30th Anniversary brings happy tails together

Published Oct. 29, 2012
By Ashley M. Wright
Pet Welfare volunteer

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Nearly 100 people attended the Pet Welfare 30th Anniversary Open House Oct. 27, but few caught as much attention as Elvis.

Elvis, a Chihuahua, left Pet Welfare to join his new family. He and his owner, Len Rasmussen, returned to the shelter to see how things had a changed and say hello to the volunteers who brought this family together.

"You have a tough day; you sit down, and he [Elvis] will come right to you," said Rasmussen with a smile.

Rasmussen said his wife adopted Elvis to keep her company in retirement. The couple adopted Elvis's brother, Bandit, from the no-kill shelter 13 years ago.

"This is the most heart-warming part of the day," said Jennifer Chapman, Pet Welfare chairman. "Seeing our success stories walking around puts a smile on all the volunteers faces."

In total, a dozen "alumni" returned to the shelter with their new families for a visit.

Pet Welfare opened on Eglin Air Force Base in 1982 to offer an option for military members who face a permanent change of station or deployment and have no choice but to leave their four-legged family members behind. The shelter is run completely on volunteers and donations. In addition, when space is available, the Pet Welfare will take in cats and dogs other shelters do not have room to house.

The open house event served as an opportunity to showcase how far the adoption center has come, Chapman said.

"It was a beautiful day with a great turnout," she said.

Pet Welfare provided lunch to the visitors that toured the improvements to the shelter, participated in art and crafts, met Sparky from the Eglin Fire Department and watched a military working dog demonstration.

The demonstration including a bite demonstration, a stand-off simulation and a guard situation, which the four-legged Airman, Gaskon, from the 96th Security Forces Squadron, escorted a "bad guy" while showing great restraint and not attacking him.

"I really heard the crowd amazed by that," said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Rice, of the 96th SFS, who played the bad guy.

The afternoon also brought the opportunity to say thanks to volunteers, some who have been working with the shelter for more than 20 years, Chapman said.

"Listening to all our volunteers talk about this dog or that cat makes us all smile because we all know that our mission is to make sure all these pets, regardless of their past stories, have a 'happy tail' in the end," the chairman said. "We have come so far, but we have so far to go."

For more information on the pets available for adoption or how to volunteer, visit www.petwelfare.net or call 850-678-5066.