Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1407173
3131 US-41, FORSYTH, GA 31029 • 478.808.0513 • Mon-Fri 10-6 p.m. • Sat 9-5 p.m. • Closed Sun ARBORS, LARGE TREES, CONTAINER PLANTS AND MORE I'VE BEEN PONDERING THE TOPIC OF LEADERSHIP and its association with animals for quite some time as I think of the many people I hold in very high esteem who have made a difference in the lives of animals in Macon. It occurred to me, there is a tremendous connection between animal advocacy and exemplary leadership. In fact, to be an effective animal advocate, one needs to have leadership skills including vision, organization, persistence and courage, which have been carefully developed through years of experience. Leadership requires the ability to look at an issue, a process or a philosophy that may need to be evaluated for appropriateness, and then be brave enough to challenge others to consider its relevancy and issue a call for change. Immediately, I think of the history of my own animal welfare organization, Central Georgia CARES, and why it was founded. Many years ago, a group of compassionate residents had the gumption to challenge a 40-year government tradition of how animals in the care of the Macon municipal shelter were barbarically euthanized using a gas chamber. This issue is the reason these animal advocates collaborated to form the trail-blazing nonprofit Central Georgia CARES. CARES then organized, researched, gathered data and developed a plan to prevent unwanted animal births. We established a robust plan to promote shelter dogs and cats for adoption, rather than euthanasia, by partnering with other areas of the country where demand for adoption was high but supply of available pets was low. We also wrote an impressive educational curriculum that was implemented in the schools. Additionally, CARES asked the government to consider a paradigm shift to use euthanasia as a last resort for sick pets and even then, to use a humane method rather than the gas chamber. The initiative was so successful that the city of Macon and CARES sponsored a public event to physically tear down the antiquated gas chamber. Taking the first swing at that gas chamber with a sledgehammer was the culmination of skilled leadership in action. Watching the gas chamber fall down represented the partnership between passionate residents with a strong desire to end the suffering of creatures who had no voice of their own, and a government that was willing to listen, acknowledge the need for change and link elbows with the newly formed group to do spectacular work in the community — for animals and for people. Now that's real leadership.! — PATTI JONES AC PUP A LINK BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND LOVING ANIMALS PHOTO BY VAN VANDEWALKER PATTI AND AC 26 maconmagazine.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021