Listening to Her Heart Led Her to Philanthropy

by Daneen Akers

From time to time, FETCH highlights a person who exemplifies what it means to "make a difference" in the lives of our pets. Get to know these inspiring individuals though their own words. Know someone who is making a difference in their own way? Tell FETCH, and we’ll consider them for a future issue. Send an email to editors@fetchthepaper.com.

Betty Ann Sutton is a woman who takes action
when she sees a problem. When she didn’t want to pay a huge amount of money to keep her fields in Occidental mowed she adopted a donkey (and then another) to keep the weeds under control. When she couldn’t afford further rent increases on her antiques business, she bought an old Victorian in Graton and became her own
landlord. When she kept seeing unwanted dogs and cats turning up hungry and scared at the Humane Society of Sonoma County, she decided to fund totally free spay/neuter days where an estimated 600 dogs and cats have now been altered. She also gives often to other local charities and organizations.

Her dog, Mr. Frank E. Ryder, is the inspiration for many of her projects. Her antiques store is named after him, and the spay/neuter fund is in his honor. Sutton met Mr. Ryder, a mix with hints of Border Collie and Australian Shepherd, when he was a only five months old. He had already had two homes at that young age and had spent time fending for himself. She says he was a “pretty miserable creature.” After a lot of love, a good dose of professional training (for both parties), and several ruined video tapes and pants, the two are close pals.

What made you decide to fund a free spay/neuter day?

Sutton: I got some money. That’s the short story. The long story is, well, longer! I’m 63, and I realized last year that what I really wanted to do in life was to be a philanthropist. I think it’s probably the only thing I could really feel good about when things are all done.

But I’ve never had that type of money before I sold a big piece of property in Florida. And when I sold that I just started giving money away, and it was really fun. It was fabulous to be able to do that. They’ve done the free [spay/neuter] day twice now.

Why do you think you really wanted to become a philanthropist?

Sutton: I’ve become increasingly more liberal as I get older and increasingly more conscious, just a bleeding heart!The more I look around the more I see what needs to be done. And some people might ask, “Well, why dogs?” That’s just what it is for me. I suppose it would be kids if it wasn’t dogs. They are both vulnerable and need our help. It’s where my heart is, and there’s just so much to be done.

Why did you start a free spay/neuter program?

Sutton: When people are already in trouble, if they already have animals they’re going to really be in trouble. There are other good spay/neuter programs but a lot of them require families to fill out a lot of demeaning forms that ask about income and things. I think having to fill out a bunch of demeaning forms makes it seem as if these people aren’t an important part of the fabric of our society. They’re allowed to have animals. They just aren’t allowed to have seven litters, nobody is allowed to do that. So I wanted this to be totally free. I knew there would be some people who would just abuse it who didn’t really need a free spay/neuter but those are the people who you can’t talk to anyway.

Why are you passionate about spay/neuter programs?

Sutton: Mr. Frank E. Ryder is a big reason. He’s just my darling. He’s always been a challenge. His first five months of life taught him not to trust people. Eventually he got better, and now we’re old friends. I don’t want other unwanted puppies to have to run around for five months on their own. I believe in all the programs the Humane Society does, but when you come right down to it, all that really works is prevention. Spay/neuter programs can stop the suffering.

How did you get started helping animals?

Sutton: When I first moved to Occidental about 13 years ago, my youngest daughter had gone off to college, and I sold the house. I had been a housewife and then a single mother after my divorce, and I thought it was time to do something. I decided that I wanted to do something for art, and I wanted to do something for animals. And you know, the very next day I went down to town to run an errand and there was a free event at the Occidental Inn for Forgotten Felines. I signed up to do a rummage sale for them because I was an antiques dealer on the side. They didn’t even know who I was. I made $900 for them. And I eventually learned how to trap feral cats and stood out in the bushes at night in the rain, all that stuff . Eventually I sat on the Forgotten Felines board and I helped them start their store.

I also had my own animals. When anyone works for an organization like Forgotten Felines you end
up with a lot of animals. One the directors of the Humane Society said that Forgotten Felines was
responsible for reducing the population of feral cats in Santa Rosa by 25% and we’d joke that it was because we had adopted them all. I ended up with 22 cats. My mother thought it was awful because she doesn’t like cats. And when she’d visit she’d say, “Oh my, there’s another one. How many cats do you have anyway?” And I’d say, “I’ve only got six but they all look alike.”

How many animals do you have now?

Sutton: [Besides the cats,] two rescue donkeys and two dogs. The donkeys are Mary Alice and Lucy; Mary Alice is named after my mother. And the dogs are Mr. Frank E. Ryder and Willy; Mr. = Ryder is named after my father. I have only eight cats now because they’ve gotten old and I’ve had to put so many down. Also I’ve got a hospice cat population now because I always took the ones that nobody wanted.

So you have a dog named after your father and your donkey after your mother. How did that go over?

Sutton:My mother said at least something got named after her!

What advice would you give to others who aren’t in a position to start a whole fund, but want to make a difference?

Sutton: If they can stand it, volunteer at the local Humane Society. It can be hard to see suffering, but they do such a good work. You can also foster dogs or cats. The other way is to give small amounts of money. Find a local, grassroots organization that you can support. Even $5 a month can really help. They don’t spend a lot of money on administrative things. They’re the ones who have six or seven dogs in their own house and are out trapping feral cats at night..

How about if someone wants to help the free spay/neuter fund you’ve started?

Sutton: Oh, I would love that! You know, I didn’t really want publicity for this but I thought if people heard about it they might be inspired to give too. Anybody is certainly welcome to contribute to the Mr. Ryder Fund at the Humane Society of Sonoma County.