Rescuing Rufo w/ Jo Ann Beard

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How Dogs Helped Jo Ann Beard Gain A Deeper Appreciation For Life

Jo Ann Beard

About The Episode

Jo Ann Beard grew up in Illinois. Her family had a dog growing up who they were devoted to. Now she lives in a small town in Upstate New York and teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. She is a writer and English professor.

She’s gone through several other dogs in her life. One of them especially, Autumn, helped her appreciate a variety of different elements of life that were before not fully revealed to her eyes.

“With dogs, there is no barrier,” she says. Their love is endless.

Jo Ann also got into the rescue field after losing one of her dogs and finding herself in the middle of the Yonkers/Westchester shelter system and world.

The first dog she decided to take matters into her own hands and rescue was Rufo, who became the most difficult but most rewarding dog she’s rescued to date. This is especially impressive as she co-founded a rescue organization called Best Bullies to do her part to help dogs get homes, which she has continued since.

Dog rescue has also opened her up to a big community of similar-minded people, which has also been important and is hard to find when you get older.

Right now Jo Ann also has a great furry companion named Jet.

About The Guest

Jo Ann Beard is a writer and professor at Sarah Lawrence College, as well as a Founder of the Best Bullies To The Rescue organization. Always surrounded by dogs in her life, she finds her perspective of the world constantly shifting and growing deeper thanks to both her own dogs and the ones she helps rescue. She’s also found a completely new community and group of connected people in her life through rescue, while well into adulthood. Rufo, the first dog she helped to rescue, has still to date been the hardest, but also the most rewarding.

Featured Links

InterviewJack SommerMental Health, Rescue / Service