Nov 15, 2018
Using positive reinforcement-based skills she learned while training marine animals, and on a chance visit to a VA hospital with her own dog named "bear," Clarissa Black witnessed the full potential that the human-animal bond might provide service men and women returning from war and suffering from PTSD. So she formed an organization called Pets for Vets to identify, match, and train dogs in need of forever homes with vets in need of companion animals that fit their individual lifestyle and needs. Today, PetsforVets.com has grown to 30 thirty chapters across the US.
Always ready for the next personal and physical challenge, Clarissa and her friend Leigh Swansborough recently completed a 1200-mile hiking and paddling trek across the Yukon territory to the Arctic Ocean. They are the first women to walk to Tuktoyaktuk via the new completed Dempster highway. Hear about their harrowing and healing journey and the kindness of strangers they met along the way.
Plus, a Zoos News update by Rachel Garner on LA zoo's Billy the elephant and efforts by those in power that want to take him from his home of 30 years.