It started in the humane field, of course. I spent 4 years at the Dallas SPCA as their humane educator and editor. My memories of those days? The wealthy woman who turned in her 8-year-old white cat, because he didn't match the decor; the questing minds and compassionate hearts of 5th graders who just knew they had the answer to overpopulation ("Can't we just build a giant stadium for them all?"); the well-intentioned but ignorant couple who brought in a box of puppies they'd shut in the trunk of their old, beat-up car (several pups had died already on the ride in); the man who'd stopped to pick up a stray dog in his expensive (and now filthy) suit on his way to work. The kindnesses outnumbered the cruelties, but it's the cruelties and callousness that stick with you.

After that was 8 years at the American Humane Association as their editor in Denver. There I learned of the cruelties afflicted by corporations, institutions, and governments on a national scale. But I also became aquainted with the thousands of local shelters and rescue groups manned with thoughtful, determined people. A force that's upping our society's sensitivity level one community at a time.

But after 12 years of daily exposure to the soul-cringing atrocities and stupidity that humans afflict on their fellow beings, I quit. It was time to remember that the human race is filled with far more people intent on kindness than on cruelty. So I started this business. I wanted to laugh.

Animal sheltering and rescue is an odd field. It's the only job where you're expected to kill the very thing you're trying to protect from suffering and cruelty. Where a painless death in a caring soul's arms can be the kindest thing you're able to offer to that living being. That's why no one deserves to laugh more than shelter and rescue folks (along with social workers and police officers).

So I work to keep them laughing. Just one laugh can lighten the load. And if it also makes the public laugh at itself or makes them think just a bit, then all the better. Besides the humor and worthwhile messages spread by these designs, they also help the cause I believe in most raise money nationwide (and in Australia, England, and Canada too!) Now that's rewarding. So join in the cause anyway you see fit. Spread compassion. Spread the laughter. We all need it.

Jane

The Dogs

Beltane and Ty, the office dogs. Keeping our office safe from the dreaded squirrels. Adopted together as pups from the Denver Dumb Friends League, they now, at 8-years-old, lounge on their 48" cushion in the office.

The Cats

Just because I have no pix scanned in yet of my two cats doesn't mean they aren't as loved as my dogs. Honest.

The cats are Hartford, a large tabby with a true warrior's heart who trounces the other neighborhood cats when they dare enter our yard. We appreciate this tenacity, because it allows our much smaller and more peaceful female tabby, Chloe, to soak up the sun and chase bugs without being harrassed. Both regularly spend the afternoon napping in their beds on the office desk and are considerate enough to walk across the wrist-rest rather than the keyboard of our computer.