| The Shelter Animal Reiki Association Newsletter ~ Winter 2009
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Greetings!
As we enter the final days of 2009, it is a wonderful time to reflect upon our many blessings of the year as well as the gifts given to us by our animal teachers. Through the power of Reiki we are able to connect with them more deeply as well as support their unique healing paths.
SARA has grown in leaps and bounds this year. We are excited to share with you some of our accomplishments:
* We have received official 501(c)(3) status through our fiscal sponsor, MarinLink. This allows us to accept tax-deductible donations. See the end of the newsletter for details about donating!
* Our website has expanded to include educational audio clips and articles, audio courses for purchase, a merchandise store and our new blog to share stories and educate the community about the benefits of Reiki for animals.
* Press and Media: SARA has been featured on BBC Radio, SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Animal Wellness Magazine, The International House of Reiki Newsletter, Reiki News Magazine, the Animal Spirit Healing and Education Network and Central Oregon Family & Pet News.
* Events: SARA has been represented by our members at several events around the U.S. and in England.
* Membership: We now have 17 animal organizations as members! SARA is now open to public membership at both Supporter and Animal Organization membership levels. CLICK HERE for more information.
* In order to maintain the highest professional standards and unify our program worldwide, SARA is developing an extensive online support and ongoing professional development program for all our practitioners and teachers. For the time being, as we develop materials and evaluate and refine this program, practitioner and teacher membership is not open to the general public. Please stay in touch for further details!
* Pilot Study: SARA is developing a pilot study to research Reiki's effects on kennel stress factors in dogs and cats. The results of our preliminary raw data are very promising. We are seeking funding to carry out this program on a large scale in 2010. We will keep everyone updated!
* SARA is now using social networking sites to keep everyone updated with our member activities: CLICK HERE to visit our Facebook page. CLICK HERE to visit our Twitter page.
We would like to bid a special farewell to our amazing newsletter editor and Director of Special Projects, Caly Lehrer, as she moves on from SARA. We so appreciate all her wonderful efforts in working with us and wish her continued success in all her endeavors!
To all our friends and supporters, we wish you a wonderful holiday season!
With Animal Reiki Blessings,
Kathleen and Leah
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Subscribe to Our Newsletter
The spirit of the butterfly often symbolizes change and/or transformation. You, our beloved members, are our butterflies--bringing change and transformation to our beloved animal kingdom. Keep up your amazing and transformational work!
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Welcome New SARA Shelters!
* Whispering Willows Sanctuary in Santa Rosa, CA, thanks to Marina James-Galvin.
* Bunny Lu Adoptions in Haymarket, VA, thanks to Janet Dobbs.
* Divine Nature at BMR Acres Inc. Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center in Canastota, NY, thanks to Mary Gillen.
* Hector's Gate Animal Sanctuary in Essex, UK, thanks to Caroline Thomas.
CLICK HERE to see the list of all our participating member SARA Shelters.
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Member Spotlight
 By SARA Practitioner Tracy Kravchenko
This issue's "Member Spotlight" features Reiki practitioner and teacher Camille Pukay, a native of Missouri. Born and raised in Kansas City, Camille makes her home there with her husband of 13 years, Jeff, and their Border Collie/Lab/Chow mix, Blackie. They are happily expecting their first child in February.
Camille worked with developmentally disabled adults for 12˝ years before working with animals. It was in 2006 that she came to Reiki indirectly through her dog Buster. While working with Buster and an animal communicator, Camille was introduced to holistic therapies, the concept of energy and how Camille's mental/emotional state affected Buster. Both Camille and Buster's health had been in a downward spiral due to work stress brought home and Buster's subsequent reaction to it. After Buster's request to see a holistic vet, Camille decided to pay a visit to one for herself. Most interestingly, they both ended up taking the exact same herbs, and after several months their health improved dramatically.
It was at this time that Camille realized she wanted to devote her life's work to her true passion, animals, and leave her job. In her healing journey, Camille began reading many spiritual books and among them discovered Kathleen Prasad's book, Animal Reiki. She immediately knew that this was what she wanted to do. Having loved animals her entire life, Camille realized a childhood gift of communicating with animals had been long been suppressed, so in 2007 she took an animal communication class. Camille discovered her animal communication instructor was also a Reiki master teacher and proceeded to take Reiki I and II from her. Intrigued that her two dogs responded immediately to her new offerings of Reiki, Camille decided to continue her animal Reiki studies with Kathleen.
Although Buster passed in January of this year, he lives on in her heart and occasionally visits Camille in her dreams. She continues to thank him for starting her on her journey to Reiki. Camille's dogs continually reminded her to work on herself before helping others, and in that way she feels they were her true teachers.
Currently, Camille volunteers at Changing Leads Equine Ranch, where she practices Reiki with rescue horses. She has also offered distance Reiki to the animals at Brighthaven in Santa Rosa, California. A founding member of SARA, Camille also practices and teaches through her own business, Animal Reiki Divine in Kansas City. Her future plans are to include a curriculum for people with disabilities. "Through Reiki, I have finally accepted my own hearing loss, which brought tremendous gifts that I didn't know existed," she says. Her ultimate dream is to live on a "Reiki farm" with an assortment of animals to continue teaching alongside her animal teachers. Camille enjoys reading spiritual books, hiking, needlework, Mexican food, waterfalls, peonies, daffodils and, most of all, giraffes. Congratulations to the new parents-to-be!
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Shelter Spotlight TREES: Traveller's Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary
REIKI & EQUINE ELDERS: Finding Peace at Traveller's Rest
Interview by SARA Teacher Mary Gillen
We are excited to share an interview with Chris Smith, co-founder and president of Traveller's Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary (TREES) in Spotsylvania, Virginia. Traveller's Rest has operated as a sanctuary since 2003, with a resident population that usually hovers around 20 senior horses. For more information about how you can help TREES, please visit www.equineelders.org and www.equineelders.blogspot.com.
Being involved with a sanctuary involves passion and dedication. What drew you to working with senior horses?
It was never a conscious decision. Mike and I started volunteering for the Equine Rescue League, then in Leesburg, Virginia, in 1995. On our first visit, the farm manager asked if we wanted to spend some time with a new arrival, which turned out to be a 35-year-old Quarter Horse mare named Gypsy. At that time, I had never met a horse of that age and was a little surprised at her vitality. At first, she was very anxious about the changes in her life, but as she settled in at the shelter, she blossomed into an extraordinary teacher. She lived to be 39. Oddly enough, just before she crossed, another 35-plus-year-old mare arrived at ERL, very ill and in need of a lot of extra attention. Not only did that help ease Gypsy's passing, but Mystic turned out to be my most important teacher. It is Mystic's face that graces the top of our website pages.
In searching for information and trying to develop "better" management techniques for those two mares in particular, more elder horses and their unique needs came to my attention, and the rest, as they say, is history.
When do you consider a horse an elder?
Ha! I don't know if I can answer that. When we first opened, we said a horse had to be at least 20 years old to enter the sanctuary. Now, 20 seems pretty young in most cases! Then, too, as with humans, some horses just seem to have older souls than others.
What are the ages and backgrounds of your residents?
We have a couple of horses we consider youngsters. One is only 7, one 15, but they are obvious exceptions. Among the elders, the ages range from 20 to 38 that we know of. One gelding could be older, but we have no accurate age for him. Our oldest resident lived to be 41. There is a short summary of what types of horses we care for at http://equineelders.org/elders.htm.
What kinds of health challenges do your older residents face?
The most common challenge is dental difficulty: missing teeth, infected teeth and excessive wear that makes the remaining teeth essentially nonfunctional.
Two other very common challenges are arthritis, of course, and a condition called Cushings Syndrome (officially PPID or pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction), which is a very complicated disease that affects pretty much the entire endocrine system and can cause a multitude of problems ranging from a diabetes-like condition to a suppressed immune system to difficulty maintaining a normal body temperature.
How does holistic care fit into the dynamics of your facility?
Many times, I start a discussion of holistic care by outlining TREES' definition of "holistic." When we talk about holistic care, we are talking about looking at every aspect of the horses' care. Diet, housing, parasite control, exercise, social interaction with people and other horses, Western veterinary medicine and complementary modalities, for example, are all considered. We try as much as possible in a domestic setting to allow the horses to live in a way that is most natural for them rather than in a way most convenient for the caregivers. But at the same time, we do not rule out a treatment or technique that works well for one or more horses just because it falls under a specific modality or category.
One thing we would like to develop is a larger core of complementary practitioners so more of the horses could be worked with more often than they are now.
How did you become aware of the benefits of Reiki?
We first became aware of Reiki while at ERL. Another volunteer was a Reiki master. To her, Reiki seemed like a very private aspect of her life. She worked with the horses there and was very open about answering questions, but in general did not advertise her studies. So while I could see benefits, Reiki remained a very mysterious thing at the time. It wasn't until we agreed to host our first workshop here that I began to study it myself and realize the potential, both on a personal level and in terms of the sanctuary.
How does Reiki support these elders?
The most profound effects involve the relaxation/self-confidence aspect. Many of our residents deal with issues like vision impairment or physical frailties that, in a prey species, might cause some concerns. Some have anxieties related to previous treatment at the hands of human companions. Many frail or more submissive elders find it hard to completely relax and get adequate sleep. Constant worry, of course, can have its effects on physical health, so reducing anxiety or stress levels helps all the way around.
Please share a specific example or story with us of a horse that was helped with Reiki.
It's hard to choose just one. Most recently, a gelding named Henry experienced a fairly profound change after beginning regular Reiki sessions with a SARA volunteer. Henry came to us about four years ago. Though he was well-trained and a lamb with people, he was very aggressive with other horses. Twice he drove other horses into corners and attacked them. From what we know of his background, we were never able to determine the cause of this behavior, but because he has always been one of the largest, strongest horses in the sanctuary, he was kept in a private field where he had "fence buddies" but no one-on-one companionship for fear that he would injure the other horse. Carole, one of TREES' first SARA volunteers, began working with Henry several months ago, and now Henry shares his field with another gelding named Josh. They share the shed, graze together and participate in regular mutual grooming sessions.
What role do you expect Reiki to play in the future of your organization?
I hope an even bigger role than it plays now! Not only does Reiki benefit the horses, but trying to live according to the basic precepts helps the humans manage the sanctuary in ways we feel will help the organization grow and reach out to more horses and their people in need of our type of services.
Do you have tips for our readers who want to offer Reiki at a sanctuary or shelter?
I think there is a real need for programs that take Reiki into shelters and sanctuaries. Stress levels are often high, not only in the animals living there, but in the people working in those settings. Practitioners who can help alleviate some of the stress would be a great benefit. But I think one of the most important things to remember is not to project your own feelings on the situation. If you are tense about what you might encounter inside, take the time to compose yourself before you leave the parking lot. (This is something we ask of all of our visitors, regardless of their reason for coming. No "oh you poor thing" here.) A resident doesn't need to be reminded of his situation if it is or was a bad one. We want to focus on the future.
Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
Even though we've seen observable changes in our residents following Reiki sessions, or sessions involving other techniques, the wonder of universal connection never lessens. I don't think watching the way all things work together will ever stop being miraculous.
Thank you, Chris, for being so generous with your time and information. I know your story will be an inspiration to our readers, especially those involved with sanctuaries.
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 Focus On ... Animal Hoarding
It is estimated that 900 to 2,000 new cases of animal hoarding arise every year in the United States alone. According to the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, a person is considered an animal hoarder if at least one of the following is present: the hoarder has more than the typical number of companion animals; the hoarder has an inability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care, and this neglect often results in starvation, illness and death; the hoarder refuses to provide minimum care and the impact of that failure affects the animals, household and human occupants of the dwelling.
As the above definition illustrates, animal hoarding is more complex than many people think. It's not just about the welfare of the animals; it's also about the hoarder's mental health, as well as safety concerns for the public and neighboring community.
Animal hoarding can impact all kinds of animals, from cats, dogs, horses, rabbits and guinea pigs to birds, reptiles and more. Although animal hoarding affects a variety of animals and species, the hoarding of cats is most typically seen (due to the ease of accessing and then hiding the cats).
Some environmental signs to consider when looking for animal hoarding are deteriorated or cluttered and unkempt homes, accompanied by signs of urine, feces and vomit. An animal that is being hoarded may have the appearance of emaciation and/or signs of flea infestation. Meanwhile, the hoarder is often detached from the community and tends not to know the exact number of animals in his or her care. Some hoarders even try to hide their situation by establishing themselves as nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status.
There are several reasons why a person becomes an animal hoarder--the condition has been linked to obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, paranoia and other mental diseases. Since an animal hoarder tends not to have criminal intent behind his or her actions, prosecuting animal hoarders can be difficult at best and may not always be the most effective route. (Check your state's cruelty to animals statutes for laws governing your state and the issue of animal hoarding.)
As a Reiki practitioner, what should you do if you encounter a situation where you feel there may be a potential for animal hoarding? Don't delay and do call the authorities right away--whether it's your local ASPCA, veterinarian, animal shelter, police department or well-known reputable rescue organization.
Unfortunately, the longer it takes for the situation to get reported, the worse the conditions get for the hoarder, the animals and the neighboring community. Sadly, it's sometimes too late for some hoarded animals to be deemed adoptable. If they've been hoarded for too long, by the time they're rescued, they may be too ill, old or unsociable to place.
Another way we can help as animal Reiki practitioners is to donate our time/services to the animal shelters where hoarded animals are placed. These organizations need as much help as they can get under "normal" circumstances, let alone after receiving an influx of hoarded animals. If your schedule doesn't allow you to personally help, see if you can gather support from friends and family to come to the aid of these precious animals.
My biggest surprise in researching this article was to learn that hoarders often set themselves up as nonprofits. These groups will often meet you somewhere to pick up an animal as opposed to you being allowed to drop off the animal at their site (thus you can't see the hoarding conditions firsthand). Unfortunately, when someone is in desperate straits, they'll often fall prey to these offers that are too good to be true. So do your research. Check your facts. And remember to report any suspicious activities to the proper authorities in your state.
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Behind the Breed
Pit Bulls
By Caly Lehrer
Everyone has heard of Pit Bulls. However, did you know that Pit Bulls aren't actually a specific breed? Rather, the term "Pit Bull" is a generic name that can be comprised of several breeds (such as the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier and pit mixes).
I'm sad to share with you that the American Pit Bull Terrier was originally bred for hundreds of years to fight. Can you imagine being bred to fight? Despite that, however, Pit Bulls love humans--a true testament to their amazing gift of love.
Despite their "bad reputation," Pit Bulls love to cuddle and will not pass up the chance for a much-desired belly rub. Pit Bulls are very eager to please their owners and actually have a great sense of humor. Because of their strong desire to please, they are very trainable dogs. Pit Bulls do have a lot of energy; as such, it is imperative that they have an outlet to get the proper amount of exercise they need on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, nearly half of the dogs who have earned "superdog" titles are American Pit Bull Terriers. This is a breed that wants a job! Some great ways for humans to interact with their beloved "pits" are: tracking, agility training and weight pulling.
The media does not miss a chance to portray the Pit Bull in a negative light. We hear about the horrors of Pit Bulls in the media far too often. And although all breeds of dogs bite, the smaller breeds that bite don't make the news--it's the Pit Bull. It cannot be argued that Pit Bulls are notorious as "fighting dogs" in the rings. Is that really their fault, though? They're doing what they were originally bred to do, and because they're so eager to please their humans, look at the lengths these dogs will go to in order to make their human happy--even when their human is the very one responsible for organizing backyard dog fights for a "thrill." It's not the dogs organizing these fights; it's their human.
Despite the media's portrayal of this "breed," according to the American Temperament Test Society of the United States, Pit Bulls came in second (only to the Golden Retriever) in how great they are with humans. That's a lot of love. Helen Keller had a Pit Bull named Sir Thomas. And United States Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt also had pits. On a lighter note, a Pit Bull was the face of the Buster Brown shoe ads and, of course, we can't forget Petey from The Little Rascals.
Is a Pit Bull the right dog for anyone and everyone? Of course not; no breed is. They do require a lot of exercise, and since fighting is genetically bred in them, they may not necessarily be the right fit for every home environment (or especially for first-time dog owners). Nonetheless, pits can be great with children, as well as other pets. If you want to adopt a pit, I highly recommend that you consult with an expert to see if introducing a Pit Bull into a particular environment is in the best interest for all involved (including members of the human family, the Pit Bull itself and all other pets already in the home). Shelters often have "Meet Your Match" programs for potential adopters and can help you make a more informed decision.
My deepest prayer with this article is that you have an open mind with the Pit Bull. I am not proud to admit this, yet I used to think Pit Bulls were bad! Then Arielle, my Pit Bull mix (pictured above), came into my life. Had I known Arielle had pit in her, I'm ashamed to admit she wouldn't have made it through our front door. Yet God works in mysterious ways, and by the time I realized Arielle was part pit, I was already head-over-heels in love with this gentle, loving spirit. There was no turning back, and I'm a better person today because of Arielle's love and the great teacher that she is. |
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The Animal Reiki Handbook
Do you have your copy yet? Do you need additional copies for students, clients, family or friends? To order The Animal Reiki Handbook: Finding Your Way With Reiki in Your Local Shelter, Sanctuary or Rescue, written by Kathleen Prasad and SARA members, click on the link below.
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Animal Reiki Success Stories
Our Animal Reiki Success Stories will now be featured on SARA's new blog. Some of the articles you can read on our blog are: Reiki for Allie, A Lesson in Trust, Level 1 SARA Workshop!, Reiki for Tigers and an Ocelot and The Incredible Bond of Bonnie and Lucky.
We will post new articles each week, so be sure to visit regularly by clicking on the link below. You can also access our blog from our website homepage.
SARA's Blog
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Our SARA Shelters
Please CLICK HERE to visit our SARA shelters page, to see our quickly expanding list of member shelters, sanctuaries and animal rescue organizations that are incorporating Reiki into the wellness programs of their facilities.
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CONGRATULATIONS and GREAT WORK to all of our hardworking SARA shelters and members!
Donate to SARA
Donations to SARA are tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes through our fiscal sponsor MarinLink. Online donations are NOW AVAILABLE: CLICK HERE!Checks can be made out to SARA/MarinLink and mailed to: 369B Third St., #156, San Rafael, CA 94901. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!
Other Ways to Help SARA
We are still trying to let the world know about SARA. Can you help us do that? Providing a link to SARA's website on your homepage, newsletter or blog can help spread the word. If everyone did that, think about how many people would become acquainted with us. CLICK HERE for our web link information page. We are also looking for people willing to donate a few hours of their time towards SARA projects. Do you have experience in writing newsletter articles, research studies, or are you a DVM or a legal assistant? Maybe you have an idea for a project for SARA. We need you! Please contact Kathleen if you'd like to become a part of our volunteer staff. Thanks for your love and efforts in helping us spread the word about SARA. The animals thank you, too! |
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As your directors, we are always here to help and guide you in any way we can. We may be reached as follows:
SARA, 369B Third Street, #156, San Rafael, CA 94901
This newsletter, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced without express written consent from one of the above referenced SARA directors. |
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Happy
Holidays |
SARA wishes you and your family (humans and animals) a very happy holiday season, along with a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. Thank you for being the special gift that you are to SARA. We wouldn't be here without your love and support. |
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