Remember your mentor?
By Mauri Formigoni, April 20, 2007

We all have had a special person in our lives who taught us, cared for us and promoted our personal growth. The Sociedad Protectora de Animales has initiated a new opportunity for our animals: the Mentorship Program.

We do have volunteers who walk the dogs and there is a display board so volunteers can see who has not been walked individually in the neighborhood for a long time. All the dogs get daily runs in groups inside the shelter, but to have someone appear with a leash at their door is a major cause for celebration.

But just as important (and my favorite activity) is one-on-one time with a dog. Sitting with the animal in a private place, like the enclosed area called “the Paddock,” or in their own jaula, you can play, brush or work with a dog of your choice and become a true Mentor.

 A very depressed dog may soon start to exhibit some joy or show some affection. Dogs, away from the others, may respond to your request to sit, get down, or even stay, although this one is harder to learn. They may come when you call them or retrieve a ball. Absolute miracles to us!

One such miracle worker is Stewart Hammer, a volunteer who works daily to help manage and repair the SPA facility with his partner, Al Lanier. Stew enjoys a quiet, elegant, responsive female dog (a year and a half old) named Delilah, and he has chosen to be her Mentor. As such, she is his special dog and he works almost daily toward helping her become highly adoptable—teaching her manners and an awareness of her human friend. Stew says Delilah is extremely sensitive and intelligent. She doesn’t jump up, and, when he walks with her, she stops when he stops, and will sit and wait for whatever comes next. Delilah came to us as an eight-week-old pup—darling, but looking like many other pups—and has grown up to be a medium-small terrier mix: black, brown and white. She is ready for a real owner of her own and a real permanent home. Stew has gotten her ready for you and is eager for her graduation. If she is adopted this month, you and she will be entitled to a free month-long series of training sessions with Tomas 
Herrera Bustamante, a very good deal and a gift from Marie Ludloff, a donor and friend. You and Delilah will meet with Tomas and learn together the behaviors she needs to be a proper, well-behaved house pet. Please consider her. She is quite special. Just ask Stew.

Volunteers are a singular kind of people. Many prefer animals to people, feeling most alive in the company of animals, and the dogs and cats know that. Another special volunteer is Dea Randall. She is the resident “Cat Lady” and knows them all—pros and cons. We got in a litter of feral kittens last week and many of us felt that they were not adoptable. Not Dea. They were gorgeous but wild—and so she made it her business to grab and cuddle each until the babies relented and dozed in her arms, trusting and enjoying the human touch. Petal is a favorite of hers and is a large kitten/small cat who plays gently with the babies. She is quiet, lovely, and well-behaved.

We were grateful for a productive, well-attended Annual General Meeting where we voted in the By-Laws and elected three new Board Members: Becky Bellomy-Milward, Kathy Hamblet, and Stewart Hammer as well as re-electing incumbents Christine Foster, Natalie Hardy and myself. With Kit Carson, Dea Randall, Bob Sylvor, Tom King, and Kim Powell we will continue to make the Board of Directors of the Sociedad Protectora de Animales an effective, positive voice for the previously unwanted animals of San Miguel and continue our search for good, permanent homes for all of them.

Also for those of you unable to attend, we happily announced the adoption of 45 dogs and puppies and 23 cats and kittens in first three months of 2007 (and 146 dogs and puppies and 86 cats and kittens in the year 2006).

Please help us succeed in improving the lives of our animals. Meet us on Thursdays at the Jardín from 11:15am to 1:15pm with some of our best animals. You may want to join or donate. Check our website at www.spasanmiguel.org to see who is waiting and who has been adopted. Visit us at Los Pinos 7, just off Calzada de la Estación, Monday through Friday from 11am to 2pm. Appointments for vaccinations or sterilizations may be made by calling 152-6124.

We welcome your curiosity any day. Consider becoming a mentor.