UPDATE 11/24/03
Statement by AWCA President Jean Levitt
*Permission to crosspost*
Folks, on behalf of AWCA, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. As we give thanks this holiday, let us remember the officers at Port of Sweetgrass, MT, the Toole County Sheriff’s Office, the prosecutors, the volunteers, the donors, the doctors, the adopters, and everyone involved in saving the Montana collies. We present one very special volunteer’s Thanksgiving story.
By Debi Pace
By Thanksgiving 2002 the dogs had been at Camp Collie only a few weeks. I had only been up to help a few times and was worried that there would not be enough volunteers to take care of the dogs since it was a holiday. So I got up early, threw together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grabbed a bottle of water and got to Camp Collie just as the sun was coming up. It was a beautiful but very cold morning. Besides the security guard I was the only one there at that hour. Shortly after I had gotten to Camp Collie another gal arrived and we started the job of washing up the dishes from the night before. The dogs were still in the horse stalls and the washing was done in a large army tent that some generous person had donated. So while she collected dirty food bowls, I washed, and washed and washed. It didn’t take too long for many other volunteers to arrive and quickly pitch in. All had felt the same as I had, that there would not be enough help since it was a holiday. So many people showed up to help that morning that all the dogs were fed, watered and walked by around 11:30. By noon there were only a handful of us left, and since I had made no plans for the day, I decided to stay and keep walking the dogs and then help with their afternoon feeding. The day had warmed a bit and had turned into a perfect sunny Montana winter day.
At noon I decided to take a break, and as I walked to my truck to eat my lunch, a gal told me about a woman in town who had cooked an entire turkey dinner for the volunteers. She insisted I join them for the meal. I remember looking at my clothes thinking there was no way I was going to someone’s house looking like that and only wondered what I smelled like, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. It actually wasn’t too difficult to persuade me to go. The peanut butter sandwich wasn’t exactly something I was looking forward to. Turkey with all the trimmings sounded wonderful. So I went with five other people to eat dinner at the home of lovely, generous lady. When we met her, all she could talk about was how thankful she was for the volunteers that had worked the past month to help the animals. She was physically unable to work with the dogs but wanted so badly to do something. So she stuffed us full of turkey and dressing and pie and wouldn’t let us leave without taking plates of food back to Camp Collie. I still remember very vividly sitting in her living room with five other strangers eating this wonderful meal and feeling so grateful and lucky. Not just for the meal, but for the compassion and generosity of so many.
I realized at that point that there were really two stories being played out. The main story was about the animals, how they had been treated and what was going to happen to them. The other one was about the people whose hearts had been touched by their plight and had decided to help in any way they could. This woman was just one example. Some couldn’t work with the animals for a variety of reasons, but they still felt compelled to do whatever they could. I saw this many times during the remaining months of the Camp Collie saga. People from all over the U.S. and Canada donated in countless ways. The monetary donations were necessary and we couldn’t have taken care of so many animals without the generosity of so many. But I think it was the other ways people tried to help that touched me the most. Many people in Shelby opened their doors to volunteers from out of town that had come to work with the animals. They offered total strangers a spare room and cooked them meals after a long cold day of hard work. Many businesses in Shelby and the surrounding area offered products or services to help with the animals. Often baked goodies would show up at Camp Collie for the volunteers, and for Valentine’s Day a beautiful bouquet of flowers was delivered thanking everyone. I remember crying after reading some of the cards and letters people had sent with their prayers and thanks. This generosity and thoughtfulness made such a difference especially to those of us who became so emotionally involved with the fate of these creatures. I hope everyone who followed the story and tried to help in some way knows that it was greatly appreciated. You gave us strength when things seemed overwhelming.
Even though Camp Collie is over and we pray that nothing like that ever happens again, I will always cherish these memories and thank God that I was able to be a part of this. The people I met are truly some of the best I’ve known, and they will always hold a place in my heart. Camp Collie was one of my most heartbreaking and heartwarming experiences, and it has profoundly changed my life.
Thank you and God bless all of you out there who cared!
Calmly,
Jean Levitt, President AWCA
and the Officers and Members of AWCA