Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Volume 15 Issue 50

www.hammontongazette.com

Eagle Theatre hosts rescue celebration

GAZETTE STAFF WRITER

by Julie Fink

HAMMONTONWhat began as an individual idea, a love for animals and determination to make a difference has now blossomed into a worldwide movement to save the lives of animals, educate and change the practices of animal shelters worldwide. Making of Miracle Stories (M.O.M.S.) Animal Rescue Co-Founder Karen TalbotLaSasso of Hammonton sponsored an event on December 9 at the Eagle Theatre to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the M.O.M.S. Rescue Georgia Puppy Caravan. The Georgia Puppy Caravan was a group of children and adults that traveled in one RV, 100 cars, 50 motorcycles from Rescue Ink and 15 planes from Animal Rescue Flights with a goal of rescuing 500 dogs and cats in 90 days from the Chattooga County Georgia Animal Control Shelter. According to LaSasso, the need for the caravan was due to the fact that animal shelters in Georgia do not put an emphasis on controlling the pet population; instead, they use euthanasia practices such as gas chambers to control the pet population. The shelters are known as high-kill shelters. The mission of the caravan was to save the animals from inhumane deaths from gas chambers and cardiac heartsticks with no sedation, she continued. The event on Friday was a way to say thank you to those that participated in the 2009 caravan that helped save the lives of shelter animals and spread awareness. Hammonton Mayor Stephen DiDonato also recognized their efforts and presented LaSasso with a proclamation from the town. It was also a night to announce the partnership of LaSasso with Prince Lorenzo Borghese and others to form two corporations Take Me Home Events Inc and Shelter Aid LLC. The mission of these two corporations is to save the lives of shelter dogs and spread the word globally. The event also included a 25-minute unedited version of a documentary of the M.O.M.S. Rescue Georgia

Puppy Caravan of 2009. According to LaSasso, the final version complete with caravan footage of more recent trips will be ready within the next year for all major film festivals. The night also featured the debut of the song titled All You Gotta Do Is Take Me Home written by Skip Denenberg and produced by Gabriel Antonini of Under the Eave Productions and NBC Universal. The song has turned into a type of We are the World song for shelter animals, according to LaSasso. Interested artists to participate in the song include John Oates, B.J. Thomas, Jon Anderson of YES, Joe Perry of Aerosmith and Johnny Cash Jr., just to name a few, according to LaSasso. The mission statement of the M.O.M.S. Animal Rescue has always been the innocence of youth speaking for the innocent voiceless. By providing children with the education, awareness and resources, we are empowering them to make change in their world for shelter animals. I live by the following theory - if we as adults could only learn to take more cues from children and animals, what a world we would live in, LaSasso said. LaSasso has taken that theory beyond the borders of the town of Hammonton and partnered with key individuals to make it a world-wide effort. LaSasso teamed up with Borghese, best recognized from when he was on The Bachelor in 2006, to further advocate for her cause. I teamed up with Lorenzo because of his belief in our cause and his ability to take this innocent grassroots story to a global wide recognition for the plight of animals in our worlds shelters, LaSasso said. He has worked with numerous animal welfare organizations including North Shore Animal League, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and is an Ambassador to the American Human Society. He also works with the Animal Control & Care of New York City, of which he is co-founder of New York City for Animal Control & Care (NYC4ACC), a group of

Prince Lorenzo Borghese with Chloe, a rescued shelter dog, during the M.O.M.S. Animal Rescue event at the Eagle Theatre on December 9.

THG/Julie Fink

young professionals who organize fundraisers for this city shelter. The number one reason I agreed to help with the effort of the M.O.M.S. Animal Rescue program was the song they sent me. I get hundreds of requests to participate in animal rights organizations, and it was this song that really touched me. It touched me in a way I did not expect. I then wanted to learn more about the group, and after I experienced helping them with a caravan that happened over Thanksgiving day weekend, I absolutely wanted to get involved and see where we could take this, Borghese said. Together with David Roehm of Luck Films, Charter Tech High School of the Performing Arts and Ningun Films, Antonini and Denenberg, they formed the two corporations to fulfill that mission. Borghese is the president of Take Me Home Events, Inc. He is also the founder and president of Royal Treatment Italian Pet Spa, a successful pet line created for his beloved Black Lab, Belle.

According to LaSasso, the number one reason why she brought the movement back to Hammonton was because it is and always will be a grass roots cause that literally got its start in the blueberry fields of a very small town and through its children. The event on Friday was a way to say thank you to the children of St. Joseph, Folsom and surrounding communities that still to this day give up vacations to travel on caravans to Georgia in the name of saving animals and spreading awareness. We wanted to thank the town that has supported our efforts and became the stepping stone for future change for shelter animals, LaSasso said. To date, since the inception of the Paws-for-A-Cause program by the M.O.M.S. Animal Rescue at St. Josephs Elementary School, about 2,000 animals have been rescued and placed in loving homes throughout the country, LaSasso said. In addition, the euthanasia rate at the Chattooga County Georgia Animal Control Shelter has decreased from 98 percent to 2 percent, LaSasso

said. The group travels every 30 days to Georgia to bring back as many animals as they have rescue commitments for all the way up the east coast to New Hampshire if need be, she continued. With the adrenaline flowing and the urgency in saving these animals lives, I never really comprehend the magnitude of what has been accomplished until I sit back and watch the 25-minute version of the first caravan. I watch it alone with nobody surrounding me except all of my rescued dogs. I weep every time I watch it and thank God for being blessed enough to have had so much support with my ideas. It does my heart good to know that I can look at my son and tell him to reach for the stars, dream big and never let anyone tell you that you cannot do something. If you have the passion in your heart and believe in your cause, it will soar, and I am living proof of that, LaSasso said. To make a donation or for more information call 5671424 or 665-1224 or visit the M.O.M.S. website at www.themomsrescue.com.

Reprinted with permission from the December 14, 2011 edition of The Hammonton Gazette. Copyright 2011 The Hammonton Gazette Inc. All rights reserved.