one in 8,700 - 1/13/10

Sharon MacNair realized her animal loving nature as a teenager, thanks to a fuzzy duckling friend, Daisy.

She watched Daisy hatch and quickly developed a mother-daughter relationship with her.

“She even walked me to the school bus in the morning,” MacNair said.

A pivotal moment in MacNair’s life occurred on Thanksgiving a few years after Daisy was born. Her mother pretended to dance with the turkey she was preparing for dinner. Her mother then took out the innards and MacNair noticed the blood.

For the first time, MacNair realized the connection between Daisy and the meat she had been eating.

“I screamed, ran to my room and vowed never to eat meat again,” MacNair said.

Forty-three years later, MacNair is still a vegetarian and is also an active member in the local animal-loving community. She joined the board of directors of the Green Mountain Animal Defenders (GMAD) soon after it was founded in the early 1980s and still holds the position today.

MacNair finds volunteering at GMAD the perfect outlet for her passion for the humane treatment of animals because she is able to help animals recover from both injury and crisis.

She finds it particularly rewarding when GMAD is able to change local policy to treat animals more humanely. Over the past 26 years, GMAD has helped convince several government officials to sponsor animal protection legislation.

Thanks to much help from GMAD, Ben and Jerry’s and Bruegger’s Bagels recently switched to using only cage-free eggs.

Although MacNair has several memories of saving animals’ lives across the state, she remembers one particularly moving story about a cat named Cyrus. When Cyrus was four months old, his guardian was moving out of the house from an abusive relationship, but the domestic violence shelter could not accept pets.

The owner put Cyrus on a waiting list for a local animal shelter, but she needed a quicker solution. She contacted GMAD which responded right away, according to MacNair.

“Through our volunteer work, we found a temporary home for Cyrus so the woman would know that she and her cat would be safe,” MacNair said.

MacNair points to the story of Cyrus and her owner as a representative anecdote of what GMAD was created to do.

“This is an example of what is so unique about GMAD,” MacNair said. “We are able to use our community connections to help other organizations and fill gaps in services.”

After listening to MacNair’s story, a natural question arises. What is her favorite animal?

“I value all kinds of animals for their individuality,” MacNair said, but when it comes to her favorite she still thinks back to her childhood duckling, Daisy.

If you would like to volunteer with GMAD, consider their internship program: http://gmad.info/internships.php