Students With A HART Rescue Homeless Animals

By Broadside Staff Writer Kyle Ridley

What started as a class project has quickly turned into a mission of hope for three George Mason University students. Seniors Monica Michaan and Peter Berlin have joined forces with junior Judith Lee in an effort to raise money and help spread the word about the Homeless Animals Rescue Team.

The determined trio will hold a kiosk outside the Johnson Center on Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m. to take donations and promote HART’s Saturday PETCO adoption fair at the Greenbriar Town Center and Sunday’s charity dog wash at Bark ‘N Bubbles in Herndon.

The fundraiser began as a group assignment for Professor Dan Walsh’s Principles of Public Relations course. Each team was given the task to design a PR campaign for a non-profit organization and judge its success based on previous events.
The decision to work with HART was immediate for Michaan, Berlin and Lee.

“With all the craziness going on in the world these days, it seems that people are more preoccupied with the stock market and elections than dog adoption,” said Michaan. “I thought it would be refreshing to help support an organization without a hidden agenda.”

Lee, a former volunteer for HART and self proclaimed “strong animal activist,” considers HART to be Virginia’s most admirable rescue league.

“They believe that all animals deserve to have loving families and so they give the animals as many chances as needed,” said Lee, who has adopted three dogs from HART. “It makes me very happy to know that people like HART are out there.”

Established in 1990, HART is a no-kill animal rescue/support group that cares for unwanted dogs and cats until they find a permanent home.
HART is widely known for taking in sick, abused, injured and elderly animals that are not as easily adoptable, but also has plenty of problem-free pets readily available. The organization conducts careful home screenings before approving an adoption and conducts follow-up meetings once a permanent home is found.

“It would be good if people were informed about all of the animals that need homes,” Lee said. “Maybe people would stop buying puppies from pet stores and help save all of the homeless ones.”
However, adoptions are not the only objective for the trio. The group understands that many are not in a position to house an animal and encourage those to support in any form possible.

Aside from money, people can contribute to the HART fundraiser by volunteering, becoming a foster parent, sponsoring an animal or donating needed items on HART’s “wish list,” found at www.hart90.org. Even using Goodsearch.com as a search engine raises money for the non-profit rescue league.

Saturday’s adoption fair and Sunday’s charity dog wash are open to the public and will include gift certificate raffles as well as plenty of pooches to pet.

“People will have the opportunity to come and play with the dogs, show them affection that they often lack,” Michaan said.

Berlin said the affection an animal provides can help turn cautious minds into animal enthusiasts. Though he hasn’t worked with rescue groups before and has no pets of his own, he is finding this campaign to be an eye-opening experience.
“Just 10 to 15 minutes at the event may change your mind,” Berlin said. “Give it a chance.”