People Making A Difference

Safety for our pets is a desire for all pet lovers. Living amongst us are individuals that carry the passion for safety beyond the normal efforts. We feel they deserve to be featured in an article telling just how they are trying to make a difference. The two we are featuring today are Ashley Oelsen and Melissa Ramirex.

Ashley Oelsen

Ashley Oelsen has embarked on a journey to help save millions of rescue dogs by building awareness through education and community outreach. Inspired by her love for animals, Ashley brings something very unique and diverse to her day-to-day operations.

Sol Foundation (Sharing Our Love) named after her rescue dog Sol, was founded by Ashley in 2008 and is truly one of the most unique foundations that unite rescue dogs and children. The bond between humans and animals can be so strong not to mention life changing for both. Her mission is to prevent cruelty to animals through education, awareness and advocacy. She created a very distinctive way to teach kids an established sense of responsibility, and kindness towards animals and other humans that begins with weekly visits, with Sol by her side, to local schools and community centers helping students in the curriculum of reading and writing. In addition to the basic stepping-stones of education that will hopefully lead to the success of future generations, Ashley and Sol commence that initial connection between kids and animals. Unfortunate but factual, many of these kids and rescues share similar backgrounds such as physical abuse, abandonment and lack of attention. Aside from the tutorial benefits that Ashley brings to the table, these students are able to bond with the animals, respect them and learn that with hard work, and responsibility they can find unconditional love in one another, something they may have never experienced.

Ashely was recently awarded a $10,000 donation by Dog Time Media along with a fellow rescuer for their hard work and dedication. Sol Foundation can add this wonderful donation to it’s rescue fund allowing Ashley to continue rescuing, caring for some of the dogs that come out of shelters very ill and then placing them in the proper home. It’s always more than a days work and it NEVER ends. She gave up her full time job to start her foundation and works 24/7 living up to Sol’s mission.

She has determination and a true passion to save homeless pets and unite them with a loving owner. Ashley is an amazing humanitarian with a very big sol. You can learn more about Sol Foundation by visiting SharingOurLove.org.

Melissa Ramirex

Melissa Ramirex from Chicago is determined to raise awareness of the dangers of traveling with an unrestrained dog in a car. Her two year old 12-pound puppy Max became paralyzed from the waist down while sitting in the front seat of her husband’s car when it was T-boned by another driver. She developed Doggie Seatbelt to prevent other small dogs from going through the pain that Max suffered when he landed at the foot pedals.

There are seven states that require a dog to be tethered or in a kennel when being transported in a vehicle. We applaud the states of Connecticut, California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Rhode Island. Ramirez is actively working on how to make restraining dogs in moving cars a law in Illinois.

We’ve finally gotten to the point where we buckle ourselves and our children in the car, so it makes sense to buckle-in dogs since most people consider them a family member. “We need a light bulb to go off with dog lovers”.

Melissa obviously wants to sell Doggie Seatbelts, but her story goes way beyond the commercial aspects. She is extremely passionate about educating folks on the need to restrain dogs in the car because it is something that most folks don’t even imagine being dangerous. Sort of like when our moms put us in car beds and just plopped them on the back seat.

Visit mydoggieseatbelt.com to read some valuable safety tips and read informative articles on her blog.