0213: Brave Animal Rescue with Hannah Manley

Hannah Manley, co-founder of Brave Animal Rescue tells how her small but dedicated team of volunteers is making a difference. Several times during the interview we mention the special needs dog that Hannah is fostering, Basil. I’m happy to report that he has already found his forever home.

Brave Animal Rescue online:
Brave-Animal-Rescu.org
Facebook.com/BraveAnimalRescue
Instagram.com/BraveAnimalRescue

The Cat House provides a safe no-kill shelter and adoption facility for cats in the Lincoln, Nebraska area.

Every year, Kansas City Magazine gives readers the chance to celebrate their local favorites by voting in the Reader's Choice Poll. Write-in nominations are now open for this year's Best of KC Readers Poll, which will run until April 23. Click here to nominate Rosie Fund for “Best Animal Non-profit” and click here to nominate Dog Words for “Best Local Podcast.” You may nominate once per category per day. If you are using a podcast service that does allow links, go to RosieFund.org/podcast for the full function description of this podcast. Five finalists in each category will advance to the final round of voting from May 13-June 17.

Celebrate 5 years of Rosie Fund by supporting our campaign to sponsor 50 dogs. You can donate on our website or Facebook page. You can also contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website or buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com.

Music for this episode is provided by alternative string duo, The Wires. Visit them at TheWires.info. Learn fiddle and cello-fiddle online — even if you've never played before — from Laurel Morgan Parks and Sascha Groshang at FiddleLife.com.

The transcript for this episode is

Make a donation at RosieFund.org or through our Facebook page. You can contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website or buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com. Also check out our page on BarkYours, the online mall with gifts for people who love their dogs.

Rosie Fund online:
RosieFund.org
Facebook.com/rosiefund
Instagram.com/rosiefund
YouTube.com/rosiefund

Transcript

HANNAH  0:03 
I can't put all my energy into just fostering anymore because I have an entire rescue to run with 20 plus foster homes and 40 animals for managing at any given time.

PHIL   0:17 
I'm Phil Hatterman and this is Dog Words presented by Rosie Fund. Today, Hannah Manley, co-founder of Brave Animal Rescue joins us in the Karla and Travis Jensen studio to tell us how her small but dedicated group of volunteers is making a difference. Several times during the interview we mentioned the special needs dog that Hannah is fostering, Basil. I'm happy to report that he has already found his forever home.

If you're new to this podcast, in each episode we explore the world of dog care and companionship. "We save each other" is the motto of Rosie Fund, which simply means the more we do for dogs, the more they do for us. And they already do a lot.

If you love dogs, you'll love Dog Words. We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Go to the podcast page at RosieFund.org to share your thoughts. We welcome suggestions for topics and guests. The only way we know which ones you like is if you tell us. Then we'll try to deliver more of that. Please download, follow, rate, and, most importantly, share Dog Words.

Every year Kansas City Magazine gives readers the chance to celebrate their local favorites by voting in the Readers Choice Poll. Write-in nominations are now open for this year's Best of KC Readers Poll, which will run until April 23rd. Use the links in this episode's description to nominate Rosie Fund for best animal nonprofit and Dog Words for best local podcast. You may nominate once per category per day. If you are using a podcast service that does not allow links in the description, go to the podcast page at RosieFund.org for functioning links. Five finalists in each category will advance to the final round of voting from May 13 through June 17. If we make the cut in either category, we'll update you on how to vote.

Celebrate five years of Rosie Fund by supporting our campaign to sponsor 50 dogs. You can donate on our website or Facebook page. You can also contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website or buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com. Links are in the description.

Please follow Rosie Fund on social media. Subscribe to the free Rosie Fund YouTube channel that offers great videos of Rosie, Peaches, and shelter dogs, including some exclusive content. Your donations help fund the Rosie Life Starter Kits that make sure these senior and harder-to-adopt dogs have some of the items they'll need in their forever home.

Next time on Dog Words, Dr. Shea Cox explains how pet hospice is so much more than facing the final days of a treasured relationship. It's an opportunity, and maybe even an obligation, to make the best choices for a beloved pet.

The mission of Rosie Fund is to provide humans with the resources and education they need to give senior and harder-to-adopt dogs a better life. Thank you for joining our mission.

Today's guest on Dog Words is founder and director of Brave Animal Rescue Hannah Manley. Welcome to the show, Hannah.

HANNAH  3:08 
Thanks for having me.

PHIL   3:09 
So excited to talk about what you're doing and give you the opportunity to share what you've learned from running an animal rescue group with our listeners who might want to do the same or might want to help other groups that are trying to rescue pets in need and help them find their forever homes. But first let's learn a little more about you. Have you always been a dog person or did you just kind of fall into this?

HANNAH  3:40 
I have always been a dog person. I've been a dog person and a cat person since I was very, very small. So something working with animals has always been in my future. I wanted to be a vet from the time I was very small. But as I got older, my senior year of high school I just decided that wasn't for me. So I figured out other ways I could work with animals, volunteering shelters when I was in college and then fostering and now I'm running my own rescue.

PHIL   4:11 
Where did you go to college?

HANNAH  4:13 
UNL. University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

PHIL   4:15 
I also went to the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and we're actually recording this interview in Lincoln, Nebraska. So go Big Red. Where were you volunteering? What did you learn from that experience in college?

HANNAH  4:26 
Sure. So I started volunteering at The Cat House first, which is a no kill shelter for felines in Lincoln. That was a lot of hands on work, just cleaning, getting to know the cats. And then I became a foster for the Humane Society and started with cats and kittens because that's a little bit easier in the places where I was living. It was easier to have kitten and cat fosters. And then, just a few years ago is when I started becoming a dog foster. And these experiences have taught me a lot about being selfless, being a caregiver, being an advocate, just so many life skills that have made me a better person. I'm also a teacher. So I feel like my work and rescue has made me a better person and a better teacher. And, of course, a better animal rescuer.

PHIL   5:22 
You can't help but become more empathetic when you are just working with animals in need, not just let alone fostering them. But when you're cleaning the kennel of a cat or a dog that's in a shelter, and thinking, "This is where they live their life."

HANNAH  5:40 
Right.

PHIL   5:41 
And just thinking, "What can we do to get all these animals in a forever home?"

HANNAH  5:47 
Yeah, working with animals makes you obviously more empathetic to animals and people as well. It just gives you a different perspective on life.

PHIL   5:58 
So you decided to start Brave Animal Rescue.

HANNAH  6:03 
Yes.

PHIL   6:04 
What was the inspiration for taking that step instead of continuing to just volunteer for other organizations?

HANNAH  6:12 
Brave was started with me and two of my friends. And we have been fostering together for years. And we work really well together. And just decided that we had the skills and leadership skills to start our own rescue. So that is something we decided to do. Fostering is great, but we were ready for that next step in a leadership role and being a significant part of our community, hopefully, and helping the animals and people in our community.

PHIL   6:46 
Starting a rescue involves more than just seeing an abandoned dog beside the road and saying, "Okay, we're going to foster this and find it a forever home." There's actual paperwork that you have to do and things that you have to file on an annual basis. How prepared were you for doing that?

HANNAH  7:05 
We were pretty prepared. We had kind of started at the bottom like cleaning kennels. Then fostering. Then working in various leadership roles with rescues in our community. So being adoption coordinators, running the social media. So we had had little tastes of what it's like to run a rescue without worrying about like the financial aspect of everything. And one of our founders is also an attorney.

PHIL   7:36 
That helps.

HANNAH  7:36 
So we all bring different skills to Brave. And so while it was overwhelming, we were ready for it. And we waited until we were ready for it.

PHIL   7:49 
How exciting is it to get that letter from the IRS?

HANNAH  7:52 
It was wonderful!

PHIL   7:53 
Because most of the time a letter from the IRS fills you with a sense of dread.

HANNAH  7:57 
Mm hmm.

PHIL   7:57 
But when you file for your nonprofit, and you're waiting for that approval to say...

HANNAH  8:03 
Yeah.

PHIL   8:03 
...proceed. That's exciting.

HANNAH  8:06 
Yeah, it was very exciting. And it took a while because this was in the middle of a pandemic. So things were moving slowly. We started this process in March of last year. So we used this time off as an opportunity to kind of kickstart our dream.

PHIL   8:22 
So you get your approval, and you're fostering dogs. How do you find the dogs that become — and is it just dogs? Or is it...

HANNAH  8:31 
It's dogs and cat dogs and cats.

PHIL   8:32 
Dogs and cats. So how do you find your fosters?

HANNAH  8:35 
With our years of rescue work we've built connections and so we have kind of rescue partners around the Midwest. We work with the animal shelter in Lincoln. They contact us if they have any pets that they think would do better in a foster environment or maybe need some more vetting from the applicants who are wanting to adopt. Basil is an example.

PHIL   9:04 
Dawn and Peaches and I got to meet Basil. Just before we did this interview, we met in a park and what a sweet boy he is.

HANNAH  9:11 
Yeah. So Basil's a puppy and he has some neurological issues and he's partially blind. So we got a call from the Humane Society in Lincoln. They asked if we would be willing to take him. "Of course," we said. So we work locally. We work with people in southeast Kansas and southeast Missouri, more rural communities where they don't have programs to find pets homes. So we kind of work all over but with cats we work primarily with people in Lincoln helping them TNR — trap, neuter, return their colonies of cats to kind of get to the source of the problem which is unaltered pets. And then of course, we take any cats and kittens who are friendly and try to help those as well.

PHIL   10:06 
As I characterize what Brave is doing, if I misrepresent this at all...

HANNAH  10:11 
Okay.

PHIL   10:12 
...straighten me out. You saw a need that the shelter's had that you could have addressed by saying, "Well, let me talk to the people running the shelter, or let me write a letter to my city council representative." Or "Why don't we focus on what it is we want to do to help the needy pet population?"

HANNAH  10:37 
Mm hmm.

PHIL   10:39 
And then coordinate with the shelter so that they're not really necessarily changing what they do. They're gaining a resource, an advocate that they don't have to oversee, but that they can trust to meet a need.

HANNAH  10:53 
Yeah, that's exactly right. We're just another tool in the community. There are other rescues in Lincoln who do very similar things.

PHIL   11:01 
And they're not your competition.

HANNAH  11:02 
No, no, no, yeah. We're all about collaboration over competition. And we just wanted to be another resource and kind of be the decision makers. Because we've been a part of rescues before where we're involved in this capacity still, but we're not the leaders of the group. So we were just ready for that next step and just being another option in the community for helping any animals in need.

PHIL   11:33 
So really getting to focus on this problem of homeless pets in a way that you wanted to, do you feel like you're spending more time now than you were when you were just volunteering? Do you feel like...

HANNAH  11:47 
More time?

PHIL   11:49 
Well, however many hours a week, or a month that you put in as a volunteer?

HANNAH  11:53 
Absolutely!

PHIL   11:54 
So it's not like I walked away from volunteering at the shelter and scaled back.

HANNAH  11:57 
No, this is — this is my life essentially. As with basically every rescue or shelter, we are volunteers. 100%, volunteer run. We have our own jobs and families and lives outside of rescue. So rescue is a big part of our life. And it is definitely time consuming but it's our passion. So every second is worth it.

PHIL   12:25 
With Rosie Fund, Dawn and I have responsibilities. But we still volunteer at KC Pet Project. And I'm not ashamed to admit that weeks go by when we don't volunteer because there are things going on in our life, we just don't have time. And I know, the staff understands at KC Pet Project. But what we have to do for Rosie Fund, we can't put that on hold.

HANNAH  12:45 
Right.

PHIL   12:46 
You can't take a break from that once you make the commitment to starting the not-for-profit, to committing to being of service to these animals.

HANNAH  12:56 
Mm hmm. That's a balance that the founders and I have been trying to strike. We're still very young and new at this. But I can't put all my energy into just fostering anymore. Because I have an entire rescue to run with 20 plus foster homes and 40 animals we're managing at any given time. So if that means that I need to take a break from fostering so I can focus on those other duties, that's okay.

PHIL   13:26 
It's important.

HANNAH  13:26 
That's something I need to remind myself because it's hard to see an animal in need and think, "Well, I technically have space to take care of it." But when you put all the other factors into play, running a rescue, managing the fosters, vet appointments, oh, processing applications, coordinating adoption appointments, everything, then you just have to look at the bigger picture, what's doing the most good.

PHIL   13:56 
Rosie Fund could use a lot more funds.

HANNAH  13:59 
Mm hmm.

PHIL   14:00 
Money, that's a limited resource. Time, however, is where I wish I had a greater access to resources.

HANNAH  14:10 
Completely agree.

PHIL   14:11 
It's much easier, even with limited funds to manage that and focus the money where it needs to go than it is to allocate time and not just say, "Yes." Because there's so many things that since you're not getting paid for it, you're not billing someone and you can say, "Yes, I'll be there. Yes, I'll help."

HANNAH  14:35 
Yeah, yeah, it's hard saying, "No." The demand is always there. Which is a reason we wanted to start Brave because we know that rescues are so overwhelmed with the daily emails and calls asking to have help re-homing an animal or this animal's in the shelter. This animal was found on the side of the road. The calls are overwhelming so we want to be able to be there as another resource for people who are looking for help.

PHIL   15:06 
One of the reasons I'm so grateful for you consenting to this interview is that we ask lots of animal rescues to be on Dog Words.

HANNAH  15:16 
Mm hmm.

PHIL   15:17 
Because we want to give them as much exposure, as much free publicity as we can. The majority of them don't even respond. And I understand that. I'm disappointed that they don't respond. But I understand that they're reading my email saying, "Can you give me a half hour to an hour of your time to do a podcast interview?" And then the next email is asking them, "Can you drive 13 hours to pick up this dog that's going to get euthanized if nobody picks it up?" And the interview would help them. It would give them more exposure. It might get them more volunteers. It might get them more funds. But a dog's gonna die tonight if they don't get in their car.

HANNAH  15:57 
Right.

PHIL   15:57 
So they don't answer my email. That's unfortunate. So anything I can do to help give exposure to groups like Brave Animal Rescue but also to inspire more people to take on that burden. Because if there was someone closer to that shelter that's going to euthanize a dog, someone who can make a 20 minute drive and my prospective guest doesn't have to pick the 13 hour drive, then I get my interview, and that dog gets to live.

HANNAH  16:27 
Right.

PHIL   16:28 
That's the world I want to live in. Actually, the world I want to live in is that the dog is never in jeopardy in the first place.

HANNAH  16:34 
Yes, that's true.

PHIL   16:35 
If we're gonna just have hypotheticals, let's go with that one. So what have been some of the surprises that even though you had a diverse set of skills in your group of founders, what were you unprepared for?

HANNAH  16:49 
I honestly can't think of anything that we weren't really prepared for, just because the experiences we had leading up to Brave kind of allowed us to run our own rescue without worrying about the finance part of it. So we responded to calls about animals in need. We managed fosters.We kind of just ran a rescue without it being in our name. So that really prepared us and avoided any shock factor that comes with...

PHIL   17:24 
Yeah,  you don't get blindsided by things.

HANNAH  17:25 
Yes.

PHIL   17:25 
I think that's a good lesson for starting any kind of business, whether it's a nonprofit or for profit, is don't just assume, "I know everything, or I've got a better way to do it." If you haven't worked behind the scenes yourself...

HANNAH  17:40 
Yes!

PHIL   17:41 
...and see how the sausage gets made.

HANNAH  17:42 
Yes. I've heard from lots of people who want to start an animal rescue someday and they say they have plans to do it, which is great. There's never enough. So that's awesome. But they don't foster and they're not willing to foster, yet. Then you're not ready to start a rescue. The more involved you can get in this world and just dipping your feet in the water, trying new things. Because when you start it, you're gonna to have to run every aspect of it. The fundraising.The social media. At first, everything's going to be on you, so the more experience you can get volunteering, the better.

PHIL   18:23 
Think of who's going to be a better film director, someone who's just read a bunch of books on directing a film and, "Here we go."

HANNAH  18:31 
Right.

PHIL   18:32 
Or they've worked as a director of photography, they've been a production assistant, they've been a script supervisor, they've worked in lighting, maybe been an actor. The more diverse experience they have the better they can understand how all the pieces fit together.

HANNAH  18:47 
Yeah, it's not enough to just love movies.

PHIL   18:50 
Mm hmm.

HANNAH  18:50 
Yeah.

PHIL   18:51 
With a — again, he's such a sweet boy — Basil, that we met, he has some challenges in getting adopted, which is why he's in foster. How do you — I'm not thrilled about the word "market" an animal but essentially, that's what you have to do to find their forever home through some sort of targeted marketing. How do you get the word out that Brave has a dog like basil looking for a forever home?

HANNAH  19:21 
We have Facebook and Instagram and we use those a lot to promote our animals. Basil is my foster pet. So I'm always taking videos of him doing cute things because even though he does have his challenges, he is a sweet, goofy...

PHIL   19:41 
He's adorable.

HANNAH  19:42 
...adorable, wonderful little boy. And so it's just a matter of documenting those moments and putting them out there and hoping that the right person sees it and falls in love with him.

PHIL   19:53 
Even if you're not interested in adopting a dog, following Brave on social media you get to see these great videos and pictures of Basil and other dogs. I say this pretty much every week on Dog Words when we talk about guest's social media — it does not cost you anything to follow somebody on Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest or whatever other platform they're on! And you don't have to be looking for a dog or a cat or whatever animal they have because you sharing is what makes it viral.

HANNAH  20:28 
Yeah, and you can just enjoy the cute content that we put out. Because we have lots of dogs. Our hearts are with senior dogs and pets with special needs. We also have lots of kittens. So lots of cute videos and pictures on our Facebook and Instagram.

PHIL   20:46 
And then you repost or share those on your account. And maybe somebody who is looking for a senior, or a dog with some sort of challenge sees exactly the dog they're looking for. And we get them in their forever home. And that frees up a spot for a new dog for Hannah to foster.

HANNAH  21:07 
Yep. Yeah.

PHIL   21:09 
And the thing about social media, which I always remind people, you don't have to pick Brave, or Rosie Fund, you can follow all of them.

HANNAH  21:17 
Yeah.

PHIL   21:18 
So don't feel like you're cheating on KC Pet Project if you follow Rosie Fund, follow Brave Animal Rescue. Follow them all. So what can someone do if they want to help more explicitly than just following on social media?

HANNAH  21:30 
Here in the Lincoln area, we're always looking for volunteers. You can shoot us an email at BraveAnimalRescue@gmail.com. We also have a website, brave-animal-rescue.org.

PHIL   21:44 
And I'll put a link to that in the description for this episode.

HANNAH  21:46 
Yeah, so so you can a send inquiry through our website. But we're a young group and we are open to ideas of how people want to volunteer, you know, we can use people for transports. Anybody who is interested in fostering or even temporarily fostering. Like this weekend, I needed a break. So Basil went to another foster for sleep over so I could enjoy a little respite.

PHIL   22:16 
And that was just a one day commitment from that volunteer.

HANNAH  22:18 
Yeah, it was so helpful to me to be able to have help in that kind of way.

PHIL   22:26 
Anyone who has kids...

HANNAH  22:28 
Yes!

PHIL   22:29 
...can understand that.

HANNAH  22:30 
Exactly!

PHIL   22:30 
That, "If I just had my kids out of the house for a day, the things I could get done, in addition to just taking a nap."

HANNAH  22:37 
Yeah.

PHIL   22:38 
Dip your toe in the waters of fostering and say, "I will be someone who will foster for a day or a weekend." Give someone a break or a dog that just needs a layover as they're going from a shelter to its forever home. There are short term fosters. And just because you are done with one foster commitment doesn't mean the next day Hanah's gonna to show up at your door with another dog.

HANNAH  23:03 
No, we do not operate that way. And that's a big reason why we started Brave. Because we understand that rescue is just one part of our lives. Like it's a big part of our lives. But we never want anybody to feel shame for saying, "No," because we understand there's a balance to this. We can't keep rescuing if we're not taking care of ourselves. And taking care of herself means we need to say, "No," and have a break sometimes.

PHIL   23:32 
And you're grateful that they said, "Yes," the one time.

HANNAH  23:35 
Yes.

PHIL   23:36 
However many times they say, "No," that's okay. If you said, "Yes," once.

HANNAH  23:40 
If you said, "Yes," once you're doing more than most people. And we're grateful for that.

PHIL   23:45 
You talk about needing a break and recharging. If it takes you a week or a month or more or a year to be ready for that next foster commitment, but that means you're going to give that dog the best experience that they deserve. Rather than you're on your last nerve the first day you get that dog...

HANNAH  24:07 
Yes.

PHIL   24:08 
...that's not good for the dog.

HANNAH  24:10 
Right. And it it sets the dog up for failure, too. And it sets you up for failure as a foster. So we need our fosters to be ready and committed. We don't want anybody to be drained and emotionally exhausted because this is emotionally exhausting work.

PHIL   24:28 
The analogy I like to use is when they give the safety briefing on a flight and they tell you about when the oxygen mask drops, put your own mask on before you help your child or enables anyone else around you. And that's because if you don't take care of yourself first, you're not going to be able to help anyone else.

HANNAH  24:48 
Right. It's not sustainable.

PHIL   24:49 
So put on your oxygen mask. Take care of yourself. Anybody who wants to volunteer, certainly if you're in the Lincoln area, what if someone's not in the Lincoln area?

HANNAH  24:59 
You can definitely reach out. We could use help in transport from other places. We have lots of volunteers in Lincoln. So for example, if we have a dog coming from southeast Missouri or southeast Kansas, where we have lots of partners, we have the people in southeast Kansas, and then the people in Lincoln and it'd be nice to have people more in the middle who can help transport.

PHIL   25:22 
Yeah, if any of our listeners live in like, Nevada, Missouri.

HANNAH  25:26 
Yeah.

PHIL   25:27 
You could get the dog from southeast Kansas. And then the people from Lincoln don't have to drive all the way down there or somebody in Missouri who can get the dog from southeast Missouri, just being part of the transport system. Do you take donations?

HANNAH  25:40 
Absolutely. Yes, we have a button on our website for accepting donations. We have PayPal, Venmo, Amazon. We have an Amazon wishlist full of supplies that we can use.

PHIL   25:54 
Those are great for rescue organizations. We do not have an Amazon wish list with Rosie Fund because we don't need supplies. But we are on Amazon Smile. Do you use Amazon Smile?

HANNAH  26:03 
We do have Amazon Smile.

PHIL   26:04 
So, so you can choose, if you haven't already chosen Rosie Fund, choose Brave Animal Rescue or switch back and forth. Help in any way you can by making those donations. Anyone who has a dog realizes the importance of something like the Amazon wish list because you always need more dog food, more dog bowls, pee pads for puppies.

HANNAH  26:29 
Yes.

PHIL   26:30 
And any number of things that help out. And then that frees you up if you have all the dog food and supplies and treats and things that you need, then your cash donations can be used for things like that.

HANNAH  26:44 
Vetting.

PHIL   26:44 
Pharmaceuticals. Drugs. Vet visits. There's always that need. Hannah, I can't thank you enough for what you're doing and for taking your valuable time to let us meet Basil and do this interview. Any parting thoughts for our listeners?

HANNAH  27:04 
If you're interested in getting involved, whether it's with Brave or any other animal rescue or shelter, do it. I hear a lot of, "When I win the lottery, I'll start a rescue." Well, you can do things right now. I'm a teacher and I run a nonprofit. You can get involved. And just because you don't have the lottery doesn't mean that you can't help animals. There's tons of things you can do to help. So I would find what your passion is and offer that to helping animals.

PHIL   27:38 
And enough people doing that will more than make up for everyone just waiting to win the lottery.

HANNAH  27:45 
Yes.

PHIL   27:46 
Thank you, Hannah. And thank you to Karla and Travis Jensen for letting us use their studio.

HANNAH  27:55 
Thank you.

PHIL   28:02 
I'm Phil Hatterman and you've been listening to Dog Words presented by Rosie Fund.

Thank you to Hannah Manley, co-founder of Brave Animal Rescue for joining us today. Again, her foster Basil has already found his forever home. To learn more about the great work being done by Hannah and her colleagues or to help other pets in need like Basil, visit brave-animal-rescue.org that's b-r-a-ve dash a-n-i-m-a-l dash r-e-s-c-u-e dot org. A link is in the description.

Next time on Dog Words Dr. Shea Cox provides meaningful insight on the importance of pet hospice.

Don't forget to nominate Rosie Fund and Dog Words in Kansas City Magazine's Best of Poll. You may nominate once per category per day until April 23. Use the links in the description.

It's not too late to enroll in classes taught by animal behaviorist, researcher, and Dog Words Guest Dr. Ellen Furlong. Links to both her credit classes at Illinois Wesleyan University and community education class at Heartland Community College are linked in the description. I'm already signed up for the latter which only costs $45. It took just a couple of minutes to create an account with the college and get registered.

A big thank you to alternative string duo The Wires featuring cellist Sascha Groshang and violinist Laurel Morgan Parks for playing the wonderful music you've heard on today's and previous episodes of Dog Words. Supporting The Wires supports our mission. Learn more about The Wires at TheWires.info and download their music on iTunes. Check out FiddleLife.com and learn to play fiddle and cello-fiddle online from Laurel and Sasha even if you've never played before.

Celebrate five years of Rosie Fund by supporting our campaign to sponsor 50 dogs. You can donate on our website, our Facebook page, or by buying a t-shirt at bonfire.com. Links are in the description.

As always, please download, follow rate and share Dog Words. This helps us with sponsorships then Rosie Fund can help more dogs. Support Rosie Fund by following us on social media and please subscribe to the free Rosie Fund YouTube channel. Send us your comments, questions and suggestions at RosieFund.org. And let us know if you would like to be a sponsor of the Dog Words podcast.

Thank you for listening and remember, we save each other.

DISCLAIMER: This document is a transcription obtained through a third party. There is no claim to accuracy on the content provided in this document and divergence from the audio file is to be expected. Some content may be omitted, particularly when there is crosstalk.

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