Watching a sweet stray dog
being beaten in front of my grandparent’s front yard by a close relative as a
small child, forever changed the way I viewed the world. I could not
understand why someone would abuse an animal that had only passed by looking
for companionship or maybe a morsel of food. The look of confusion and
fear in that dog’s eyes is ever present with me and is what propelled me to
volunteer my time and donate to animal shelters today. As a small child I
felt helpless and without a voice to speak out for that dog, but many years
later in life I was blessed with opportunities to offer love and care to
animals at the Idaho Humane Society who held the same look of fear in their
eyes.
In 1981, as a teenager, I
began to volunteer at IHS. The shelter at that time was a tiny little
place, with poor housing for the animals, but also held the hope, compassion
and the strong voices of volunteers who worked tirelessly to find homes for
these stray or abandoned animals. Since that time I have also been
blessed with the opportunity to develop the Meridian Valley Humane Society and
to serve on the Idaho Humane Society Board of Directors. I continued to
be overwhelmed by the individuals who consistently stepped up to give of
themselves, seek donations, and speak out for shelter animals in our
community.
I watched as IHS grew into
the facility they are in today, which is now far too inadequate to provide for
the growing needs of our community as the staff and volunteers care for 14,000
animals each year. Fortunately due to the vision of IHS’s leaders and
those that give so generously, IHS has a plan for the future to build a new
facility that will stand as a beacon of hope for the people and animals of our
community; a place where animals are housed humanely and where they can receive
the best possible veterinary care.
This is a wonderful vision,
but IHS will need help and great support from the community in order to move to
this next phase and make this a reality. I marvel at the opportunity we
each have to participate in building a loving environment for all stray and
abandoned animals in our community.
If you have ever looked into
the eyes of an animal in need and perceived their pain, I wonder if this might
be your opportunity to be its voice. I invite you to please join Idaho Humane
Society and use your voice and resources to spread the word of this need and to
give generously to the Idaho Humane Society Capital Campaign in hopes of a
brighter future. Each donation however great or
small gives a stray animal a new chance at life.
With gratitude,
Connie Petersen
If you would like to join Connie in supporting the Idaho Humane Society's efforts to build a new animal shelter please click HERE.
