Herald&Review
SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015
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DECATUR, ILLINOIS
LIVE & LEARN The Center of it All. It's about more than geography in Central Illinois. Today, meet a few of your neighbors who have made their dreams, goals and passions the center of their lives. They, and others like them, make the Decatur area the Center of it All in more ways than one.
INSIDE:
HARD WORK AND DEDICATION
Volunteers to the rescue Local advocates tirelessly offer aid to animals in need VALERIE WELLS H&R Staff Writer
DECATUR – Connor was found chained to a log, severely underweight, with no food, water or shelter. Rescued and taken to Homeward Bound, the St. Bernard has become so popular with volunteers, staff and the people who know him only through the shelter's Facebook page that he had numerous applicants who wanted to be his forever family, and has found a new home, which he will move to in the next few weeks. “We cry when they come in, and we cry when they leave,” said Donna Dash, one of the most faithful volunteers at the shelter. Dash started with an hour or two a week and now shows up almost every day. She's a retired teacher, and while she always liked animals and had her own, and she wanted to volunteer and stay active in the community. She's a member of Golden K and found volunteer opportunities through that organization, but a friend urged her to add Homeward Bound to her list, too. “The more you're here, the more you want to be here,” Dash said. “You start out an hour or two, but you like the dogs and the cats and you meet people, and it has opened up a vast experience for me.” Animals come to Homeward Bound, and most rescue organizations, in all sorts of ways, and some of them are heartbreaking. An animal abused and neglected, some tortured and near death, given up by elderly or sick owners who have no other choice, or dumped by the side of the road and found by a good-hearted person and brought in. The joy comes in when the hard work and dedication of the vets and volunteers bring back an animal to good health and send him or her to a forever home. Chip was one of those. A black-and-white mid-sized dog with a wavy coat and a pronounced limp, Chip was in an animal control facility elsewhere with a broken leg after being hit by a car. Authorities found his owners, who refused to give permission for treatment of the injury and also refused to come and get him. By the time it was all resolved, his leg had healed badly and it was mostly useless. Eventually, Chip came to Homeward Bound. He's learned to compensate for the crippled leg, and he recently went home with a new mom and dad who adored him on first Volunteer Stacey Dill receives a hug from a shelter dog while walking him at Homeward sight. The feeling was clearly Bound. mutual. Sharon Renfro is a stay-at-home mom with four kids. She spends a lot of time at Homeward Bound, but she also fosters animals. She often takes home the pregnant dogs and keeps mama and babies until the puppies are weaned and ready to consider applicants for a forever home. People always ask how she can stand to fall in love with the animals and then give them up. “It's hard,” she said. “But when you see them go to a home and you know you helped them get there, it's worth it.” Her kids are still young, but they, too, understand that their home is a place for fosters to get strong and learn to live with a family and with the Renfros' own dogs, and then go to homes of their own. Shelter dogs, as much as volunteers strive to socialize them, play with them, walk them and love them, miss the experience of living with a family, and that experience can make the difference, Renfro said. If the dogs don't get used to the noise of a TV, to walking on carpet, to going to the door when they need to go out, playing with children, living with other furry siblings, it's harder for them to adjust if they do get adopted, and sadly, sometimes people bring them back to shelters if they don't immediately fit into the family. That's why foster families are critical. Rescue organizations, like the Illinois English Bulldog
RESCUE/PAGE 3
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Volunteer Donna Dash dries off a shelter dog after washing him at Homeward Bound.
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>>> Growing talent Dash pets a shelter dog during his exercise walk on the treadmill.
‘It's hard. But when you see them go to a home and you know you helped them get there, it's worth it.’ Sharon Renfro, volunteer
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