By Kristen Levine
Legendary actress and activist Betty White, who passed away in December at the age of 99, was a strong
advocate for animal welfare and protection. In honor of her legacy of charity work, shelters across the
country participated in the Betty White Challenge in January. Sterling Animal Shelter was one such
participant, reaching out to the community with a small but meaningful goal.
“We hosted a fundraiser in Betty White’s honor,” said Assistant Director of Operations Kendel Bordeaux.
“We posted the goal on Facebook and through email, looking for ninety-nine donations for [White’s]
ninety-ninth year.”
The shelter was delighted to find their original goal surpassed to three hundred answering emails with
donations ranging from a dollar to a thousand dollars, offering monetary support for the shelter and its
animals. After the fundraiser ended, there was a little over $12 thousand dollars donated.
“Part of what honoring Betty White is, is we continue in her footsteps and rescue additional animals,
opening up places in the South for animals that need shelter,” Bordeaux said. Sterling Animal shelter
works in conjunction with Southern shelters to free up kennel space and provide more opportunities for
adoption, alongside taking in dogs through the All Sato Rescue program, bringing in dogs from Puerto
Rico.
“Twelve thousand is a big number to us,” Bordeaux said. “Most of the money goes to rescuing more
animals and paying transport fees not funded by the sending group; we’re paying $100 to $200 per animal
to get them up here.”
The best way to continue to honor White’s memory, Bordeaux said, is to continue business as usual at the
shelter. Sterling Animal Shelter regularly takes in rescues of cats, dogs and small animals such as guinea
pigs and rabbits. The shelter provides them with food, medical examinations, vaccinations and spaying
and neutering services.
“We stay as full as we can, no empty kennels,” she said. High-capacity Southern shelters in states like
Georgia and Texas provide steady transports of rescued animals, and the shelter has also taken in rescues
from as far as Hawaii and Thailand.
“We’re not too picky where they come from, as long as they’re somewhat healthy and friendly,” Bordeaux
said. Future fundraising is not a solid plan right now, but Bordeaux noted that there is always room to
plan ahead. In the meantime, the shelter has begun offering new services to the community to help care
for furry companions.
“We recently launched a vaccination clinic we hold each Friday,” she said. “It mostly services low-
income residents who don’t have the funds for routine care. The clinic is for ‘routine maintenance’, like
microchipping and heartworm testing. It has been a success so far, and we would love to see it continue
and possibly expand.”
Money isn’t the only welcome donation to the shelter; food and other supplies keep the shelter’s animals
in comfort as they wait for their forever homes.
“We always accept donations of food and toys,” Bordeaux said. “If there’s food [a donator’s] own pet
didn’t like, toys that are well-loved, crates, leashes, anything useful for a dog or cat, we make sure it gets
put to good use.”
The core of Betty White’s animal advocacy is kindness, whether it be a dollar towards helping
shelter animals stay warm and fed or a toy or blanket to make their stopover in the shelter as
comfortable as possible. Sterling Animal Shelter’s own legacy of providing a safe haven for
rescued animals honors the actress and her work, and seeks to continue the mission for many
years to come. Monetary donations can be made on the Sterling Animal Shelter website at
sterlingshelter.org, and in-person donations of toys, food, and other items can be made at the
shelter’s main office.