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ABOUT/EDITOR
My profound devotion and affinity for animals coupled with my passion for writing resulted in the creation of The Marin Pet Gazette. I had a crush on my high school English teacher so I paid attention in his class, as much to him as I did his lessons. Being one who is more diplomatic with the pen than the sword, I found strength, expression and passion in writing. But nothing equaled my love and compassion for animals. When my brother was a baby and I was three, my devoted grandparents took me off my parent’s hands from time to time, often on weekends. My grandfather doted on me, his first grandchild, often granting many of my childhood wishes. Each Saturday morning he’d take to The Coney Island Animal Nursery, where I’d diaper change and bottle-feed “my” baby chimpanzee, Lola. I played with and learned about many other species of animals, ranging from parrots, ferrets, lions and llamas to iguanas, snails, snakes and horses. And so began my innate love affair with animals. I attended nature camp, wrangling crabs from the beach, snakes from the fields, frogs from the marsh and bats from the belfry. It was a Jewish camp so we didn’t really have a belfry but we did have bats. My father recalls that when I was a mere three years of age, an army of ants marched across my path and I was careful not to step on a single one of them. I was always “on guard” making sure others followed suit, sparing these little creatures. While I’m not a Buddhist, I do follow the tenet of compassion to all creatures, being a vegetarian since the age of seventeen. I always knew that I wanted to work with animals and while I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian because I’d be helping animals, I also knew I’d have to face the sadness of dealing with very sick and injured animals as well. This coupled with the years I’d have to spend in veterinary school helped me to abandon my adolescent dream of becoming a veterinarian. I didn’t think I had what it took to deal with the sadness of a sick or injured pet, not to mention having to euthanize them. But volunteering at an animal shelter exposed me to the horrible reality of animal abuse and cruelty first-hand and I could not and would not abandon my journey toward animal advocacy. While I didn’t become a veterinarian, I cared for and worked with animals all my life. I was a volunteer adoptions counselor at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in New York City, not then, but now a no-kill shelter, screening potential adopters. I socialized cats and exercised dogs; working with animals that were neglected and abused, particularly dogs—rehabilitating them in preparation to be adopted into loving homes. At that time the master trainer at the ASPCA thought I had a knack for commanding canines, asking me to be her apprentice. After my six-week apprenticeship, I became a dog trainer. Though I did not train dogs professionally until years later, I knew that my training would come in handy any time I dealt with a dog. I moved to Marin in December of 2003 and was riveted by the extent to which people love and care for their family pets and animals in need. Finally I arrived to a place where people like me regarded their companion animals as children, true members of the family, not just pets. I hope you enjoy reading The Marin Pet Gazette and invite you to be a part of our family of compassionate animal guardians and enthusiasts. Please send us stories and photos about your companion animals and how they have enriched your lives. If you share your home with a service animal or special needs animal, we’d love to hear from you too. We welcome photos, stories, drawings, articles and poems from Marin County residents of all ages. The Marin Pet Gazette is a community-based publication and as part of this compassionate animal loving community, we hope to hear from you. Health, Happiness & Warm Wishes, |
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Warm Greetings……I’m Stacy Karron, Editor-In-Chief of The Marin Pet Gazette.