Like many people in Mississippi, Chele Whitehead was changed after Hurricane Katrina stormed ashore and ravaged the state in 2005.
A senior sample receiving and reporting technician in the College of Veterinary Medicine, she was dispatched with the Veterinary Disaster Response Team in the wake of the devastating storm.
While working on the coast, she saw countless abandoned dogs, and was moved with compassion to find adoptive homes for the animals as an alternative to euthanasia.
Whitehead has been working ever since with Project Hope Sanctuary in Grenada and Homeward Bound at MSU, taking in stray pets and finding them homes.
Often the animals have a temporary home with Whitehead while she rehabs them and gets them fit and healthy for new homes. Before being placed, the dogs are spayed or neutered and are up to date on vaccinations. Then, through Homeward Bound and Project Hope Sanctuary, they are placed with new owners, often in other states.
"One of my beliefs is that God puts us on earth to be stewards and we are to take care of his creation as best we can. This is my calling—to take care of the four-legged creatures he put here."