This week on All My Children Wear Fur Coats we had the pleasure of speaking with Betsy Gamberino, Vice President of the SPCA of Ocala. Betsy grew up in rural Pennsylvania where she was active in showing Quarter Horses as well as volunteering for several animal and agricultural organizations.  She attended Penn State University obtaining Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Animal Science and Biology.  She began a career in Science working as a Research Support Assistant for the Penn State University School of Medicine in Hershey, PA.  In 1996, she moved to Ocala, Florida and continued her career in science at the University of Florida Department of Psychiatry. Following her work at the University of Florida, she accepted a position an Instructor of Equine Science and Biology at the College of Central Florida.  Five years ago she met Lilly Baron, the President of the SPCA of Ocala, and joined the organization becoming a Board Member and an advocate for animal welfare.  Currently, she lives on her farm in Ocala and remains an active equestrian while enjoying her 10 cats, her dog Pearl, 4 Guinea Pigs Larry, Ted, Bandit, parker and 3 horses. Read more

Leave No Paws Behind is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit corporation located in California. They are an all breed, all foster- based rescue, specializing in seniors, terminal and end of life animals, and pets with special needs. Leave No Paws Behind was founded in June 2011 by Toby Wisneski who wanted to make a difference in the lives of senior animals abandoned in the shelters. Toby  had a soft spot in her heart for the aging animals who, after living so many years with the only humans they ever loved, suddenly found themselves abandoned and left to die on a cold shelter floor alone and wondering. Toby, who herself was the human mommy to a beautiful senior dog of 13 years, could not believe the number of senior pets that found themselves suddenly in peril at a time when they needed their humans the most. Read more

As caregivers of disabled dogs for the past 20 years, Eddie and Leslie Grinnell knew what they wanted for their pets: a wheelchair designed for on and off-road play that would allow their pets to enjoy a good quality of life while they healed. A mechanical engineer by trade, Ed’s revolutionary design has been endorsed by veterinarians, rehab practitioners and canine chiropractors. It all started 33 years ago with their blue Doberman, Buddha. For years, she had been Eddie’s guard dog. In 1989 Buddha, at the age of 10, lost the use of her rear legs due to spondylosis and disc disease. Ed and Leslie were faced with the choice of a expensive risky surgery, or euthanizing her. She was not in pain nor depressed, so euthanizing her was not an option. They decided to give her time to heal by giving her anti-inflammatories and started researching wheelchairs. Read more

Monisha Seth is a retired internal medicine physician with AdventHealth Medical Group in Winter Park, Florida. She and her husband Anthony founded Franklin’s Friends in 2003 after adopting their first dog Franklin from the SPCA of Central Florida. They are now the proud parents of 3 rescued hounds – Winston, Lincoln, and Jolene.  Franklin’s Friends is an all-volunteer 501c3 nonprofit organization.  Their mission is to support Central Florida animal welfare by awarding grants to local nonprofit and government agencies that are dedicated to Shelter/Rescue, Spay/Neuter, or Community Education projects.

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This week on All My Children Wear Fur Coats we were joined by Chris Roy, Founder of Doobert.  Doobert empowers animal welfare organizations through custom-built tools for animal rescue.  Doobert has features that are built to streamline foster communication and management.  They also make it easy for rescues to connect with other organizations and volunteers so they can save more animals.  Doobert also allows volunteers the freedom to choose how they want to help the animal organizations they want to work with.

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