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Giving Dogs A
Second Chance

Local woman’s dream aids
abandoned animals.

JUDY GREENWALD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

M

Vet tech Lori Glaza of Royal Oak puts 2-year-old Panda on the examination table as DDR Executive Director
Kristina Millman-Rinaldi and intern Samuel Finn look on.

Finn does everything from grant research
to donor outreach to helping plan fundrais-
ers. He’s particularly excited about his lat-
est project, devising a mitzvah project for
youth.
“We can’t have kids handling the dogs
because of liability, but there are still ways
they can be impassioned to work with us,”
he said. “We want to empower 12- and
13-year-olds to run their own campaigns,
like maybe turning the family’s Labor
Day kickball game into a fundraiser that
includes the neighborhood,” said Finn of
Farmington Hills.
“When I did my mitzvah project at 13, I
did it because I had to, but I was not excited
about it. We want to make it so your family
and friends look up at you on the bimah
and can tell you genuinely enjoyed it, rather
than just showed up, signed in and did the
hours.”
Detroit Dog Rescue is a natural fit, Finn
said. “For the Jewish community, we should
be one of the first nonprofits people think
of to volunteer and raise awareness of the
issues. The stray animal issue is a high
public safety concern for both cities and
animals. The Jewish community in Metro
Detroit can and should get behind this
because it impacts all of us.”

LENDING A HAND

A few years ago, Mark Breimeister of
Waterford was seeking to volunteer with a
dog charity. A friend recommended DDR
and he was quickly sold on the group.
Today, he serves on the board of directors
as secretary.
“I tend to like dogs; I find them much
more trustworthy than humans,” said the
52-year-old owner of a produce company.
“And I wanted to be part of the renaissance
of Detroit, to help the community as it is
changing.”
Breimeister said he’s always impressed
with the rescues.

“It’s so amazing if you look at the track
records of what these dogs have been
through. Now they are sitting at an adop-
tion event with little kids pulling on their
ears and climbing on their backs; it is an
amazing transformation,” he said. “Dogs are
honest and pure, and just because humans
have done something bad to them, that
doesn’t mean they should be ignored.”
Millman-Rinaldi agreed that the ani-
mals, rehabbed with the help of K9 Turbo
Training’s positive reinforcement tech-
niques, never fail to impress her.
“These are some of the most resilient
dogs; they have been through so much in
their little lives,” she said. “We rehab them
and they turn into loving dogs. To have
an actual dog from Detroit that was never
loved — they appreciate it so much more
than any other dog.”
DDR takes on helpless dogs that other
groups would deem as hopeless, Finn said.
“We have had so many cases where any
other rescue organization would look at
these dogs and say, ‘There is nothing we
can do; they are too injured, sick or unso-
cialized. Either put them down or let nature
run its course.’ The DDR staff sees that this
is an animal that needs and deserves help.
They might cost more to rehab, retrain and
rehome, but it’s worth it. These dogs not
only survive, but thrive.”
Millman-Rinaldi, who has been involved
with DDR since its inception in 2011, said
she has found her life’s calling.
“I know I was put here to do this. The way
I grew up, horrific as it was sometimes, I
have a connection with these cruelty cases,
but I can take away something positive. It’s
a special feeling. Not everyone can do it, but
I am thankful I can.” •

Learn more, including upcoming fundraisers, ways to
help and how to adopt a dog, at detroitdogrescue.
com.

any people consider them-
selves animal lovers. For
one woman, this love has
developed into a real cause to help
remove abandoned cats and dogs
from shelters, foster them and then
find them loving, permanent homes.
Sharon “Sheri” Snover of Berkley
received a degree in psychology
and went back to school to become
a CPA, but her real passion since
childhood has been caring for and
working with animals.
In November 2016, she took that
desire and founded Second Chances
Animal Rescue (SCAR), a charitable
organization dedicated to removing
animals from shelters and placing
them in foster homes where they’re
cared for and prepared for perma-
nent adoption.
“I’ve always been very passion-
ate about animals and growing
up, always had a dog,” Snover, who
attends services at Temple Emanu-
El, said. “Over the last 30 years, my
pets have all been rescue animals,
including the two dogs I have now,
Stash and Chloe.
“When I was a kid, I’d tell my
mother we should live on a farm and
have all different kinds of animals. I
used to drive her crazy when I was
in college because when I came
home for a weekend or vacation, she
never knew if I was bringing home
a stray dog that we needed to find a
good home for!”
Rather than volunteering for an
existing rescue, her need to make a
real difference led her to start her
own. Her goals for SCAR include
programs that nurture the animal/
human connection, as well one that
will assist senior animals in over-
coming age-related abandonment
and find caring homes to live out
their lives.
Snover has been very active in
getting corporate support, including
such places as Premier Pet Supply in
Beverly Hills, Doggie Styles Pet Salon
in Southfield and the Berkley Animal
Clinic, all of which count her as a
regular customer. Her own employer,

ABOVE: Sharon Snover of Berkley
with her rescued dog Stash.

United Shore in Troy, offered a very
special program to help her realize
her dream.
“Employees who’ve worked at
United Shore for 10 years are given
a chance to live their dream by
getting 10 days off and $2,500. I’ve
been there for more than 10 years
and was fortunate to be part of this
program, called ’10 Days to Live
Your Dream.’ I knew within minutes
what my dream was. I went to Best
Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab,
Utah, toured the many areas they
have for the animals there and vol-
unteered with the dogs and cats.
This place had such a huge impact
on me — it was a very emotional
experience!”
This emotion is apparent in her
dedication to her cause and the
underlying reason for her decision
to found a place to help our four-
legged friends.
“I grew up in a home full of Jewish
traditions and values and learned

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August 3 • 2017

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