I wasn’t always a veterinarian. My first career was in nursing. After graduating from college with a BS in Nursing, I worked in a neonatal intensive care unit with sick and premature babies. That job was followed by several others, exploring different aspects of the nursing field. But something was always tugging at my heartstrings and my conscience: I wanted to work with animals. So, that’s what I did.
After veterinary school, I spent the next 40 years helping many animals across many different species. I focused much of my professional efforts on securing financial resources to help low-income pet owners. That was an effort well before its time; “spectrum of care” is a popular banner in veterinary medicine these days, but it wasn’t popular or understood when I first started practicing. I’m proud to say that my practice, Care for Animals, helped thousands of animals get the care they needed.
I also started PAAWS RI, a non-profit organization, to further support my efforts. The non-profit opened and ran an animal shelter for several years. The shelter focused primarily on cats, but we also found homes for a few dogs, several bunnies, and even a tarantula.
PAAWS RI was also fortunate to receive some large grants, as well as private donations. All of those funds were spent on helping pet owners get medical care for their beloved pets.
But, alas, Father Time waits for no one. I practiced as long as I physically could, but those days are over for me. While that generates some sadness on my part, all is not lost. PAAWS RI is now entering a new chapter.
We are in the process of opening a donor-advised fund at the RI Foundation. The name of the fund is the Feline Welfare Fund of PAAWS RI. Our remaining funds will be placed here, and when any of our loyal donors wish to make a donation to PAAWS RI, we will be able to deposit all contributions into our new fund.
Since the fund will grow over time, PAAWS RI will be able to annually donate grants to other non-profit organizations in Rhode Island that are focused on helping felines. These donations will continue indefinitely. So, while I will no longer be providing direct care to animals in my retirement, PAAWS RI will continue to support others in our community that share our mission.
This is a very exciting and hopeful development. I hope some of our community supporters will join us in contributing to the new Feline Welfare Fund of PAAWS RI, at the RI Foundation.
Thank you to all the people and animals that have touched my life.
Dr. Annette Rauch
