August 31, 2007 : 7:20 PM ET
This week, Best Friends moved several steps closer to opening its first Charity Animal Hospital in Chicago. More importantly, we moved several steps closer to changing the culture of violence affecting people and their animal companions on Chicago's poverty-stricken West Side.
The Charity Animal Hospital will offer low-cost high-volume spay-neuter services, as well as routine and preventative medical care of pets. But it will also serve as a community center for recreational and educational opportunities open its residents and their animal companions. Best Friends executive director Paul Berry was in Chicago to meet with local officials who are working with our team there.
During the last 50 years since the modern animal shelter movement began, the middle class has been going into the inner cities of America, taking the animals from shelters there, paying for their medical care and adopting them out, said Paul. That's all well and good, but we haven't left any resources for these at-risk populations to help themselves. A charity hospital would go a long way in these communities.
Paul was joined by Tio Hardiman, recently-appointed National Director of Inner City Programs for Best Friends. Tio is no stranger to fighting the good fight on his home turf. He founded the Campaign to Stop Animal Fighting, an initiative designed to decrease the incidents of dog-fighting in Chicago, specifically among the pit bull population. And he also created the Violence Interruption Initiative; a program dedicated to decreasing gang activity in Chicago.
It's really not that much of a stretch, moving from violence against people to violence against animals, said Tio. We can't just take care of the animals without looking at the people who are responsible for them.
This is where the community center programs come in. For instance, by offering a class where children learn how to properly care for their pets, they learn to stay away from violent behavior. Instead of children training their dogs to fight, they train their dogs to run obstacle courses and jump through hoops. Competitions wouldn't take place in a dog-fighting ring; they would take place at the Pit Bull Olympics.
Its so important to reach these children while theyre at an impressionable age, said Paul. By stopping the cycle of violence before it starts, we can stave off bigger problems related to gangs and dog-fighting later on.
The first of these programs will launch through Chicago's Canine University. More than a dozen youths between ages eight and 16 have signed on to participate in a 12-week course combining dog-training and life-long skills training.
The Charity Animal Hospital project will also offer opportunities for adults to learn new skills related to the care of animals.
Through this project, our goal is to bring new life and jobs opportunities to Chicago's inner city population, said Paul.
