THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 31, 1996 TAG: 9605290166
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 80 lines
She is president of the Chesapeake Humane Society, this city's leading voice for the voiceless.
And since the city doesn't fund the society as it does the Chesapeake Animal Shelter, Wanda J. Morris is also a volunteer for the nonprofit, independent local group.
The Chesapeake society boasts a membership of more than 300 people, all local pet lovers.
Morris is a lifelong pet owner. By heading the humane society, she wants to help ensure that the pets that bring joy to their owners are treated with respect because, she said, ``They sure can't speak for themselves.''
Morris has owned her current pets for about a year. They are a high-strung pair of Yorkshire terriers named Thelma and Louise. To her they almost seem like children, though with four legs.
But Morris understands that not all pet owners enjoy the closeness a pet can bring into a home.
Some pet owners mistreat their animals.
Some allow them to have litter after litter of young, and many of those young end up in the shelter here, if not as unhealthy and hungry strays.
The society spreads information about the fair treatment of animals and the importance of spaying and neutering to prevent pet overpopulation. Morris said they try and plant the seeds of compassion toward animals early.
``Our biggest concern is to get to the school system,'' said Morris. ``We want to teach children about how important it is to treat animals well.''
Fair treatment of animals, said Morris, goes hand in hand with being a good person. It was a lesson she learned as a girl, growing up in the small North Carolina town of Hobbsville, ``where there are no stoplights.''
An only child, Morris said she grew up in a house where there were always pets.
``There are quite a few cats buried in that back yard,'' said Morris. ``My parents were animal lovers. They probably facilitated the reason I'm such a caring person toward animals.''
Nursing school brought Morris to Virginia, and she began working at a Norfolk hospital. She is single and without children.
Companionship for Morris has been the pets that have shared her Chesapeake home.
She learned that there was a humane society in Chesapeake while taking a pet to a checkup with Chesapeake Animal Hospital veterinarian Dr. Alfred A. Brooks eight years ago.
``I'd been sending money to another organization, and I asked him if Chesapeake had anything like that,'' said Morris. Brooks happened to be on the society's 12-member board and invited her to a meeting.
She went to a meeting and joined the board soon after. She became president a little over a year later.
``She jumped in with both feet,'' said Brooks. ``She's been instrumental in bringing in new ideas about improving membership and fund raisers.''
One of Morris' pet projects is a fashion show with both two- and four-legged models. This year's ``Evening of Fashion'' was held Feb. 9, its second year as a humane society fund-raiser.
Morris also implemented a series of open houses at Chesapeake Public Library to increase awareness and to attract members to the society.
``She doesn't mind going that little bit extra,'' said Brooks. ``She's devoted to her dogs. She believes that they should have a good home, and she's concerned that other animals in Chesapeake have a good home, too.''
While the humane society and the city-operated animal shelter are not the same entity, they do work closely together.
The organizations give a gift certificate of $25 toward getting an animal spayed or neutered when people bring animals from the center into their homes.
Families who get pets from the animal shelter can then help prevent overcrowding. Population control of pets means fewer animals in shelters.
It is a responsible practice, said Morris, and the humane society is in the habit of promoting responsible practices.
For Morris, it's all about helping animals.
``Pets give unconditional love,'' said Morris, ``regardless of what you do to them.''
The Chesapeake Humane Society president wants people with pets to remember that if those pets could speak, they would simply ask to be loved back. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Wanda Morris, president of the Chesapeake Humane Society, with her
pets, Thelma and Louise. by CNB