Making A Difference
Davis lives dream of helping animals
By Regina Ford
Sahuarita Sun
SAHUARITA--An old saying goes, "never
work with children or animals." Whoever
uttered those words doesn't know Jean
Fuer Davis.
Davis, who retired from teaching in 2002,
taught for 31 years at Continental School
District.
Today, Davis serves on the board of
the Continental School District Educational
Foundation,
a not-for-profit 501(c) 3
organization dedicated to educational
excellence in the district.
She also is the intake and adoptions
coordinator for The Animal League
of Green Valley (TALGV), as well
as president of the league's board of directors. The group boasts more than 100 volunteers for the entire
operation.
"I always thought that after I retired from teaching, I'd want to work with animals somehow," Davis said. "It was always in the back of my mind and my dream came true."
It's not as if she's unfamiliar with animals. She and her husband Chet own a menagerie of pets including two horses, two burros, three tortoises, two cats, two dogs and a koi fish pond.
"Actually, the horses belong to friends but they're like part of the family," she said.
One of the couple's dogs, a German shepherd named Missy, is a "special-needs" animal, paralyzed in the lower half of her body, Davis said.
"It's a progressive thing and we have her on a cart with wheels," Davis explained. "I've had her since 2000, so I have to consider her health. Another animal would make that difficult."
Davis said it's her mission to try to place animals in loving and caring homes.
"That's where my work with the Animal League is so important and so rewarding," she said.
Founded more than 20 years ago by Green Valley resident Margaret Roesch, TALGV's mission to find new, loving homes for dogs and cats whose owners can no longer care for them. The animals may be boarded at the TALGV kennels at 1600 W. Duval Road in Sahuarita until they are adopted or they stay at off-site foster homes.
Davis said the off-site adoption program is one of the organization's most successful. Volunteers try to match animals looking for homes with potential adopters while the animal remains in its original home. The original owner can check out the potential home and make the final decision whether it's the right one for their pet.
This non-profit 501(3)C organization is funded through donations, bequests and sales from its resale store, the Attic Thrift Shop, which offers a variety of used clothing, books, knickknacks, kitchen ware and more. Davis said all the income from the thrift store goes directly to help the animals.
Donations and sales from the thrift store have helped TALGV expand its operation, which includes six kennels at present. The building is paid for, but Davis said they still need money to build more kennels, as well as establish a food preparation and medication room and added store space for the thrift store.
"Some of the more recent changes include a dog run out back, concrete on the outside kennel grounds as well as awnings protecting the animals from the sun," she said. "We're doing things all the time to improve it for the animals. There's always something on the go.
"The thing I have to stress is that we are a private organization and not the animal pound," she said. "We are not a collector of strays, but an organization that's established for owned animals that need homes when their owners are no longer able to care for them. The owners' lifestyle has changed so that they are unable to care for their dog or cat."
The league does offer referrals to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona and Pima County Animal Care in Tucson.
It also operates a pet lost-and-found service. Pet owners whose animals go missing can call the league and a volunteer will take the information, report the details to the Humane Society and Pima County Animal Care, check with local veterinarians, and inform the local media of the missing animal.
Those who find a lost pet can call the league and check a missing animal's particulars on the "lost pet registry."
Volunteers are always needed, Davis said, as the organization grows. TALGV needs everything from dog walkers and donation sorters to budget and computer specialists. Davis said they also need artists, receptionists, handymen, grant writers, waste basket emptiers, and dog and cat petters.
For more information, call 625-3170 or visit online at www.talgv.org
"Making a Difference" features folks who help make Sahuarita a great place to live. To recommend someone for this weekly series, call editor Karen Walenga at (520) 625-5511, e-mail to kwalenga@gv news.com or FAX to (520) 625-1603.
