A New Tour of Duty

This is Buzz Miller, a dog and cat's best friend. Really. Sorry the photo is small but trust me, his heart is large.

Not only does he own an amazing "department store for pets" near my home (Buzzy's Bow Wow Meow--check it out on line) but he is constantly sponsoring pet related seminars, taking kids to visit animal shelter s for service projects, collecting supplies for shelters, you name it Buzzy does it. In the past two years, he has facilitated the adoption of 400 animals through the store.

Now he and his wife Judi have started a non-profit organization called PACT (People/Animals Companions Together)to take their passion even farther. One of the group's first initiatives is to recruit local foster families to care for the dogs of service men and women while they are deployed. The fostering may be as long as an 18 month commitment.

They already have a bunch of families willing to take on the job. One of Buzzy's unique twists on this concept is the notion that the foster families will not only correspond with the soldier while they are deployed, sending pictures of the dog and updates on his/her activities, he also promises that foster families will be able to continue the relationship with the pet once the owner returns.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I am a member of the Board of Directors of PACT, and couldn't be prouder to be associated with such a wonderful organization.