CHILLICOTHE – Some people are more empathetic. Involved. They’re driven to help. Take, for example, Dona Hall, executive director of Grateful Hearts Senior Dog Rescue.
“I rescue only dogs with a life-ending issue, and/or special needs, as in blind/deaf/incontinent,” she explained. “I do everything medically to give them a good quality of life, love and compassion till their time comes.”
“I do it because it needs done,” she added. “Senior dogs are amazing souls and giving them dignity and love gives me peace of heart. The alternative is most would die alone, scared and terrified, in the shelter system because they are not adoptable, and the medical needs are more than shelter budgets can handle.”
“These are the dogs no one wants,” she added, “either because of financial costs, or the emotional toll involved.”
Dona (Dunlap) Hall grew up in Chillicothe, went to Bishop Flaget but switched to CHS her senior year and graduated in February 1976.
“I always had a love for dogs growing up,” she recalled. “But the opportunity to act didn’t come till 2013 when I volunteered for the Ross County Humane Society under director Janie Rhoads. When she resigned, I chose to follow my rescue dream.”
Hall started Grateful Hearts Senior Dog Rescue in 2014.
“At first,” she noted, “I rescued senior dogs, got them healthy with my vet family at North Fork Animal Clinic, then adopted them out to great homes. In 2016, though, I rescued a dog named Stuey, an ancient border collie on the verge of death. Because of him, and the lengths both I and my vet, Blake Lloyd, went to trying to save this dog who could not be saved because of extreme medical issues, I switched solely to hospice dog rescue.”
“We don't always know the circumstances that caused a family to give up on their pet,” said Dr. Blake Lloyd, DVM, of North Fork Animal Clinic, “but Dona takes them in, knowing they most likely won’t have much time, knowing they are going to be expensive, knowing they might be a medical nightmare, and loves them until the end. It takes a real special person to love like that in an always losing battle, but she does it again and again and again. We’re very, very lucky to have her as part of the North Fork Animal Clinic family.”
“I would call Dona the ‘Dog Whisperer of Chillicothe!’” added friend and “rescue partner” Janet Joers. “She knows intuitively when a dog is in pain, when it’s uncomfortable with its surroundings, or unsure of people or other dogs, and how to fix it. She also knows when, ultimately, the dog is too tired to go on and is ready to let go. She truly is the voice of the voiceless.”
“Am I pleased with where life’s path has taken me?” Hall asked. “That would be a huge yes! I have found the reason I was born.”
For more information, log on www.gratefulheartsseniordogrescue.org and/or www.facebook.com/gratefulheartsseniordogrescue.
About the Series
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com or 740-349-1110.
https://www.chillicothegazette.com/story/news/2021/06/28/dona-halls-compassion-provides-dogs-dignity-and-love-end/7704373002/
2021-06-28 08:59:13Z
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