Having a Paws-itive Impact
Rebecca Stevens, executive director of the Hamilton County Humane Society, follows her heart to help hundreds of animals find their forever homes.
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For the last six years, Rebecca Stevens has thrown all of her heart and a lot of her home into the role of executive director for the Humane Society for Hamilton County. That’s exactly why Chulo, Maggie and Gus have forever homes. Their big-hearted owner is one of Hamilton County’s most dedicated animal advocates.
Stevens strongly believes that every tail-wagger of every size, shape and personality deserves a chance at finding a family. Dozens of well-trained, easy-to-place dogs wait for adoption. But Stevens’ heart is especially committed to finding homes for hard-to-place animals.
“We are an open admission shelter,” she says. “We take them all. And for us, it’s a very important part of our mission. Every animal, no matter what, deserves a chance.”
One of Stevens’ greatest weaknesses is to look one too many times into the sad eyes of animals that might wait weeks, months or longer for new owners. That is exactly how her Fishers home turned into what she describes as the “land of misfit canines.”
Ten-year-old Chulo, for example, served as the Humane Society’s pit bull mascot, educating hundreds in the community about the gentle nature of this breed. Because of the negative reputation plaguing “pitties” as aggressive dogs, Stevens knew Chulo’s volunteer work would not likely result in a new home for him. When he developed cancer last year, Chulo retired to Stevens’ house.
He took up residence with Maggie, nicknamed Magzilla, a 9-year-old American bulldog with a spinal injury that left her hind legs paralyzed. Traveling room to room with a cart for her back legs, Maggie frequently wreaks havoc in the house. Rounding out the misfits now residing at Stevens’ address is Gus, a 15-year-old, snaggle-toothed Chihuahua.
“Gus arrived at the shelter as a stray,” Stevens says. “His teeth were rotten and he was very sick with an upper respiratory infection. I adopted him and now he’s sporting six remaining teeth. But he believes he still has a mouthful. He is definitely the watch dog of the house.”
Taking the lead
Obviously Stevens loves her odd little collection of misfit canines. She has loved animals all of her life, actually.
“I always had all kinds of pets — rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters. My favorite was a guinea pig named Fat Albert.”
After graduating as valedictorian from Arlington High School, Stevens studied marketing at Indiana University. Then she dove into a very successful 20-year career in marketing and public relations. Her longtime love for animals was limited to the pets anxiously awaiting the end of workday.
Like many other Americans, Stevens found herself facing rocky professional challenges several years ago.
Difficult times often can lead to introspective moments. And that’s exactly what happened with Stevens.
During a six-month stint of unemployment in 2004, she put a lot of thought into her tomorrow.
“I started to think about what it was that I really wanted to do. And then I thought, Well, if I could just do something I was passionate about, that’s what I really want,” Stevens says.
Something to be passionate about — in the form of tending to homeless little guys like Chulo, Maggie and Gus — came into her life a few months later.
“It was just fate,” she says of the moment she was introduced to the Humane Society for Hamilton County.
“I showed up with a resume,” Stevens says with a laugh. “But I had written the resume from the perspective of my pets.”
When board members offered her the executive director title, Stevens was thrilled.
But also unsure of her abilities.
“Even though my heart was just beating out of my chest, I thought I should do my homework first,” she says of the proposed career change.
Initially, Stevens declined the offer, opting instead to serve as a board member so she could learn more about how this nonprofit functioned. For several months, the program had been without a director or a clear direction. A long, demanding list of needs, changes and challenges awaited whomever stepped into the role. So Stevens listened first to her head instead of her heart. Logically, she knew she needed more information before she could realistically take on this massive responsibility and be a success.
A few months later, a newfound confidence bubbled in her chest.
“I decided to make a leap of faith. I felt like God had put this opportunity before me,” Stevens says. “So I started the new job and never looked back.”
Proudly, Stevens reports that, because of a long list of dedicated volunteers, animals at the facility are never euthanized for time or space restrictions. In fact the program’s efforts, culminating in a 90-percent adoption rate, recently were honored by Maddie’s Fund, an animal welfare organization spearheading the no-kill movement. This Hamilton County-based gem was the only program in Indiana to receive this recognition and ranked No. 3 in the country for services provided to animals.
“We are here because these animals need us,” Stevens says. “We are here 365 days. The animals are here, you know, on Thanksgiving, on Christmas.”
Help needed
With 30 paid staff members, many of them only part time, Stevens and the animals depend greatly on 150 to 200 active volunteers.
“They come out and walk the dogs every day, rain or shine. We’re just so grateful for them.”
Being offered a stroll around the property means everything to a displaced pet. Volunteers help staff watch the dogs for signs of depression, such as weight loss and behavior changes.
“When volunteers spend time with all the dogs, it helps the dogs to emotionally and mentally handle waiting for a home,” Stevens says. “Our volunteers are really investing in and enriching the dogs’ lives.”
Trudy Baldwin, a retired second-grade teacher, is a die-hard, 365-days-a-year kind of canine lover and a Humane Society volunteer for more than three years.
Baldwin proudly admits that she and her husband are “foster failures.” That’s because Baldwin temporarily took in Copper, a homeless pit bull/lab mix sweetie. Copper was only supposed to stay with the Baldwins and their three-dog-limit family until he was adopted.
Five weeks later, Copper was offered a new adoptive family. “My husband and I both decided, ‘No. We can’t let Copper go,’” Baldwin recalls with a laugh.
Along with being the kind of foster mom who cannot part with her short-term visitors, Baldwin is one of the reasons every dog at the Humane Society sees sunshine every single day of the week.
“I think it becomes an obsession really,” Baldwin says of her volunteer time, which totals more than 100 hours monthly. “It breaks my heart to see them all penned up in cages.”
Four hours of her time, seven days a week, walking all sizes of dogs at the Hamilton Country Humane Society, has led to a couple of losses in Baldwin’s life — namely high cholesterol and 25 pounds she doesn’t miss.
She also has gained some great gifts from daily dog walking.
“I’ve made some wonderful friends in the program,” Baldwin says. “That’s been one of the best benefits, meeting these wonderful people. I see so many hours of dedication from people who never work just 8 to 5. They always go way beyond.”
Not looking back
One of the many staff members who goes far beyond the call of duty is Katie Trennepohl, director of operations.
Her responsibilities include constantly looking for cost savings, monitoring animals for medical needs and networking with volunteers.
Like Stevens, Trennepohl is very committed to helping pitties overcome the last 20 years of bad press. So she provides many pit bull seminars throughout the year, urging Americans to think back to the days before dog fighting when pit bulls were one of man’s best friends.
While Stevens claims the Chulos, Maggies and toothless guys like Gus, Trennepohl’s soft spot is for kittens weaned too early from their mothers. She takes them home, to bottle feed and cuddle.
As a longtime animal advocate who dreamed about becoming a veterinarian, working with the Hamilton County Humane Society is certainly a rewarding place to be, Trennepohl says.
“Rebecca is amazing,” she says. “I have so much respect for her. She is constantly worrying about the babies and how to find them homes. She’s got the biggest heart I’ve seen on anybody.”
Since Stevens took the leap of faith into a totally new career, the Humane Society for Hamilton County has established a new foundation, added some new faces to the board, developed new relationships in the community, moved to another facility, created new fundraising efforts and made a nonstop effort to educate others about their mission. Not only is the organization a no-kill safe place for homeless animals, it also is the destination for dogs that bite or strays. Any animal picked up by animal control officers is brought to the Humane Society.
“We are the one and only ‘one-stop shop’ in Hamilton County,” Stevens points out.
Since leaving the corporate world, she’s never once considered going back. She notes with a laugh that her financial situation is noticeably changed. But that’s not a problem either.
“I know about what’s really important,” she says. “Material things are far less important to me now.”
Stevens definitely has an all-consuming job, which she hesitates to even refer to as a job.
“You can’t turn it off,” she says. “It’s very, very hard to go home and not think about the animals here.”
When an animal leaves a cage in the Humane Society to instead snuggle into the arms of new people to love, Stevens says, her heart always sings.
“I get to see these animals get in a car and get another chance. There’s nothing in the world that’s ever made me feel that good.”
Popular fundraising events, such as Wine, Wags and Whiskers, Dog Day Afternoon, and Woofstock, often draw thousands of animal lovers, Stevens happily notes. It’s safe to say she has never worked only her designated workweek. But then again, she never stops to count the hours involved anyway.
Every evening, Stevens treasures the funny personalities waiting for her at home — the formerly unwanted tail-waggers, Chulo, Magzilla and Gus.
“It’s my world,” Stevens says of her total commitment to her career and her pets. “It has become the meaning of my existence. This is definitely the path I was always supposed to be on.”
