Our Environment, Animals, and Purple Dog Animal Sanctuary (Part I- “The Why”)
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from The Purple Dog Coding, Tech, and Business Blog at Purple Dog Enterprises.com
I am drawn to coding because it allows for creative problem solving using novel and unique methods combined with established principles. My personality is geared toward tackling complex situations and that attribute, combined with my love of animals and eagerness to save our environment, prompted me to start Purple Dog Animal Sanctuary, Inc., my 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity.
This post provides a little history of why I founded the organization and the next post will demonstrate how I actually plan to build the sanctuary.
Animals are Awesome
I have been lucky to have been around animals my entire life. I learned to love, respect, and care for animals because of my family’s long history with them.
Here are just a few random examples of the many animals my family has taken care of: In the late 1970s my mom noticed a bizarre little creature that seemed lost in the middle of a blizzard in Dayton, Ohio. It turned out to be a stray rat terrier that she and my sisters named Phyllis (after Phyllis Diller because of her crazy hair). Phyllis lived a long life, somewhere around 16 to 18 years.
Koyak the Pekingese was my best friend growing up. My mom said she would never buy from a pet store, but she happened to see the saddest little Pekingese in a little cage with just a bowl. Koyak, like Phyllis, lived for around 18 years or so. We’ve had so many different animals all with unique personalities I can’t even keep track of all of them!
My mom and family also rescued wild animals, helped them get healthy, and then released them. One blue jay kicked out of its nest even had to be released twice. This little guy loved to be fed with baby food on the end of a paintbrush. Alvin was so smart he learned to mimic the telephone that was next to him because people would come over to answer and he wanted the attention a ring brought. The first time my mom released him one of Florida’s notorious afternoon thunderstorms popped up out of nowhere and Alvin responded by jumping from branch to branch with his mouth wide open to the sky. For as smart as he was, he had no concept of drowning. She brought him back in and later on that week he was released again, this time he was able to fly off. There have been a few more birds like him that she rescued, but that little dude was special. Squirrels kicked out of the nest were also no stranger to mom’s rescues and one named Muldoon even had a back leg in a tiny cast for a short bit while he healed.
My sister also cared for animals deeply, worked in a veterinarian’s office, and volunteered at Eglin Air Force Base’s Pet Welfare Shelter. She would also take the feral and stray cats from the woods behind our house to the vet to have them spayed or neutered and then release them back into the wild.
To this day, my dad still mixes plates of different dry and wet cat foods (even with a little bit of ham and cheese!) to feed many of those same strays that hang out around the back yard. His house is at the end of a cul-de-sac and apparently has some mythical kind of strong magnetic animal force! So many stray dogs and cats ended up there.
Of course I’ve loved all of our dogs, but the funniest one I’ve had was Lucy Liu, the Rottweiler-dachshund. No kidding, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay volunteers outside of PetSmart running the adoptions informed us the dachshund was the father. Her pops must have been one brave wiener-dog. I have no idea how that conception worked logistically, but it resulted in one great pup. You know you have a unique dog when your first reaction is, “What the %#&@ is that thing!” Her big barreled body and stubby legs never stopped her from tearing around the yard chasing lizards. I don’t think she ever caught one, but she would never give up trying.
Lucy Liu was one dog out of the many of our pets, each one special in their own ways. Animals have given me so many great memories I want to give something back to them.
Coming up next, Our Environment, Animals, and Purple Dog Animal Sanctuary (Part II- “The How”)
Visit the Purple Dog Animal Sanctuary website here.
