[GmaSue]

I don't have my notes organized to make this a very factual post, so I will post more later, but I can't wait any longer to tell you excited I am about the steps we are taking in Iowa to help our animals. Almost a year ago I started researching and cross-referencing, trying to discover how bad the state of affairs was in Iowa, and what was being done-both big & small efforts by rescues, shelter, political activists, etc. I did learn a lot, but left to my knowledge of government and networking, progress would have been slow. I would have been making spreadsheets, googling & reading into the night, and making cold calls for oh, probably the next 4 years before I would have been able to start an effective organization.

Then along came this amazing lady who had also been doing research and she is smart, connected, and so burdened with the plight of dogs. She is holding a set of 20 "town meetings" across the state. This past Sunday, we had our meeting in Des Moines. It was a 2 hour meeting that seemed like 20 minutes. One of the main things we are going to do is to form a voting block by forming "Iowa Voters for Companion Animals."

If anyone is out there struggling on your own to get something started in your state-and wish you had a blueprint of how to get started, I am sure Mary would help you. Creating a databank to get everyone on the same page at the same time is going to really multiply the effectiveness of people who are fighting for animals.