A true animal hero

Meet Cathi Eagan, a remarkable local animal advocate who has recently been nominated and is in the running to be Animal Planet's 2008 Animal Hero of the Year. 

Cathi is the inspiration and energy behind the Canine Express transport program that is responsible for transporting over 3,434 Indiana shelter dogs to various New England area shelters to be adopted. Many of those dogs came from our very own City of Bloomington Animal Shelter. 

With a caravan of 4 -5 cargo vans, Cathi and a crew of volunteer drivers start out once a month early in the morning making the rounds to local shelters to pick-up the precious cargo that has been selected to make the trip to New England. They then drive through the night on a two-day trip to drop-off the lucky pups at the various shelters that have agreed to take them.  

Thanks to aggressive spay/neuter programs and laws, the New England area has seen a decline in the number of dogs in shelters. Lucky for many Monroe County dogs, Cathi has created an opportunity for a happy second chance at the life they deserve. 

This is what you would consider a labor of love as the trip is grueling for the drivers, who along the way make stops to walk each and every dog, sometimes taking up to an hour or two to finish the job. 

As all of us who work to protect animals have had our defining moment, committing ourselves to the animals, Cathi's moment involved standing afoot the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy.

St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment and quite the appropriate figure to inspire Cathi's work. 

Cathi without a doubt earns the title of Animal Hero and serves as inspiration to everyone who cares about the welfare of animals. We all can make a difference.

 

Make sure to visit the Animal Planet website and vote for Cathi. To find out who wins, watch Animal Planet Heroes, Dec. 4 at 10PM e/p.

 

As a side note, if you are Catholic ask your church if they will be holding a ceremony on October 4th, which is the feast day celebrating St. Francis. Many churches hold pet blessings on October 4th in his honor.