Home > Out of the Cage! > September 2005 > Volunteer Spotlight: An Interview with Heidi Leonard, Mayor's Alliance Volunteer

Volunteer Spotlight

An Interview with Heidi Leonard, Mayor's Alliance Volunteer

A Mayor's Alliance volunteer who performs most of her Alliance work from home, Heidi is defining a new role for Mayor's Alliance volunteers — somewhere between a first-class task manager and ad-hoc life-saver. Heidi takes on time-consuming, detail-oriented projects — ranging from researching events to collecting detailed information from Alliance Participating Organizations — completes them at home, and delivers A-1 results to a grateful (and sometimes harried) Mayor's Alliance staff.

Here Heidi talks about her volunteer work.

Tell us a little bit about your background.

I grew up in Southern California and moved to NYC about 10 years ago. I live in the West Village with my husband and our fabulous Golden/Lab rescue, Zelda. I was a lawyer for about seven years, but stopped practicing a few years ago when I had the chance to take some time off.

What prompted you to get involved with rescue animals?

I can't remember a time when I didn't have a dog. I was an only child growing up, and our dogs were more siblings than pets. Even when I was very young, my parents weren't able to stop me from hugging every dog I met — and wanting to bring each of them home.

When I was in college, I spent a summer in Alaska and while I was there, found a homeless Golden. She crossed the road in front of my car and I slammed on the brakes thinking that I might have hit her. When I got out of the car, she jumped in and seemed to say "I'm here and I'm staying." I put up flyers and called local vets and shelters, but no one called by the end of the summer. She flew home with me and I was lucky enough to spend 10 years with her.

When she passed away, I wanted to do something in her honor and started volunteering with GRROWLS — a wonderful Golden Retriever rescue group (and member of the Mayor's Alliance). At the time I was working a lot and the chance to do something that meant so much to me was an amazing boost to my morale.

How did you first get involved with the Mayor's Alliance?

A few years ago I met Janell Granier, now the Director of Programs at the Mayor's Alliance, at an ACC microchipping event in Central Park. Years later, I e-mailed a volunteer application to the Mayor's Alliance and Janell recognized my name. We talked and I have been doing what I can to help for a few months now. I love the concept behind the Alliance — the dedication to the city's animals and the commitment to help coordinate efforts on their behalf. There is so much work to be done — it makes so much sense to me to try to maximize resources and coordination. I have also come to learn that the people working at the Alliance are incredibly dedicated and selfless in their efforts.

How is your volunteer work with the Alliance meeting your expectations?

I am so glad that I have had a chance to work with the Alliance. There are a lot of things I do that won't matter to me years from now, but time spent trying to help animals is one of the things I will be happiest about — they have so much to give and have so little say about their lives.

As an adopted New Yorker, I am especially happy to be working on a project in connection with the ACC's New Hope program. The goal is to help the ACC work as effectively as possible with rescue groups by finding out more about the kinds of animals they are willing and able to take from the city's shelters.

What other current or past volunteer work have you done?

During the past few years, I've volunteered at the Fund for Animals low-cost spay and neuter clinic in midtown (a wonderful clinic run by amazing people that was very sadly closed) and also at the Bide-A-Wee low-cost vet clinic. I always wanted to be a vet — until I took more math and science in high school and college. I now live vicariously through our vet — he is amazing and does a ton of rescue work. He's who I want to be when I grow up.

Tell us about Zelda, your companion Golden.

We found our dog Zelda on Petfinder almost five years ago. She had lived with two elderly people who became ill and weren't able to take care of her any longer. The listing didn't have much information, but when we called the shelter, they told that she was a "fat old lab" who wanted to "hang out and take walks" (all said with love — and all true — although she is less chunky now).

She had been in the shelter (Southampton Animal Control) for almost six months. The people at the shelter (who clearly loved her) told us that potential adopters thought she was great, but they had all wanted a younger dog (she was eight when we adopted her). I can't believe they passed her up — but lucky for us!

She is a living example of why people should consider adopting older animals. She was housebroken, well behaved, calm — happy to hang with us when we want to relax, but also thinks she is a puppy when we play.

She is almost 13 now and the idea of not having her is really impossible to imagine. I can't fall asleep unless she is within reach (she is a serious bed hog — we had a queen-size bed when we adopted her and soon realized we needed a king — at least half is hers). I know people are concerned about adopting an older dog because they might be around for a shorter period of time, but there are no guarantees in life regardless of your dog's age. And the rewards of adopting an older dog who is so grateful to have a home and some love far, far outweigh any possible downsides.

Any advice for someone considering volunteering with animals?

Don't hesitate a moment longer — whatever time you invest will be rewarded with an invaluable sense that you have made the world a little better — and done something to help someone whose whole life can change through your efforts. You can volunteer in so many different ways — from working directly with animals (including helping to socialize them or evaluate their personalities), answering telephones, helping with paperwork — animal groups can often use help of all kinds. Whatever skills or talents you have — or time you can give — can be put to good use.

You can also help tremendously even without formally volunteering by doing things like collecting towels and blankets in your neighborhood and donating them to a shelter that can use them.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I hope people will consider the similarities between their pets and other animals (and people). As a culture, we seem to love our pets but be less concerned with the treatment of other animals in our society. When I was in college, someone asked me why I ate meat if I loved animals. I didn't have a good answer and became a vegetarian. A few years ago, someone asked why I wore leather if I was a vegetarian for animals' rights reasons. It's been about five years since I've bought anything leather. As much as I've always loved animals, it took someone questioning my logic for me to change. The ways we use animals in our society is so deeply engrained — sometimes it helps to step back and think about what we are doing.

For information about volunteering with the Mayor's Alliance or to complete a volunteer application online, click here. To find out about volunteer opportunities with any of the Alliance Participating Organizations (APOs), click here and select from the list of APOs.