DECATUR – The Care Van swung around the corner from the Fairview
Plaza parking lot ? Beth Hughes spied a dog. How can I help you?
she asked the couple standing in the yard.
Determined to improve the care of pets in the inner city, the
Decatur woman started the Care Van program three years ago.
In a conversation with the couple, Mason McGuire and Christafer
Lewandowski, Hughes learned that the dog is part mastiff, part
great Pyrenees and is about 5 months old.
We were hunting for mushrooms in the country, McGuire said.
We discovered the dog. We named her Freyja. Were going to build a
fence to give her roaming room.
Hughes gave the couple a 4-pound bag of dog food from the van
and gave the dog a rope toy. She cautions: This dog needs a lot of
exercise. Run her every day.
Across the street, Dean Durbin was sitting in the front yard
with a dog in hand. Its Hercules, a 5-year-old Jack Russell
terrier. The offer of dog food was refused. This dog eats people
food, Durbin said. A rope toy was eagerly accepted.
The neighbors have noticed the commotion. Gina, a tiny Chihuahua
Pomeranian mix, 12 weeks old, comes up. Owner Jeff Belmar accepted
a bag of puppy chow. Also with him was Chloe, a 10-year-old black
Labrador/chow mix. This dog has a patch of raw skin. Hughes applies
an ointment.
Next was a pair of American pit bull terriers. Nine weeks old,
Michael Myers said. They were outfitted with collars and given
toys.
And thats how it goes during the first of two hours of
exploring in the inner city in the Care Van. Hughes is accompanied
by Sherry Evans, who specializes in hunting feral cats. Last
month, we reached a milestone, Hughes said, 500 feral cats spayed
or neutered. Feral cats are homeless, prowling the neighborhood,
constantly giving birth.
The Care Van is equipped with a cat cage. It also has a bird
cage, boxes of food, flea spray, litter boxes, animal toys,
pet-friendly coloring books and crayons for children. The children
follow us around, Hughes said. We ask questions about pet care
and reward the correct answers. The idea is to win over a
generation of people, starting with the children.
Donations pay for the expenses. Some of the items come from
thrift stores, garage sales or auction houses.
A rabies clinic has been added, Hughes said. Seventy-five
animals were treated in one weekend.
Hughes is a combination mother, postal worker, registered nurse
and veterinarian technician. For more than 30 years, she has been
dedicated to animal care. She has volunteered as a helper in the
Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska and has owned sled dogs.
She grew up around animal lovers: Her father, Jim, had dogs, and
her mother, Barbara, had cats. Hughes worked at the Macon County
Animal Shelter, the Coles County Animal Shelter and in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
She decided inner-city pets needed attention, and she supplies
it.
bfallstrom@herald-review.com|421-7981