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by Dawn Slade
Little critters lit up the faces of Elim Home residents last week.
Teri Rogers of Andy and Teri’s Second Chance Pets in Princeton brought a variety of rescued animals to the retirement home on Monday, Oct. 12.
“You made our day,” one resident told Lora Jean Jones, recreation director at the Elim Home in Milaca.
Birds, bunnies, lizards, iguanas, snakes, and even a rat brought smiles to the elderly.
Jones couldn’t say enough about the positive morale booster brought to the nursing home.
Resident John VanderHeyden held a Honduran milk snake, and as it wrapped around his arm, he joked, “It’s taking my blood pressure.”
Andy and Teri’s Second Chance Pets is certainly a second chance for critters as they are obtained either through rescue or simply from owners who can no longer take care of them.
But, the store is also a second chance for people.
Most pet stores won’t allow you to touch a pet until you buy it. At Andy and Teri’s, which is more of a rescue store than a pet store, they encourage you to touch, which is why they brought the animals to the Elim Home.
“It was kind of emotional seeing their reactions,” Rogers said of the residents. “We actually got a lady who has not been saying sentences, to talk!”
Jones arranged for Rogers to visit the Elim Home after Elim staff had visited Second Chance and liked what they saw.
Second Chance
Second Chance has been working with area veterinarians to make sure the animals are healthy.
Rogers said they are also working to raise awareness through their “Ten reasons to fight against animal abuse” program for youth.
Kids attend meetings through the program and help out at Second Chance.
With parent permission, younger kids make toys for the animals, while older kids (7th-12th grades) work more with the animals and learn about animal cruelty.
Kids keep a log of what they’re doing, which animals they’re working with and progress made, along with volunteer hours.
Rogers said she’s trying to find a building in Milaca to bring pets in, so they can include kids from the Milaca area in the program.
Things come full circle.
Rogers, who has done foster care for years, said some of her foster children have come back to help with Second Chance.
“This is what I’ve always wanted to do and now I can bring this to the community,” Rogers said.
For the Elim Home residents, it was an opportunity to touch, see, and smell a variety of animals, some of which they had never seen up close before.
“That’s what we want to do,” Rogers said of visiting nursing homes. “It is really healthy.”
Editor’s note: For more information about Andy and Teri’s Second Chance Pets, call 763-631-3647.
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