THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9607310164
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 165 lines
A LITTLE PIECE of heaven is what Gary Snider and Lisa Holton-Snider hoped to create when they moved to Magnolia Lakes in early 1995.
The Sniders, foster parents for the last four years, have sheltered 97 youngsters, many of them emergency cases referred by Norfolk's department of social services.
Children arrived at all hours of the day and night, often abused, frequently hungry and usually scared. The Sniders offered them a safe haven.
Most of the children stayed with the couple for a few days or a few months, each one tugging at the Sniders' hearts. ``Saying goodbye never gets any easier,'' Gary Snider said.
William, a tow-headed 2-year-old who was placed in the Sniders' care as an infant, has found a permanent place in their lives. The couple is in the process of adopting him as well as his 6-year-old sister, Carolyn, who was also recently placed in their care.
Now, with two children to raise as their own, the Sniders are taking a respite from foster childcare and are concentrating their rescue efforts on their other love, injured animals.
The Sniders are active animal rescuers and members of Wildlife Response Inc., a local animal rehabilitation organization headquartered in Chesapeake.
They are also firm believers in the benefits of animal therapy for children. Many a foster child has awakened on his or her first morning with the Sniders to find a pet rabbit sitting cozily on a shoulder.
``Our life mission is working with animals and children, and we want to continue to do that on an even larger scale,'' Gary Snider said. ``We wanted to get a big house, preferably an older one we could restore, with big land, so we could take in all sorts of animals and more children.''
Just weeks ago, the Sniders moved to their own home on an acre and a half of land off Turlington Road, a move they hope will bring them even closer to their dream.
``Wescue, Daddy, wescue,'' William chimes when a call for help comes in.
``William steals the show when he goes with me on a rescue,'' Gary admits. ``He has learned the difference between being aware and being afraid.''
There is not much about animals that frightens William, who is inclined to plunk a full-size rabbit named Sierra into a visitor's lap or wrap ever patient Wolfgang, a Yorkshire terrier, in a blanket and tote him around the house.
Watch the Sniders in action with their constantly changing menagerie and it will come as no surprise that Gary Snider was almost named after his grandfather Noah.
With their latest move, the Sniders found new homes for the rabbit and a pair of potbellied pigs that had been part of their family. ``We had to downscale, but we still have five chickens, two dogs, and a pet rat,'' Gary Snider said.
In the hundreds of hours the Sniders have spent in animal rescues this year, Gary Snider, 34, has given mouth to snout resuscitation to a bear cub, rushed to rescue several deer who were hit-and-run casualties, and made a midnight mission to the Dismal Swamp to return a tiny (1 3/4-inch) shrew to its natural habitat.
Lisa Holton-Snider, 32, an RN who has specialized in trauma nursing, helps with many of the rescues and is especially skilled in dealing with hawks and other injured birds.
Now the couple focus on rescue work, but they have applied for animal rehabilitators licenses. ``There is only one other rehabilitator in Suffolk, and we really could use the help,'' Gary Snider said.
Lila Barlow, a veterinarian's assistant from Chesapeake who is also a licensed animal rehabilitator, works frequently with the Sniders. ``They bring me 90 percent of the wild animals they rescue,'' Barlow said. ``Everything from redtail hawks and owls to fawns.''
Animal rescuers, Barlow said, have to be flexible enough to respond to a rescue call on the spur of the moment, even at 2 a.m. They also need the ability to cope with the fact that many of the animals they rescue will not survive and the knowledge that even the most innocent seeming animal can be dangerous.
``Animals don't want to be rescued because they are thinking that this bigger animal (the rescuer) wants to eat them,'' Barlow said. ``The animal will fight back to prove that it is not hurt.''
The Sniders seem well suited to the challenge in Barlow's opinion.
The couple also rank high with Jerry Saunders, chief of the Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department. Last spring, when Saunders received a late-night call about a puppy trapped in a dirt-clogged storm drain, he and a Suffolk police officer responded.
``I had heard about the Sniders helping to rescue a bear on Kings Highway, so I suggested that we call them,'' Saunders said.
By tying a longer handle to a garden trowel and rigging a noose-shaped capture device, the four rescuers were able to dig their way to the yelping pup, snare his hind leg and gently ease him to an opening so he could trot out of the drain on his own.
``The Sniders seemed very concerned and knowledgeable and really want to do a service to the community,'' Saunders said.
Back in their native Detroit, Gary and Lisa met in 1986 while working at a private ambulance service. He was waiting for an opening with the fire department, and she was working her way through nursing school. Three years later Gary, who had become a firefighter, was injured in a fire. When he was brought into a local emergency room, Lisa was the nurse who took care of him. ``Now is your chance to go out with me,'' he quipped.
Months later, he stopped by the emergency room to propose. As he pulled a ring from his pocket and reached to place it on Lisa's finger, paramedics rushed in, pushing a cardiac patient on a stretcher between the couple. ``The man lived, and Lisa said yes,'' Gary Snider said with a grin.
The Sniders moved into an old farmhouse in the small, rural town of Ecorse, Mich. Soon animals began appearing at their doorstep, sick or abandoned pets tied to the couple's porch with notes pleading for help. ``We got a kennel license and would care for the animals until we found them a home,'' Lisa Holton-Snider said.
When Snider was laid off from the fire department, he joined the Navy, and the Sniders found themselves living in military housing in Portsmouth. He became president of the community league, and she was the local crime watch coordinator. Their animal rescue work continued.
Occasionally the commanding admiral and other ranking guests would stop by the Snider home for meetings. ``They never knew that there were two potbellied pigs and a chicken in the bathroom and injured wildlife in the bedrooms,'' Gary Snider said.
After a brief stay in Norfolk, the couple looked for a more rural atmosphere and found it in Suffolk.
They also found more animals in trouble. In addition to frequent injured deer calls, the Sniders have twice rushed to aid bear cubs injured as they crossed busy roads. ``They are babies, out walking, feeling their oats when they get hit, but the parents always will be nearby so the situation is dangerous,'' Gary Snider said.
One of the cubs survived after spending some time with a veterinarian, but the other cub, a victim of Kings Highway traffic, died. ``We revived her three times, but then we finally lost her,'' Snider said.
The Sniders work in close cooperation with the Suffolk police, and animal control officers and have high praise for their help. ``When we lost the bear cub, the police officers helping us were really upset,'' Snider said. ``There was a lot of compassion and caring going on there.''
Currently Gary Snider is supporting his family with private contracting work but has applied for positions with both the Suffolk police and auxiliary police. Lisa Snider recently left her position as a supervisor at The Pines Residential Treatment Center and is home, caring for William and Carolyn and honing her photography and writing skills. She hopes one day soon to write a book about being a foster parent.
Whatever their careers, the Sniders will continue to devote their energies to what matters most to them - making the world a safer place for everyone, especially the children and animals that cannot care for themselves. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
A HAVEN OF CARING
From left, William, Lisa and Gary with part of the Snider menagerie
- Boomer the Doberman, Bailey the sheep dog and Wolfgang the
Yorkshire terrior. Snider and his wife are in the process of
adopting William and his sister.
The Sniders found new homes for the pigs, but they still have five
chickens.
Staff photos, including cover, by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
William enjoys feeding the animals at the Snider household. On the
cover, he cuddles with the family pet, Ratina .
RESCUERS NEEDED
Wildlife Response Inc., a Hampton Roads animal rescue and
rehabilitation organization, is seeking volunteers to be trained in
animal rescue or rehabilitation work or to support the organization
by manning a hot line or raising funds. For details, call the
hotline at 543-7000. by CNB