People who work with animal welfare organizations typically have more than a job—they live with a passion that can extend well beyond work hours and into the hidden recesses of their hearts. Ron and MaryAnn Ahrens jumped on board with a fledgling group called the Animal Humane Association of Star Valley (AHA) in 2008, and MaryAnn has served as Executive Director ever since. Their extra-effort commitment is exemplified by the story of Zelah, a scared border collie rescued from a breeder who couldn’t sell her—reason enough for some people to plan her death. A local vet refused to kill the healthy dog, and AHA placed her with a foster family. She was so frightened, however, she ran away, tangled with barbed wire that held her captive for 2 days and resulted in removal of a hind leg. Eventually another adopter stepped forward. But things got worse.

Again she was loose in a Wyoming winter, now 500 miles away. With posters and a reward offered, calls started coming in. Coyotes were a small part of the danger; semi-trailers on I-25 a far larger threat. They made 4 unsuccessful trips in hazardous weather, and still local people called, put out traps and food. After 6 weeks, a Christmas Eve call finally changed Zelah’s trajectory.

Ron made the trek on his own that time, and retrieved Zelah from a live trap in an interstate culvert. When they got back to the Ahrens’ home, clearly it was going to be Zelah’s home too. Up to 10 lucky dogs at a time have romped in their securely fenced yard. Zelah lived there until she died of old age, and though Ron too has since passed away, MaryAnn remains a community fixture. Keeping the torch burning into the future though, is on the agenda. AHA—and the shelter called Lucky’s Place built in the center of Star Valley, WY—has always operated on the conviction that no adoptable pets be killed simply for convenience or because of overcrowding. Shelter supporters engage in a creative variety of efforts to lower the numbers of companion animals without homes, and that’s what it takes. Everyone working together, with skills from knitting to fostering to bookkeeping to trapping feral cats for vaccination and neutering.

(This excerpt from my novel, The Scent of Distant Family, answers the frequent question—where did this story start?)  “She needs to find a three-square-foot dog in a five thousand–square–mile landscape.”  

100% of novel proceeds donated to animal welfare organizations—you can purchase on my homepage, www.sidsibo.com.