About five years ago, I had the honor of serving as the Chief Development Officer for the Humane Society of Indianapolis.  In this role, I oversaw the fundraising and marketing for the organization.

I have been a fundraiser for nearly 20 years working for organizations serving youth, the homeless, those with disabilities and, where I currently work, with the Society of Professional Journalists. In my career, I’ve learned that there is no such thing as easy fundraising, but, I tell you what, getting money for puppies and kittens is a lot easier than journalists.

When I worked at IndyHumane, one common question I heard was “How do you not bring home new animals every day?”

It was easy.  It was like being an uncle or a grandparent.  You can have fun all you want with the dogs and cats that live there, but, when it came time to cleaning, that was someone else’s problem.

What I miss most about working there, though, was the opportunity to take cat and/or dog time when you’re having a really crappy day.  For most of us, when you have a bad day at work, all you can do is eagerly wait for happy hour.  At IndyHumane, you could step away from your desk, walk over to the kittens and just pet a kitten for 10 minutes.  There’s no way you can feel angst-ridden when you’re petting a small kitten.  I’ve often wondered how violence could be reduced in communities if cops were each equipped with a kitten or puppy to defuse angry situations.

Animals have a unique way of bringing out the best in each of us.  We all just look better when we have a dog or cat with us.  Presidents love to get a pet, feeling that it helps humanize them to voters.  Our current president does not have a pet.  You can draw any conclusion you like from that fact.

At home, I have a needy cat named Ogie.  When we got him and his brother Toots 13 ago, we got them for our sons with the understanding that these cats were theirs.  Their problem.  Scooping, feeding, hair ball clean up.  Theirs.  My kids spent another 4 years with us before moving out on their own.

Cats live a long time, so now they are our problem.

Toots went to the great litter box in the sky last year.  And now its just Ogie and us.  Clean up responsibilities have been divided between my wife and me based on which side of the cat it came out of.  I have the rear end as I find hairballs disgusting.

But each night, Ogie curls up with me and watches TV.  Much like me, he enjoys watching ghost hunting shows and Ancient Aliens and we have become good buds over the last 13 years.  He has made me a better, well-trained human and I have have just continued to reward his narcissistic behavior.  And I wouldn’t change it for the world.