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No effort is too great…

… when lives are at stake. What a humane society should be.

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Welcome to the Sonoma Humane Society

Yesterday, I spent the day bottle feeding an orphaned kitten, giving treats to and playing with a mouthy dog, giving a chubby, rescued pig a belly rub (and heirloom tomatoes), feeding apples to horses and ponies and greens to a toothless goat, and meeting, for the first time in my life, an alpaca.

My wife and I were at the Sonoma Humane Society and it is everything a humane society should be. Their motto is “No effort is too great when lives are at stake” and it shows. They currently contract with two cities for animal control, saving 97% of dogs, 91% of cats, and 92% of rabbits. Expect those numbers to continue going up and up and up.

I was also given a quick tour of the medical clinic by a large black cat who kept looking over his shoulder to make sure I was following him so that he could lead me directly to his empty food bowl. When I filled it, he proceeded to ignore me. Apparently, that part of the tour was officially over, thank you very much.

It was also nice to see copies of several of my books and my film in the office of the director–a hard-working, solution-focused individual who refuses to hide behind excuses and practices what she preaches: I met some of the animals she herself fostered, including a mama dog she named after my daughter, Riley, and one of her now grown puppies.

You’ll be hearing a lot more about this humane society—and its dedicated leadership and staff—in the coming weeks and months:

After feeding all those animals, Jennifer and I realized we hadn’t eaten all day, and on the way home, stopped at a newly opened veggie fast food drive-thru restaurant and treated ourselves to delicious vegan Big Macs, fries, and soy milkshakes.

A day at a shelter which refuses to  condone killing and has fully embraced the No Kill philosophy, followed by dinner at a crowded vegetarian restaurant teeming with people from all walks of life. For an animal lover like me, it was a very, very good day.

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The Sonoma Humane Society welcomes you from the moment you step inside.

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An orphaned singleton woke up while we were touring the medical clinic. As soon as she meowed, I was given a baby bottle to feed her.

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Treats for the sweet and playing with dogs was also on the agenda.

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Wilbur the pig not only got a mouthful of heirloom tomatoes, but a belly full of rubs.

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Apples for Reno and other horses, including a mini named Geronimo.

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A chicken and I see eye-to-eye.

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No bunny is left behind at the Sonoma Humane Society.

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The director’s book shelf: copies of my book Redemption  and  my film of the same name.

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After a long day of feeding animals, I got to eat this vegan burger at a new drive through in Rohnert Park.

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No veggie burger is complete without fries and a non-dairy milkshake.

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