photo from Wisconsin Humane Society/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Just this afternoon I finally had the opportunity to read Sunday's newspaper and sadly found the obituary of a woman who touched my life in a profound way. I didn't know she touched my life until today. Victoria Wellens was Executive Director of the Wisconsin Humane Society and passed away from cancer March 28 at the young age of 58. I never met Victoria, but she is the reason we have our beautiful Beau.
We adopted Beau when he was around 6 years old, and we only knew that he had come to Wisconsin from Kentucky. For a long time I thought the name listed on his rabies immunization as his previous owner was someone's last name. One day last year I came on the idea that it might have been something other than someone's name, and it turned out I was right. It was BRAWA, not Brawa, and referred to the Glasgow Barren County Animal Shelter in Glasgow, Kentucky, which had been listed as Beau's last home before he was transported to the first of two shelters in Wisconsin.
Victoria Wellens and the Wisconsin Humane Society, in 2004, became the first partner of PetSmart's Rescue Waggin, a program based in Phoenix, Arizona, which transports adult dogs and puppies from shelters where they are likely to be euthanized to shelters which can find them homes. Our Beau was one of the 25,000 dogs which have been transported for this wonderful purpose so far. When we adopted him he was very submissive and obviously traumatized by events we will never know. He came to us with hind legs that have frequent tremors, and he eventually needed two surgeries. I'm so glad there were people who thought he deserved a second chance, and this wonderful program, which brought him to us.
As Beau rests here by my feet, as he usually does, I want to thank Victoria Wellens (with tears in my eyes) for our entire family for saving our beautiful, gentle dog so that we could spend whatever time he has left together. Rest in peace.
