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Amigo the Canine and Frances Hayward
Amigo the canine was a people lover, true missionary and much more. His human partner, Frances Hayward is an animal lover, philanthopist and much more.
Have you ever met a dog who's mission in life was to LOVE? I am sure many of you animal lovers have. Amigo was such a dog. Amigo met philanthropist and animal lover Frances Hayward. The two became one heart and one mission with two personalities.
Together they created Be Kind. www.BeKind.org.
Frances (like her friend Amigo) is a beautiful soul. "I am very sensitive to animals and I will give my life to helping them until I take my last breath," she tells me in a warm, loving voice. Frances speaks of her work with great passion. As she speaks, her enthusiasm is so alive that I feel that I am reliving her story.
And here the story is. Frances lived in the Bahamas. One day in 2000 she was in a driving out of the airport, returning from a trip and spotted a scrawny, disheveled and scared pup on the side of the road. She attempted to feed him but he fled. After a variety of attempts she realized that the only way to help him was to trap him. Having worked with many feral animals she knew this to be true. However, after three days leaving out a trap with food, still no Amigo.
Then, at the last minute, when she and her helpers were going to give on the trap, Amigo got in it. Amigo saw Frances again. Stage change. New scenery. Scene two begins! He wags his tail. He barks in glee. Fear is overcome by trust and the love affair of two missionaries serving their world purpose begins.
Together Frances and Amigo built BeKind.org and Amigo became a star in the Bahamas. Amigo was the star and poster dog for The Humane Society of Grand Bahama and all of its work . He appeared on posters, tourist magazines, etc. and was also featured with human celebrities on television shows.
After his passing in 2007, Amigo has remained fully present and well in Frances's heart. Frances is in great joy as she speaks of Amigo. I see their work has continued. For those of you who have remained in full touch, with your animals who have passed over this will make complete sense.
Frances explained that many feral animals are afraid to trust at first. But time and time again, she has seen this phenomenon. After enough interactions between person and feral animal occur, a momentary rush of recognition turns great trepidation into lasting trust.
I felt Amigo speaking to me along with Frances. Here is the message he gave me" "Don't worry about how you do your work, where you do your work, for whom you do your work , Laurie. Just do your work and let life take care of the rest. Your work is love."
Frances was born to help animals. As a young girl she had cats. If she heard of a neighborhood animal who was not being treated well her heart broke. When she heard a stray cat crying out in the snow she sent her Mother down to get the cat.
"Animals need our help," Frances says with great conviction and care. The world is set up to help people. But there are many animals who are abandoned, nameless and suffering. My job is to help as many as I can. Those Frances works for specifically are HSUS, ARF, The Humane Society of Grand Bahama (Honorary Chair). She is very sympathetic to ARNO (Animal Rescue New Orleans) and The Humane Society of Louisiana as well as The Bahamas Humane Society in Nassau.
In her Bahama home she has an animal family of 16. She works sensitively with them and includes the help of behaviorists, etc to make sure the family ties are good. Each individual animals gets his or her own needs met well. Frances' husband, has been a big support of her work every step of the way.
Thank you for your beautiful work in our world, Frances Hayward and Amigo!
Visit BeKind.Org
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