Stephanie Taylor :
Champion
of Canines
Stephanie Taylor :
Stephanie Taylor is a 12-year-old school girl from Oceanside – USA. She is an ardent animal lover. She keeps rescuing young animals like chicks, puppies and kittens from tight spots. She has also nursed and rehabilitated injured animals. Of course, her mother encouraged her in her endeavors and helped her around. She made sure that Stephanie got to see all the animal shows whether in the ZOO or on television. Her Christmas and birthday gifts often included animal books, CDs and encyclopedias.
One evening, Stephanie and her father were watching the news on T.V. The newsreader was telling the story of a police guard dog that had died on duty while assisting the police. Smokey, the valiant dog, had chased a shop-breaker and in spite of having been shot in the chest, it had not let go of the robber’s leg until the police took him into custody. That news item not only saddened Stephanie but also set her wondering if the brave dog could have been saved. She promptly called up the local police station to enquire as to why the dog had not been wearing a bulletproof jacket that could have saved its life. The local police officer was touched by her concern. He put her through to the special department dealing with the guard-dogs. What she learnt there was that the police department did not have the money to purchase bulletproof jackets for its canine constables. The cost of each jacket was an exorbitant $ 80 (Rs. 3600 approximately).
Stephanie was determined to launch a fund-raising drive on her own for the life-saving jackets. Aided by her mother, she set up a lemonade stall. She sold lemonade after school and saved the proceeds. She put up placards telling people about her plan. People appreciated her efforts and soon there was a great demand for Stephana's lemonade. She had to get friends to help her cope with the increasing demand and within a month she had raised her first $80. She dispatched it to the police-dog department and the police bought the first-ever bulletproof jacket for canines with it. They sent her the picture of the first dog that benefited from her effort. She put the photograph up at the stall.
The press soon took notice of her effort. Stephanie made it to the front page of all leading newspapers. She was featured on several T.V. channels as well. People all over America took up her cause and it snowballed into a major movement. Cheques started pouring in. With the money, she managed to buy jackets for the entire squad of 100 police dogs.
Stephanie won the government s commendation for her single-handed effort. She now runs mobile vet vans for animals in distress.
