Casey is a middle-aged woman of a petit stature. I have seen her many times when she would bring the rescued dogs and cats to the veterinary clinic in the Louisiana community, in which I work for. Every time I have seen her she would always have a smile on her face and a story to tell. Her blue eyes would light up with every story she told because they were usually stories about how her rescues had delightful endings, as many of them do. She is a compassionate, loving person, and always willing to do whatever she can to help even if that means fostering animals at her own home. I find these characteristics necessary for a person in her line of work because of the endless hours of care one must provide to the sick or newborn animals while receiving nothing more than joy and satisfaction for her hard work. I believe she stated it well when she told me “I have to be devoted to these animals and take on a lot of responsibilities in order to give them the life they deserve.”
Casey grew up in Monroe, which is in North Louisiana, and always had multiple pets as long as she can remember. Her and her brother took on the responsibilities of caring for their pets, such as feeding, bathing, and medicating them when needed; many of the responsibilities she still has in her own clinic. Therefore, she learned the responsibilities that came with pets at a young age. She always knew she wanted to work with animals when she was younger, and as you can see her dream came true. Besides working with her own pets, Casey took a job at a veterinary clinic while in high school in order to take a step in the direction of fulfilling her dream. She worked at a few different clinics after high school for a total of nine years before she was introduced to someone who worked for a companion animal rescue organization. After talking to this person she decided to go work with her, where she later gained enough experience to open her own rescuing organization and finally get to the point in her life where she is today.
Casey owns her own facility where she houses the stray animals. There are several metal cages usually large enough to house three or four of its inhabitants. The cages are large to make sure the animals have more than enough room to move around, play, etc. They are made of metal to keep the animals from chewing through them, which can be a problem if more than one animal gets loose at the same time and they do not get along. The facility also has a large fenced in back yard, in which the dogs are allowed to run around in and develop their social skills with other dogs and peopleunless they are aggressive towards other dogs. In those cases, they are not allowed around any of the other dogs to ensure their safety. The cats have large rooms full of toys to play in and other cats if they can get along with one another, which is rare with older cats but usually common with kittens. Every day Casey or another volunteer for the organization allows the cats and dogs to get out of their cages to have play time in these designated areas. At the facility, she also has a place where she or someone else can bathe the animals that are simply dirty or need a special medicated bath. Both the facility and the animals are kept clean in order to control odor, which is a problem in many boarding or "pet hotel" facilities. Much of the cleaning is done by Casey, which is another responsibility that comes along with the job.
To give the interview significance, I ask her what the significance of her job is, Casey replied, “No one wants an animal that is in the condition we receive them in, except for us. For this reason we take them in, doctor them up, and make them presentable so people will want them. Without people like me the animals that live on our streets and have close to nothing to eat, would only spread diseases and die of starvation and/or dehydration.” She also made a point that these strays would eventually interact with our outside pets and possibly spread diseases to them. She also receives pets from people who simply do not want their pets any more, cannot afford to take care of them, or are incapable of taking care of them. Again, without someone to take those pets in they would be euthanized. Loving pets would be killed for something far beyond their control. Not only does Casey make a difference in the lives of the animals she adopts out, but many people would agree that those pets have changed their lives. Casey claims, “They have found loving companions in these once homeless pets.”
To stress the importance of her job, Casey told me of a time when one of the dogs she rescued and adopted out saved its family’s lives. Their house caught on fire and unfortunately their smoke detectors did not work. The once stray dog woke the mother of the household up by continuously barking and licking her face. If the dog would not have awakened someone they may not have gotten up until it was too late and could possibly be dead right now. When Casey received this dog, it was malnourished and full of several types of worms. If she would not have rescued that dog and nursed it back to health, not only would the dog have died within the next week, but that family it rescued could possibly be dead as well. There is another story she told me that proved the significance of her job. She said that some of the dogs that work for the police force were adopted from her organization. These dogs provide security for our neighborhoods by helping find runaway criminals, sniffing out drugs in certain places, and so much more. Without dogs in these positions, our security would not be at the level it is today.
Casey’s organization received many misplaced and abandoned pets after Hurricane Katrina. Being a rescue organization in Louisiana, she felt she had an obligation to help those pets find their owners or new owners if necessary. She took in close to twenty pets from the New Orleans area, and nursed the injured ones at no expense to the owner when located. She helped to find those pet’s owners by repeatedly placing ads in the newspapers and online. She also made fliers and searched for people via the numbers on the rabies tag. With research, she found some addresses to where the pets lived, which narrowed the search for families a little. Eventually she found most of the owners, but for the pets whose owners she could not find, she kept them for eight months after the hurricane, and then began adopting them out to those who met her adoption qualifications. The qualifications vary with the animals, but some examples are must have fenced in yards, availability to keep certain pets inside, not having children with certain pets, etc.
Casey does not get paid to do this job, so when asked why she does it if there is no cash in return, which is the reason for or at least a perk of other’s employment, she replied, “I love what I do because I know I am making a difference in the lives of both animals and humans. I do not do it for money. I do it because I hate to see animals walking around on the streets full of parasites, starving, not being able to feed their babies, and getting ran over. I save them and allow them to have a good home and the chance at life that they deserve.” She said she did like her other jobs she previously had, but she feels there just are not enough people doing the kind of work she does now and not many people will because it is so difficult. Although she does depend on people in the positions she once held, such as the Veterinarian Assistants, to help treat her rescued pets, she obviously loves her job and will never leave the business she is in now as long as she is capable to work. She is excited to finally have found the perfect job for her. In my opinion she carries out her organization’s motto “Saving lives one stray at a time.”
Publisher: Crystal Dozier
Before Casey's Help
After Casey's Help
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