Teacher’s Pets
Teresa Bottom asked the class of 2nd-graders, “Who remembers what we discussed in our last session?”
Several hands shot into the air.
“Animals need the same things people do.”
“Don’t tease animals.”
“Leave wild animals where they are.”
“Be kind to animals.”
Another student said pets need to be educated, just like all the kids at school.
Teresa looked pleased at their responses: they’d retained their lesson well.
Teresa is the founder of Lifebridge for Animals, an organization in Shelbyville dedicated to cutting down on pet overpopulation. But Lifebridge is going about this a little differently than many organizations, by teaching humane education classes that emphasize kindness to animals.
“By targeting children early,” says Bottom, who is certified in humane education, “we can teach these kids how to properly care for their pets. They can, in turn, educate their parents. And they learn that spaying or neutering their pet is a great kindness.”
Teresa put the curriculum together for these humane education classes, and last year presented her ideas to the Shelby County Board of Education, who saw the value of Teresa’s classes.
In a recent visit to Wright Elementary, Teresa expounded on a previous session by talking about respect and responsibility where animals are concerned. After looking at handouts and a PowerPoint presentation, they easily grasped the concepts of respect and responsibility, giving examples from their own lives. One student said he showed respect by staying away from a nest of duck eggs “so the mommy wouldn’t bite me.”
Another student said she learned to teach responsibility to others when “my cousin tried to throw away her dog and I told her not to.”
The main lesson to the children is that pets, and all animals, have a lot in common with people: a need for food and shelter, medical care, and a family to love.
Teresa moved on to the subject of spay/neuter, explaining that there aren’t enough homes in the world for all the puppies and kittens that are born. By altering your animals, she tells them, they make better pets, live longer, healthier lives, and are less likely to roam, where they run the risk of ending up in an animal shelter.
It didn’t take long for one student to put two and two together, asking, “What happens if a dog in the shelter has puppies?”
Teresa hesitated only briefly before replying, “They may be put to sleep. And isn’t that a sad thing?”
The class ends with the students taking what’s known as The Critter Pledge:
Wings to fly or legs to crawl,
Flat as a pancake or round as a ball,
Creatures big and creatures small,
We promise to respect them all!
The Adoption Guru
The focus of Lifebridge is to educate children. But all the volunteers associated with Lifebridge continue their own education also. Teresa and her husband, Dudley, a co-founder of Lifebridge, recently invited Mike Arms of the Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego to come speak to their group.
It was something of a coup to have him. Mike Arms is a nationally known animal advocate. His success rate in getting animals adopted—2 million animals, more than anyone in history—has earned him the title of Adoption Guru in the United States.
A native of Kentucky, Mike took a job at the ASPCA in New York City not to save animals, but as an administrator using his degree in business. It was there that his own education began.
“At the ASPCA, I witnessed the abuse, the horror of man against animals. And I realized the ASPCA was killing 140,000 animals a year. I don’t say ‘put to sleep’ or ‘humane euthanasia.’ It’s killing, plain and simple.”
Mike decided he wasn’t cut out for the atmosphere of animal welfare and tried to leave, but then got personally involved in trying to save the life of a dog that had been hit by a car. When he tried to help the dog, neighborhood kids, who thought a dog dying in the street was entertaining, attacked Mike, and he lost consciousness.
“What woke me was the dog, despite all his injuries, licking my face. His back was broken, he was in terrible pain, but he was determined to make sure I was okay.
“And then he died.”
That was in 1966, and was the moment Mike began his career as an advocate for animals.
Mike now travels the country, assessing local shelters and offering suggestions to improve facilities and their adoption rates. His approach differs in that he combines the emotional aspect of saving animals with a business sense.
“I’m not a fanatic,” he says, “I’m a business person. And my business is saving animals. Animal facilities must market themselves, just like any business.”
Building a proper, well-built shelter, advertising the shelter and its animals, working with local media to promote the shelter—all are basic to a well-run facility, and Mike has proved over the years that this approach works. After he left the ASPCA in 1976, he joined the well-known North Shore Animal League in New York state. In the 20 years he spent there, he oversaw 400,000 adoptions. To say he’s passionate about his work is a gross understatement.
“Anybody can say ‘I love animals.’ Then why will we kill 5 million animals this year? Guide dogs and 9/11 dogs wouldn’t give up on us, but we’ve given up on them.”
After assessing the work done by Lifebridge, Mike has given them his endorsement, calling their work “exemplary.”
Mike also toured the Shelby County Animal Shelter. Rusty Newton, acting director of the shelter and deputy county judge-executive, says Mike had a favorable view of the shelter, and made a couple suggestions.
“Mike recommended we put fluorescent lighting in the kennel area, since it’s a brighter lighting. Just as he said it would, the lighting has enhanced the mood of the dogs, they’re happier. And we’re improving the ventilation in the area where we house the cats.
“To improve public relations, he suggested we ask visitors to tell us how they learned about the shelter—this gives us a better idea how people know about us and how we can get the word out more about the shelter.”
Another of Mike’s suggestions was that puppies be put in the back of the dog viewing area. That way, the adult and senior dogs are the first—and thus the last—to be seen, and will make more of an impression in a visitor’s memory.
Lifebridge is a new organization, but the word is spreading and producing results. After an interview with WHAS-11 television, Teresa drove home and found a message already on her answering machine—a woman in the west end of Louisville wanted to get her dog spayed, but was having trouble with the cost and with transportation. Teresa made some calls and found a vet near the woman’s house who would do the surgery at a reduced cost.
The volunteers at Lifebridge have a great commitment to the mission of Lifebridge. As co-founder Dudley Bottom, retired president of Shelby Energy Co-op, says, “Lifebridge has been very rewarding for me, giving me an opportunity to make a difference in addressing the pet overpopulation issue.”
Melinda Cowherd, on the board of directors, says she’s a big believer in the spay/neuter program.
“There is definitely a problem of overpopulation in Shelby County. By educating the children, we hope by the time they are adults, we will have lessened that overpopulation.”
Jennifer Christian adds, “We’re not here to force people to spay and neuter, but we educate people and provide vouchers for a reduced-price surgery, so that people are more encouraged to alter their pets.”
When a feral cat colony moved into her neighborhood, Reba Kelley realized the need for altering animals. Reba got involved with Lifebridge by helping them obtain their 501(c) nonprofit status, and is now a firm believer in educating children.
“If we start teaching children now, they’ll be responsible pet owners. Grade-schoolers really listen—maybe more than older kids—and they love to share what they’ve learned with their parents.”
Perhaps what it all comes down to is simply love for animals. As Teresa says, “There are no words to express the remarkable bond between people and pets. These relationships fill us with an indescribable joy, a joy that reaches into the very depth of our souls.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Lifebridge for Animals
P.O. Box 1346
Shelbyville, KY 40066
(502) 633-5465
www.lifebridgeforanimals.org
tbatlifebridge@bellsouth.net
(Donations are tax-deductible and can be made online.)
