Chubbs Page 6
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Clyde Page 4
APRIL 2007 PREMIER ISSUE
Nicki & Nina Page 3
PRICELESS
Child’s Play Animals have a good friend in dogcrazy Morgan Sheehy. After all, the seven-year-old made a special commitment to the Second Chance Animal Rescue Society – and got her human friends involved, too.
What’s Inside Teddy, Sasha, Tusha and Foxy’s plea for a retirement home
By George Lee Contributing Editor
O
nce you become a pet owner, you’d better be dedicated to the many tasks at hand. Actors in a play written by a young Edmontonian know all about that kind of commitment. “No quitters,” says seven-year-old Morgan Sheehy, who put on her play to raise money for the Second Chance Animal Rescue Society. “I said you could only quit before your costume was finished. After that, you were stuck.” A SCARS presentation on spaying and neutering, which she saw at her school, got Morgan’s creative wheels turning. “We had a magic show at school once, and I thought, why couldn’t I do that with a play and help SCARS?” says the Caraway Program student. Not just any play, mind you. Morgan’s play needed a hero, named Jackson, and it needed a villain, The Wizard. The Wizard captures eight children, who come from a “really poor” home. Life with The Wizard is no picnic. He locks up the children. But two of them break out, and the courageous Jackson rescues the rest. Morgan wanted her play to appeal to many tastes. It had to be part horror and part magic. It had to have some fairy tale in there, too, because “some people like fairy tales.” With help from teacher Starla Ropp, the children put on Morgan’s play and raised $24 in by-donation admissions. After collecting further money from beyond their audience, the children had their total for SCARS: $34. Mom Kelly Sheehy says it’s great that the youngsters wanted to help a non-profit group. The play represents an important turning point for her daughter’s social conscience, she says. Morgan has raised money for charity before, but for the first time she was the project’s creator. The play is no random act of goodwill, however. SCARS is close to Morgan’s heart. In fact, her family often provides temporary care for a terrier cross named Wallace, under the SCARS foster home program. Wallace, who’s about three years old, has just one eye that works and he’s missing many teeth. Despite the pain in his past, he’s friendly and loves human company. When SCARS rescued Wallace from a northern Alberta pound, he’d lost half his weight and was on the verge of death. “He was in rough shape,” says Kelly. Adds Morgan: “I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt him.”
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Morgan and Wallace loving it up in her backyard Neither do SCARS and the other animal lovers who support the society. SCARS is dedicated to reducing the number of homeless and abandoned animals in northern Alberta. A volunteer-run, non-profit society, SCARS needs donations from Morgan Sheehy and her friends. In fact memberships, donations, sponsorships and other fundraising efforts are its only sources of income. When the society can, it reunites lost animals with their rightful owners. It provides veterinary care and foster homes until permanent homes are found. Responsible pet guardianship is important to SCARS. It promotes the importance of spaying and neutering, and general community awareness about pet guardianship. The message certainly found its way to Morgan. She’d like to keep Wallace permanently – although her parents and the family dog, a one-year-old Labradoodle named Holly, remain undecided for now. When Morgan gets out on her own, the pet scene could get really busy. “I want to have 10 dogs and eight kids when I grow up,” she says.
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Sunshine Gal.................................................3 An Apple A Day ~ Oldies But Goodies............5 Training Tips ~ Take A Walk In Their Paws........6 Tails From Home.............................................8 The Poop - News & Events...............................8 RESCUE ORGANIZATIONS NASAP............................................................3 PAW AND CLAWS ANIMAL RESCUE..............3 SHARES.........................................................4 BEAGLE PAWS................................................4 FFARRA.........................................................5 AFS...............................................................5 SCARS...........................................................6 SNAP.............................................................7 PARS.............................................................7 MISTY CREEK DOG RESCUE..........................8 THE McDONALD FAMILY RESCUE...................8 April’s Feature Rescue Group SHARES page 4