|
About US
We are a
group of middle Tennessee people that love animals and
work hard to make their lives better. We are in the
process of obtaining our 501c3 and once in place will be
able to accept tax deductible donations.
Our members:
Ronni Connelly, Director
Ronni was
an animal lover from day one, sneaking homeless kittens
in the house when her parents turned their back and
trying to hand feed baby birds that had fallen out of
their nests in storms.
Ronni grew
up on Marco Island, Florida and moved to Naples, Florida
in the late 80s. She started becoming involved in
canine training in the early 90s and began doing rescue
work in the mid 90s. In 2003 she became involved with
rottweilers and feral cats. Rotties had become severely
over bred in Florida and the shelters were filling up
with them. She began by taking in owner surrenders and
looking for their forever homes. Southwest Florida
Rottweiler rescue was started.
At the
same time she moved to a rural area of Collier County,
Florida where there were a great deal of feral cats.
After seeing so many tiny kittens killed by wild
animals, hit by cars and dying of disease she decided to
try to help. She began a trap, neuter, release type
program, funded from her own pocket. All kittens were
brought inside, socialized, litter trained and vetted
and then found homes. The adults were vetted and
released.
After
moving to middle Tennessee, she found a severe lack of
proper vet care for the animals in the area. Animal
welfare laws were non-existant. Thoughts of rescue had
been left in Florida, but as more and more dogs
continued to show up on her doorstep, she found herself
deeper and deeper in animal welfare and rescue work.
Shortly thereafter, HART was born.
John Connelly,
Administrator
John grew
up in New Jersey, starting a career in EMS. His many
moves took him to California, Wyoming and Florida.
During these times he moved from paramedic to fire
fighter and finally into law enforcement. After a 27
year career that ended in a permanent medical
disability, John retired from Collier County Sheriff’s
Office in Naples, Florida where he and Ronni had met.
He moved
to Tennessee in 2006 with dreams of a relaxing
retirement. Those thoughts quickly were replaced with
the reality of rural America’s lack of animal welfare
laws. As animals turned up on his doorsteps and calls
came in from people that could no longer keep their
pets, his retirement days turn to caring for homeless
pets.
John is
currently the primary care giver to the animals that
pass through the doors of HART.
Laura, Transport and Adoption
Coordinator
I have always been an animal lover. I have been trying
to find something rescue related for a while now, but
don't have funds to share, nor can I open my home to
fosters. I started doing volunteer transports for
rescues & found it so rewarding that I created Roger
Rover
http://rogerrover.aimoo.com
In doing so, I met Ronni, who obviously shares my love
of animals, as well as my opinions on how to run a
rescue.
I currently have 2 dogs (a lab/golden mix & a Shih Tzu),
as well as 3 cats.
Shirley Albert, Foster Coordinator
Debbie Lopez, Groomer and Foster Parent
Latrice Sharp, clerical and follow up volunteer
Our foster
families :
Bridgette Gunther
Bridgette Gunther was a friend of a friend that was referred to us for
fostering.
She offered to take in a foster dog that we’d taken
custody of unexpectedly last fall. It’s worked out
perfectly. Bridgette has been wonderful about
communicating everything that’s going on with the foster
dog to us, catching both a growth on him and an ear
infection before they got bad! Bridgette had this to say
about fostering:
I have always loved animals, especially dogs and cats. I honestly believe
I have a talent or natural gift in understanding these
animals. So, of course, this helps my love for them to
naturally be large. I can remember throughout all my
life, when I would see others' attitude about animals or
see how they react when animals are around, thinking
that people had a real problem where animals were
concerned. People act as if they don't know what to do
when around animals or what to do with them.
In the last few years, we've heard in the news reports, how society
is really out of touch with the responsibility God gives
humans where animals are concerned. I will never be able
to get inside the mind of any human that does such
unthinkable things that have been reported. And, neither
do I want to. But, just as bad, our laws, more so in the
south, are guilty of not doing what is the only right
thing to do when someone has been revealed to be guilty
of doing the totally unthinkable. Even though we're not
there yet, I'm glad to know that there is a person whose
profession is being an animal lobbyist, trying to get
laws made better for the sake of animals.
Being on FaceBook has brought me more pleasure than I could have ever
thought. It's on FB that I found out about Rescue Teams
and about the lady who does the work on Capitol Hill. If
you look too close at what we do, you might think,
"we're not doing anything! There's just so many, we
can't make a difference!". But, in the time I've been
blessed to be a part of it all, I've learned to step
back and take an overall view.
Things are changing and even if we might think it's not enough and not
fast enough, there is a difference and I'm excited
because I know I'm a part of something good that's being
done. I'm proud to know these people that I help with.
These people have hearts like I've never seen until
getting to help beings that can't help themselves. So,
I'm glad I can't understand, can't wrap my mind around
people that do the unthinkable. But, more importantly,
I'm glad I know I'm a part of making things right.
And, if you're interested enough to read this, I want to
entice you by telling you, the love you get from a
rescued dog is indescribable. Yeah, I know, I have 2
forever dogs of my own and I surely know the love of a
dog. BUT, you will see, will feel the difference that no
one can tell you, but when you experience for yourself,
you'll know it's worth it all!
Susan Elkins
Susan Elkins has posted an ad offering to foster for
rescues. We found her on one of the sites we advertise
on and asked if she’d be interested in fostering for us.
She was a bit apprehensive as she’d had some not so
great experiences fostering, but she offered to give us
a try. She took in two of our dogs. One worked great and
the other had to return. We tried a third dog with her
and that one was a failure as well. She still has the
first foster dog though and all is going well with her.
Susan is an excellent example that not every foster dog
will work in just any home, and it takes communication
to be a success. This is what Susan had to say about
fostering:
I found out about fostering 3 years ago, when a friend
of mine brought a gorgeous lab puppy in our office that
she was fostering for a few days and she told me about
how it worked. I told her that I would be glad to help
out if the rescue she worked with needed someone, which
they did. I have had fosters in the house more than not
since then and it is almost always a rewarding
experience. I have adopted one of my three dogs as a
result of her being in my home initially as a foster.
Sarah and Randy Miller
Beverly Philips
Fatima Tweedell
|
