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:::2006::: Chamber of Commerce Nevada  Charlie Palmer Group  |
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Nicole Dutt-Roberts The Mission: We start with one…Which changes a citizen…Which changes our community…Which changes our nation…Which brings change to our world…We start with one… I am a native of Las Vegas and was raised to respect and love animals by my parents. Little did I know that not everyone was raised like myself until I stepped foot in my first shelter 17 years ago. I was horrified at the amount of caged cats and dogs waiting for their families to come and get them and the numbers who would die there. From the first time I went to the shelter, I told myself that when I was about 60 I would have the time to help with this problem. I entered a shelter again 6 years ago and realized that this problem was not getting better, but worse. If I waited until I was 60, thousands and thousands of innocent animals would needlessly die. I decided to do something. I rescued for about 1 year out of Animal Foundation placing 25 dogs who were on “death row” and after keeping one of the hard placements I named Bo, I realized this had to be on a bigger scale. You see, Bo just needed a little time to come around. He was so abused by his previous male owner that he was terrified by any male who came up to him, but luckily not in an aggressive manner. Bo became my motivator and when I added Teddy to the family who also was a tough placement because of his mix with chow, I was ready to dedicate the rest of my life to fixing this problem. I started this cause because I truly could not stand the fact of how many great cats and dogs are dying at our shelters. I was lucky to meet 4 other people who believe as I do that with a lot of hard work and volunteering as many hours a week as possible, that we can beat this terrible problem. I worked my full time job as a PGA golf professional at Spanish Trail Country Club and volunteered about 30 hours to HCWS. Two other co-founders (Harold & Rachel Vosko) were able to volunteer about 70 hours a week each. I believe with the amount of hours volunteered that is why we have come so far in such a short time. I quit my job March 31, 2004 after almost 18 years at Spanish Trail Country Club and just got my real estate license. I am giving 1/3 of my commission to Heaven Can Wait Sanctuary because we need to raise a lot of money to “burn the mortgage” on the 10 acres in Sloane. When this is accomplished we can than focus on building the first cageless sanctuary in the State of Nevada. We (Rachel Vosko – HCWS Co-Founder, Bonnie Blasco – Advisory Board Member, and myself), started our newest program called “Pups On Parole”. We were trained by a professional dog trainer and now we train the inmates at Jean Correctional Facility to train our homeless dogs in basic obedience. Our homeless dogs live at the facility until they graduate and can be adopted into a permanent and loving home. Once this program is in full force, we expect to save over 350 dogs annually through this one program. My duties to HCWS are grant writing, fund-raising, foster mom, event volunteer and coordinator, HCWS speaker, adoptions, Pups On Parole Co-Founder, and Tales To Tails (children’s literacy) and education coordinator. The animals need a voice and my group is here to speak for them. If you need any more information, please call me at 255-7930. Thanks for your time and interest, Nicole Dutt-Roberts President, Heaven Can Wait Sanctuary |
