The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

To the Rescue: Saving Abandoned Mutts in Mexico
Alison Sawyer Current went on a Mexican vacation and wound up with a suntan, a second home, and a new calling: saving abandoned mutts. (From Ladies’ Home Journal 2010)


Alison Sawyer Current is used to finding buckets of puppies on her front doorstep in the morning. Sometimes older dogs, so thin their ribs are showing, are tied up outside, and sick ones, too ill to move, are left lying under the bushes in her garden.

As a lifetime lover of animals, Sawyer Current, 56, is the operator of the unofficial humane society of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, where she is known affectionately as Mujer de los Perros, the "Dog Lady."

Sawyer Current, a novelist and potter, and her husband, Jeff Current, first came to the tranquil island, a 25-minute ferry ride from Cancun, on a house-swapping vacation. They loved it so much they built their own place there in 2000. But it was hard to ignore the many stray dogs.

"We were always finding abandoned puppies," says Sawyer Current. "It's not the norm here to spay or neuter animals." When there are too many strays on the island, official dogcatchers round them up and electrocute them. "It broke my heart to see it."

In 2001 the couple had a fence and some pens built in their backyard, effectively turning their home into a rescue center. "If you love animals and live in Mexico, it's very hard not to get involved," Sawyer Current says.

Word soon spread around the five-mile-long island that the Yanqui was caring for unwanted dogs. "I see the buckets of puppies on our doorstep as a big improvement," says Sawyer Current, who may have as many as 20 puppies and 40 dogs in her house and yard at any time. "When they dump the dogs with us, it means the animals aren't being left to starve."

Sawyer Current eventually formed her own rescue organization, which she named Isla Animals. She doesn't have any formal veterinary training. She has picked up a lot from visiting American vets and techs who have volunteered for Isla Animals, though, and has sat up many a night coaxing a severely malnourished puppy to eat.

American and Canadian tourists often drop by to walk the dogs on the beach, sometimes taking home one or two they've fallen in love with. Isla Animals has recently teamed up with five shelters -- in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, New York, and British Columbia -- that have agreed to help find permanent homes for the strays.

As a result of her work on Isla Mujeres, Sawyer Current received the 2005 Doris Day Animal Foundation's Kindred Spirit Award. And in 2007 she was invited to be a participant in the first-ever Forum on Small Animal Overpopulation, in Mexico City.

While Isla Animals does get some donations from tourists and visitors to its Web site, islaanimals.org, much of the money needed to run the center comes from Sawyer Current's pocket. She admits there's some sacrifice, but for her it's worth it. "I've wanted a new barbecue grill for at least three years, but every time I think about it we end up using that money to care for another dog," she says. "The dogs and puppies are our first priority." http://islaanimals.org/

[kuhio98]

Field of Dreams

I grew up in Massachusetts, and live for the Boston Red Sox. I even have a team tattoo. My husband, Adam, loves that he can ask "How'd the Sox do?" and I can always give him the recap. Sometimes he asks from very far away: He is in the Army, and in our 13-year marriage he's been deployed seven times.

I should be used to it by now, but the holidays are still hard for me. In 2007 Adam was in Iraq. He called Christmas morning to hear our son, Addison, opening his presents. I put on a brave face for Addison, but it still tore me apart that Adam wasn't with us.

A few days later a manila envelope arrived with my name on it. I opened it and pulled out a tiny baggy and thought, "What the heck is this?" Then I read the letter that came with it. Adam had arranged to have dirt from the Sox infield sent to me. Amazing! I own a piece of Fenway.

That simple act from thousands of miles away made me realize how much Adam really understands me: He knows that dirt from Fenway Park means more to me than any fancy clothes or jewelry ever could. I cherish that dirt, but this Christmas I'm getting an even better gift: Adam will be home -- and that's really all I want.

-- Erin, Pooler, Georgia

[kuhio98]

Anonymous kidney donor honored

Jeff Mitchell and Mary Holand had an indescribable bond before they had even met.
“I felt like I already knew her,” Mitchell said.
Two months ago, Jeff gave Mary a hug. He had already given her so much more, a kidney.
“He very special to me,” Holand said. “I’m excited, I call him my angel.”
Sentara General Hospital in Norfolk only sees the likes of Mitchell once a year at the most, someone who decides to anonymously give a kidney to a person in need.
“It’s like I have another family now,” Mitchell said.
Tuesday Mitchell was honored at Sentara’s living kidney donor celebration. Mitchell went up and spoke about what inspired him to donate.
He had no connection to the cause, he just saw the need and took action for someone who needed help.
Holand has heard the story before, but that doesn’t stop her from crying every time.
“I couldn’t meet no nicer person, I don’t believe,” Holand said.
Holand was on dialysis, and sometimes struggled to find the motivation to go. Weeks after the surgery she felt renewed.
“Now basically I can go where I want to go and basically do what I want to do, and that means a lot to me,” Holand said.
Mitchell doesn’t have another kidney to give to someone. ”It’s a one time shot,” he jokes.
But if he could donate again, and change someone’s life like he changed Holand’s, he would.
An unbreakable friendship, created by one kidney, and countless hugs.

[kuhio98]

Because a Tornado Was No Match for This Town

"In 2009 a tornado hit my home," says reader T. Sanford Giemza. "I had only been living in Thomasville, Georgia, for two years, so I wasn't really sure who I'd turn to for help. But the town sprang into action. Businesses donated household supplies, people I didn't know donated sheets for my kids to sleep on, strangers from our church cooked us dinner for three straight weeks. I'll always be so thankful.”

[kuhio98]

Putting Neighbor's Newspaper on the Porch

I was getting in my car about six months ago and I saw our neighbor struggling to get his newspaper from his driveway. He has a deformed back and cannot walk without difficulty. The next morning I decided to put his newspaper on his porch so he wouldn't have to go so far to retrieve it. Then the next thing I knew my husband started doing this routine for me, without even asking me! Together we've been doing this for six months now and our neighbor is really grateful.

[kuhio98]

A Second Chance

The Prison Tails program matches unadoptable dogs with convicted criminals. Meet one graduate who became a hero.
Sara Conroy was looking to adopt a big, active dog -- one that would run five miles a day with her and be gentle and friendly with her kids. But when the Granger, Indiana, substitute teacher saw a cute candidate on petfinder.com, she didn't expect she'd be springing him from a state prison. Kosmo, a Siberian husky mix, had just graduated from Prison Tails, a program where convicts train rescue dogs that have been deemed unadoptable. Kosmo had wound up with that label because he was big, untrained, and a mutt, a bad combo for would-be adoptive families. The overcrowded shelter he'd been in had given him a death sentence -- but Kosmo got a reprieve from a rescue organization called Mixed Up Mutts, which shipped him off to the local penitentiary to learn some manners.

The founders of Mixed Up Mutts, Sarah Stevens, a nurse, and her husband, Cris, a firefighter, created Prison Tails back in 2004, when they realized that some of their rescued dogs were being returned due to behavior problems. They needed to figure out a way to train the animals before placing them with families. But who would whip them into shape? Then they happened to see a TV show that featured a prison-based dog-training program. "We've got prisons right in our area," Sarah said. "I don't know why we couldn't do that." So the group approached the nearby Westville Correctional Facility, in Westville, Indiana, and Prison Tails was born.

Out of the approximately 3,400 inmates at Westville, only 32 make the cut to become dog handlers. Candidates are drawn from the medium- and minimum-security populations and must have a high school diploma or equivalent, good prison conduct, and no background of domestic violence or sexual offenses. Once accepted, handlers have to complete rigorous homework on dog training, write reports, make presentations, and give their dog 15 to 20 minutes of training three to five times a day. On off-hours they are responsible for grooming and feeding the dogs, who live with them. At the end of four to six weeks, the animals must pass an American Kennel Club obedience test and then learn additional etiquette. Handlers get paid $1.25 a day and the program has been very popular, prison officials say.

"Some of these guys have been in here for 20 or 30 years and haven't touched a dog since they arrived," says Sharon Hawk, a prison director who oversees Prison Tails. "Now they live with their 'own' dog who gives them unconditional love and makes them feel productive. Having the animals around also helps improve morale."

The program is more than just a mood booster, though -- it teaches inmates a trade. After they've successfully completed the program, participants become certified animal trainers through the Department of Labor. When they're released from prison they can get jobs in pet stores, veterinary clinics, or doggie daycare centers. "It's exciting to see a dog that's been deemed unadoptable or untrainable become a productive member of society, along with the offender," says Prison Tails program director Regan Dietz, who, with Cris Stevens, teaches the prisoners how to train the animals. "We're giving both the dogs and the handlers a second chance."

Kosmo was three weeks out of Westville when, just after midnight, his new owner, Conroy, 39, woke up to hear him growling. Kosmo sprang from where he'd been sleeping beside her bed and raced into the kitchen. Alone in the house with her 8-year-old daughter, Emilia, and 21-year-old stepdaughter, Amy -- her husband, Tim, was on a business trip -- Conroy had a flash of fear. But the big dog returned to the bedroom shortly afterward and all was quiet. Conroy assumed it had just been Amy grabbing a late-night snack, and she went back to sleep.

In fact, Kosmo had chased off a burglar. When Conroy entered the kitchen the next morning, she noticed that the sliding glass door was open. Her wedding and engagement rings, which she'd taken off and left on the counter while cooking dinner, were both gone. "I don't want to think what could have happened if the burglar had gotten further than the kitchen," Conroy says. "Emilia and I were on the first floor. Without a doubt, Kosmo saved us."

Conroy admits she was uneasy at first when she discovered her potential adoptive dog was being trained at Westville. "I had never been to a prison and there were maximum-security prisoners there. I didn't know what to expect." What she found was love at first sight, she says -- and, as it turns out, peace of mind. In the end, she realized that she really appreciated the fact that Kosmo had been trained by an inmate. "I like that he was being taught by someone who really needed to learn about love and trust," Conroy says. "Kosmo is an irreplaceable part of our family, and it makes me feel good to know that his training was a positive experience for everyone involved."

[recycler]

Putting Neighbor's Newspaper on the Porch

I was getting in my car about six months ago and I saw our neighbor struggling to get his newspaper from his driveway. He has a deformed back and cannot walk without difficulty. The next morning I decided to put his newspaper on his porch so he wouldn't have to go so far to retrieve it. Then the next thing I knew my husband started doing this routine for me, without even asking me! Together we've been doing this for six months now and our neighbor is really grateful.

How great of you! I bet he is very happy to have you as neighbors!

[kuhio98]

How great of you! I bet he is very happy to have you as neighbors!

Thank you, but please understand all of these stories are not about me. I'm not bragging about what a nice person I am
I'm collecting happy, positive stories out of the news and off the internet and just sharing them here. If the article includes the name of the person who posted it, I include it. But, most of the time, the originator is not referenced.

I'm hoping these give us all ideas of how we can help others in small or large ways. It takes so little to make a difference in a life -- whether it be a person or a pet.