Please welcome my mom, Judi, to Hippie Spelunker! My mom does some really good work with animals – she works her butt off for them! She has done so much and has so many stories to tell, that I have long harassed her to start a blog! I just realized today, though, that I could ‘break her in’ right here on my blog! I thought I’d give her her own category on my blog and then there would be no pressure at all. And then I realized that I could even take more pressure off of that no pressure and just give her a baby category. And that fits in better with my category structure that way! So under my ‘Animals’ category – would be her ‘The Judi Files’ baby category. See how nicely that works?

So I would like to introduce you to…

See, this way, Momma – you can just post if you want to – and don’t if you don’t. Easy peasy. You got something to say? Cool. Don’t feel like sharing? No problem. Easy.

Now let me tell ya’ll about my groovy, cool cat Mom! She has worked with several organizations over the years. And she has even been toBest Friends in Utah. Color me jealous!! She got to go on a trip just for the purpose of visiting their facilities and volunteering there for a few days. How cool is that?

She and I both went and volunteered at the big cat sanctuary in Texas called In Sync Exotics. We helped to build a new enclosure for two lions that were coming to live there. That day was a lot of work – in the mud – but, it was very interesting and a lot of fun!

After Hurricane Katrina hit, I heard about Noah’s Wish Organization and told her about them and she signed up and went through their training and got certified by them as a rescue volunteer. That was a lot of work! Their training is two days of intensive training as what they deal with is disaster relief work. This one is really not for sissies! From their ‘General Training Information’ page:

* Please note: Training is designed to simulate the conditions that you may experience during a disaster deployment, therefore we require you to be self-sufficient for the entire training period. This means sleeping at the training location and bringing enough food and water to carry you through Saturday and Sunday.

That one will toughen ya up, if you’re not the rugged type – for sure! It’s all worth it for the critters, though!

Here are the groups, that I know of, with which my mom volunteers:

• Dallas Animal Advocates
• Paws In The City
• Companions For Life
• The United Animal Nations Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS)
• SPCA of Texas
• The Humane Society of the United States

And those are just the ones in which she actively volunteers. I know she donates to other groups, or has, in the past. For instance, when I was a kid, I think she donated to Greenpeace. And she may have donated to PETA, back in the ‘We still love PETA’ days. Heh.

Back in March of this year, she went on a puppy mill raid and helped to rescue a lot of critters from horrible conditions. The picture on this post is from that experience. I love this particular picture so much, because, it’s cool to see my mom in action, but, also – because she had two beloved Yorkies herself for about sixteen years. We loved those girls so much and they were so much a part of my mom’s life. Their names were Molly and Megan. They have both been gone for a couple years now and I know Mom misses them so much.

There was a press release put out by The United Animal Nations about the rescue and it featured a picture of my mom – the one you see above. From the press release:

Paris, Ark. (March 23, 2009) — Volunteers from United Animal Nations’ Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS) are assisting with the temporary shelter of nearly 400 neglected dogs rescued today from a Logan County, Arkansas puppy mill by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Humane Society of Missouri.

The dogs were found living in horrific conditions in dilapidated structures throughout the 82-acre property. Members of The HSUS’ Animal Rescue Team and the Humane Society of Missouri removed approximately 350 dogs, 17 miniature ponies, six cats and several exotic birds and turtles from the property. Twleve EARS volunteers from Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Kansas deployed to the emergency shelter to care for the animals.

“Most people don’t realize that this is the cruel reality behind those cute puppies for sale in pet stores and online,” said Desiree Bender, Arkansas state director for The HSUS. “These dogs were kept in tiny cages and forced to breed continuously for the profit of the mill owners.”

EARS volunteer Judi Burnett of Dallas, Texas, carries two Yorkies rescued from a puppy mill in Paris, Arkansas toward the safety of a temporary shelter. Photo: HSUS.

You can read the rest of the press release here: United Animal Nations Press Release, March 23, 2009

Once Mom’s friends from Companions For Life found out about it, they decided to post about her and the rescue mission on their blog, as well. From the CFL blog:

This past Monday, 3/23, Companions For Life Board Member & Treasurer Judi Burnett was on hand to assist HSUS with the rescue of nearly 400 animals from a puppy mill in Paris, Arkansas. Members of The HSUS’ Animal Rescue Team removed approximately 350 dogs, 17 miniature ponies, six cats and several exotic birds and turtles from the property. The animals were taken to a temporary shelter run by volunteers – include our Judi – from United Animal National Emergency Animal Rescue Service.

You can read the whole post at the CFL blog here: Companions For Life Treasurer Rescues Dogs From Puppy Mill

So my mother definitely has a lot to share with all of us animal lovers – heart-warming stories as well as good, educational content that can help us all be champions for animals – just like she is!

Way to go, Momma!