Love for dogs makes her a tireless advocate

Yvonne Ownby

To our homeless dogs, she is an angel. Yvonne Ownby is the head dog walker and a pack leader at the Humane Educational Society. Yvonne loves all of our dogs like they are her own. And actually, they are her dogs until they find forever homes. We joke that when Yvonne crosses the rainbow bridge one day (many, many years from now) there will be thousands of dogs waiting for her.

Yvonne trains all of the new dog walkers, conducts behavior assessments, matches up dogs and volunteers for off-site events, selects dogs for adopt-a-thons and still manages to spend quality time with each and every pup in our shelter. She makes their time at the shelter better -- happier.

When an adopted dog comes back for a visit, they never forget their Yvonne. She is truly amazing, and we are so fortunate that her heart beats for our canines.

JEANINE CLOYD, Volunteer & Community Outreach Manager, Humane Educational Society