The Importance of Community
My plan on this Friday morning was to drive to Kindness Ranch, as I do many a Friday, to pay some special attention to a few of the shyer, more fearful dogs who I observed last weekend, and to meet and tell you all about the cats that arrived last week. But the front range had other plans. Wyoming is being hit by extreme winds which, a couple of days ago, caused the horse enclosure to collapse and cave in, frightening the horses, but causing them no harm. The perils of life on the ranch, and now they need to raise money to quickly repair the damage. Crises are not new to the staff at the ranch, and they are prepared for this sort of thing, but it’s never easy and immediate needs divert resources.
Which leads me to the importance of community. If you are here, reading this, then you have landed at Kindness Ranch and are officially a member of the widespread community of adopters, volunteers, visitors, fosters, donors, partners and followers. There are no prerequisites to joining. You simply have to care about the place and their mission.
Kindness Ranch has a newsletter mailing list and a presence on social media, but it’s word of mouth from community members that really enhances exposure. Case in point: Some local friends who know about my volunteer work with Kindness Ranch invited me to join them for coffee at their neighbor Deb’s house where I was introduced to Benny, her Kindness Ranch beagle and George, her black lab.
Deb adopted Benny a couple of years ago after seeing a story about Kindness Ranch. I spent quite a bit of time with them and I can attest that Benny is doing spectacularly well in his home. Deb is a wonderful human being and in addition to falling in love with Benny as I do with most dogs I lay eyes on, I made a new friend. After begging her to go away on a vacation, I may have a new dog sitting gig.
I encourage you, if you are here reading this, to find out who among your community has adopted a pet from Kindness Ranch and connect with them. You’re sure to meet a lovable beagle and make a new human friend. If you have a Kindness Ranch pet, join the Facebook adopters and fosters community to share stories, pictures, tips and schedule meetups with other adopters.
These dogs are special, and often need special attention and care, and there’s nothing more helpful than a community of people who have already been through it with their dogs and can share their experiences and resources. And I can attest that any human that has adopted one of the hundreds of beagles over the years shares your love of animals and is, most likely, a potential friend.
Deb’s portrait of Benny
