red on the front. A beautifully-renovated Victorian, the trim is painted in a cream color. The porch looks warm and inviting. A soft glow from the upstairs window tells you someone is at home. The sides of the house are green. The owner has yet to finish this project – it is a work in progress. She is doing it right, restoring the home to its original majesty, slowly, carefully, lovingly.
    I admire this house from my kitchen window. I think about how this house serves as a metaphor for so many things in life — a work in progress. Aren’t we all basically a work in progress? Could you honestly say that God is finished with you, and you are perfect, and there is no more work left to be done? I know I can’t. I’m far from finished. I don’t even have the first coat of paint on my front and my porch… well, let’s just say there’s a little more of that than there should be.
    The animal shelter is like this in many ways. A work in progress. We have worked long and hard, lovingly and carefully, to create an environment for the animals that is rich and warm, feeling much like home. A place where visitors enjoy coming and hanging out. A place where volunteers congregate to spend time with animals, some just sitting and rocking kittens, others walking dogs around our clean, open outdoor area.
    We are not perfect. We are still developing programs, expanding our knowledge, honing our skills. We are still painting our trim, so to speak.
    Now there are people who will “drive by” our “house” and make a comment about the fact that the front is red and the sides are green. There are always going to be people who remind me of weeds, they grow faster in the garden than the flowers, they thrive in any kind of condition and they choke the life out of the beautiful flowers. We can let the weeds do that — the choice is ours.
    Our goal is to constantly understand that no matter how long we’ve been working at saving animals, we have not yet learned everything and will never stop trying to learn. Our mission is to save the animals that we can save and to have the love and compassion to know when an animal is suffering and cannot be saved and have enough courage to hold it to our hearts and end its suffering. We are a humane society, the word humane being an extremely important part of our mission.
    If you drive by the house every single day and say something negative about the green paint, I would invite you to pick up a paintbrush.   I’m sure the owner wouldn’t mind.  I’m sure she would welcome your help. Climb up that ladder, put on your painters pants, tie back your hair and go to work. Nobody ever complained about having someone come in willing to lend a hand.
    If you feel that there is still some green paint on the shelter and it’s bothering you in any way, come on by and give us some constructive ideas. We have a board of directors that is growing and multiplying, a large group of individuals who volunteer, and a substantial member base of adopters, supporters and friends. All of you have held a paintbrush in your hand at one time or another, all of you have helped renovate our home, but we’re not finished yet and we always welcome new ideas.
    Our annual meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 30 at the animal shelter shortly after 5 p.m. Come and bring a friend. You can bring your supper with you if you get out of work at 5 p.m. and haven’t had a chance to eat. You will find our meetings are light hearted and entertaining as well as informative and enlightening. We have discovered you can have fun and accomplish your goals at the same time. Imagine that!
    We are a work in progress. We are currently updating our by-laws, reviewing our mission statement, electing a new board of directors and reviewing projects for the coming year. We are starting to paint a side of our metaphoric house. Coming to a meeting does not commit you to holding a paintbrush. Getting involved does not mean you have to work every fundraiser or attend every meeting nor does it mean you have to foster animals, get up in the night to feed sick kittens, or donate your last dime.
    But getting involved does mean that you’ll have an opportunity to help us find a way to tweak what we do so that we can be the very best. Not the best in the world. Not the best in the state. Not the prettiest house on the block. But just be the best that we can be. Given our set of circumstances, our assets, our location, our challenges, our goal is to pull the weeds, let the flowers grow, save one more animal, and then another, and then another. We’ll see you on Oct. 30.