for a real life
Christmas story
about Candy, the inspiration for the formation of Have A Heart For
companion Animals, Inc.”
Have-A-Heart
is the vision of Marilyn Marinelli, its Founder.
After the loss of her collie, Candy; many lost
dogs seem to show up around her neighborhood.
She even rescued several and found suitable homes
for them. She began to visit the local Humane
Society and found herself praying for many of
the animals.
The
loss of her beloved collie moved her to generally
look at collie sites on the Internet. In doing
so, she started to learn more and more about rescue
groups.
As
she searched the net, it became clear to her that
God was calling her to become involved in the
"No Kill" movement and to join the rescue effort.
Her deep Christian faith and love for animals
kept her ever searching and studying. She compiled
all the data and adapted it to form the inter-workings
of Have A Heart.
Eventually her husband John joined her in the
planning and set up of the agency. His prior knowledge
of non-profit management, sales and marketing
and public relations helped her to establish a
strong foundation. Together, they established
Have A Heart, an animal welfare, rescue and referral
agency.
Marilyn's
vision is to be a major influence and contributor
to the elimination of euthanasia as a means of
animal control. She believes that life is a gift
from God, even animal life, and that the best
animal shelter is a caring community.
Where
there is love, there is hope. Where there is hope,
there is life.
Now
Faith is the substance of things hoped for and
the evidence of things not yet seen. (Hebrews
12:1)
We
believe that all life is a gift from God and therefore
should be respected and given the right to live.
This is the responsibility of every individual.
Our
belief is based in part on the following Biblical
text:
"And
God made the beast of the earth after his kind,
and cattle after their kind, and every thing that
creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God
saw that it was good." Genesis 1: 25 "A righteous
man regardeth the life of his beast" Proverbs
12:10
We
operate as a charitable organization duly
registered with the state of Florida. We are a
faith based initiative. We adhere to the
preservation of life principle and oppose its
destruction for the sake of population control.
We
are an information and referral service for companion
animal welfare
issues and concerns within the state
of Florida and Marion County.
Our
long-term goal is to establish a state of the
art "No Kill" animal shelter. We also are focused
as a community resource in locating, pet friendly
apartments, low cost spay and neutering programs,
obedience training services, articles on topics
of interest, and other "how to do" or "Where to
go" information related to animal care.
We
seek to provide ethical and moral alternatives
to the killing of unwanted and neglected companion
animals.
We
Believe That The Best Animal Shelter Is A Caring
Community
1. To establish an ongoing educational program
that includes: community awareness, spay and neutering education and
other areas animal welfare.
2. To establish annual & special fund raising
events that calls attention to our cause and raises money to support
our program of work.
3. To recruit volunteers to work on special
projects and events.
4. To seek media support in calling attention to
the need and possible solutions.
5. To educate the general public on the concept
of "No Kill" and the understanding that, The Best Animal Shelter Is
A Caring Community", not the destruction of companion animals.
6. To counsel residents with animal behavior and
other problems, in an effort to reduce owner turn-ins to area
shelters.
7. To provide the community with free information
on a variety of animal issues through a website including pet
friendly rentals, referrals," How To" brochures on many other
topics.
