Cher has been an animal lover since childhood. While growing up in the small town of White Bluff, TN, she was raised with cats, dogs and horses. As a child, her favorite love was cats. One day her uncle came home with this tiny little Yorkie puppy that someone he knew decided was too much trouble and was going to get rid of him. From that moment on, her love for dogs began.
In 2005, her cousin purchased a Boston Terrier from a lady named Pat as a birthday gift for his mother. Upon Cher’s arrival home that evening, she noticed something was not right with the puppy and rushed it to the emergency vet. In conversations with the vet, she learned this was common for dogs from “that puppy mill” to be very sick. She was not familiar with the term puppy mill and began researching puppy mills and what she could do to help. In 2008, “that puppy mill” was finally raided by HSUS and Cher immediately stepped up to volunteer at the shelter in Hickman County.
Cher’s introduction to Agape Animal Rescue began with the ARC Warren County puppy mill raid in 2011. After being disappointed by some policies of a rescue Cher was volunteering with, she began researching Agape and sparked up an email conversation with Tanya. She chose Agape as the local organization to focus her donation and volunteer efforts. “I love the fact that Agape truly takes the time to fully vet the potential adopters and does everything possible to ensure a loving “furever” home for the dogs. I’m not saying it always works out, that just isn’t possible to guaranty (and in which case, they gladly welcome the pup back into the program) BUT they do put forth their very best possible effort to place them with the right family.” After having to drop out of volunteering for a while due to medical issues, Cher began to get back to volunteering for events in the fall of 2015. “Reading so many horror stories on animal abuse and puppy mills, I often find myself thinking it is no wonder I like animals more than most humans. I wish I had more time to volunteer and be at every event, but my goal for this year is at least 1 event per month. I find great joy in helping those furry babies who are unable to help themselves.”
Cher and partner Jason reside in Hickman County, TN with their 2 dachshund furbabies Peanut and Buttercup.