Getting even better at doing good

As you all know, I’m the mascot for my nonprofit animal welfare group, Central Georgia CARES. I’ve been the mascot ever since 2009 when my Aunt Patti Jones spotted me as a tiny boy down at Macon Animal Control. She was in the process of forming Central Georgia CARES and knew she wanted the perfect mascot to represent the organization.

I was a little boy then and had just barely survived being frozen after I was abandoned on the coldest night of the year. For a while there I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. But with all the love, warmth, nutrition and affection showered on me by my parents and folks at the shelter I pulled through.

According to Aunt Patti, she was smitten as soon as she saw me. And after she learned my story of survival and my determination to live, she knew I was the one she wanted for her mascot. I was recruited on the spot and readily accepted the position.

I started working right away with CARES, raising awareness of the plight of homeless, hurt, hungry and heartbroken animals. We’ve never stopped since and we never plan on stopping.

We’ve helped spay and neuter hundreds of pets to prevent even more puppies and kittens from being born. We’ve helped feed hungry dogs and cats so they won’t know the discomfort of an empty stomach and the pain of malnutrition. We’ve helped provide medical care for sick and injured animals.

We realized early on if we want to make a significant impact we would need to work with people as well as animals. So we taught thousands of school kids about the importance of being compassionate to animals and to each other. We developed curriculum on kindness to all other beings.

CARES even hosted an anti-cruelty workshop for law enforcement officials, veterinarians, animal control officers, animal rescue folks and the general public on signs to look for in suspected dog fighting. Our speaker was a well-respected official who successfully broke up several high profile dog fighting rings around the state, resulting in perpetrators being sent to prison.

There have been a gazillion other things CARES has done to help animals and people and to encourage kindness to all. And I’m really excited about our new project and how this aligns with our mission to do good for others.

CARES and I will be periodically going into neighborhoods where residents truly love their pets and do their best to take care of them but they might need a little help. I’ll tell you more about details in upcoming articles, but I’m happy to announce we are starting our first project.

CARES is headed to a local senior living apartment complex that allows residents to have pets, which is so very important to seniors who may otherwise be lonely if not for their pets. We’ll be helping them with food, low-cost annual vaccines and whatever else they may need. In fact, we’ll even be doing a talk on pet care basics so everyone will know what their pet needs to stay healthy.

I’m really excited about starting this project. CARES will be spreading the puppy and kitty love in the senior apartment complex and maybe in a neighborhood near you soon. If you’d like to help support this project, you may send tax deductible gifts to CARES, P.O. Box 7498, Macon, GA. 31209 or through PayPal at acpupfund@yahoo.com.

It does take all of us to create a culture of love for pets and people. Doing good … that’s what CARES is all about.

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Getting even better at doing good."