Not that long ago Chris Roy, the brains behind Doobert, wrote about Alexis Luce and her admirable efforts to assist animals and her local shelter.
Alexis is an inspirational 15-year-old who has done so much for rescuing animals in her little part of the world. HQ for Alexis is Waukesha, Wisconsin and she has spent a lot of time, money and effort in assisting the local nonprofit Humane Animal Welfare Society (HAWS).
The journey to become a compassionate cat lover started at an early age for Alexis. She even says the caring for animals is in her DNA and passed down from her maternal family tree. Her mom once saved a cat that was tossed into a river in a sack. Yes, that is actually as horrid as it sounds.
When Alexis was around 7-years-old she adopted Snickers, a cat. Sadly Snickers passed away last year from brain cancer. But Snickers helped to launch what will be a lifelong effort by Alexis to care for other animals.
After Snickers passed over the Rainbow Bridge, Alexis and her mother started to foster kittens. The first group was named Nut, Bolt, and Ax.
But as every small step can be the start of a long and fantastic journey, this first foster effort helped to begin a shared love for animals by Alexis and her mom.
Soon Alexis was more involved with HAWS which is also know as the Waukesha County Animal Shelter. Ironically, the word Waukesha is an indian word for “little foxes” so I guess Alexis was predisposed for her love of little furry animals.
One of the Herculean efforts Alexis embarked on last year was the sudden arrival of 300 Chinchillas. Alexis and her mother jumped into action from the call by HAWS for help.
They started sorting and organizing the new rescue animals and of course a lot of cage cleaning was involved as well. A LOT of cages!
But Alexis has learned the valuable lesson of love. She said, “Animals give you much more love than a person could give if you just give them some love and TLC (also some treats as well) and they don’t judge you for how you look or what you act like, they just love.”
Already, Alexis is known by her friends as the “crazy animal lady.” She says that name is probably a good fit since she loves animals and is crazy about them. But her friends get great joy out of her animal passion. Alexis said, “Every time we get a new animal, all my friends want to come over and see it. The animals that we take care of and make better, make my friends happy and that’s what matters to me because I love to see the joy that animals and the people get out of it.”
Currently Alexis hopes to go to college in the years soon ahead. She wants to get a degree in business so she can be better prepared to open a local pet daycare and grooming business.
But her love of animals is not limited to cats. She has cared for all types of animals, including fish. She also has a puppy named Acia who she’s training to be a well healed dog. Pun intended.
Alexis has had the wonderful opportunity of witnessing the wonder of amazing animals in other parts of the world.
“I also have animal friends from other countries, the grey cat is Selvester, he’s from Paris. I met lots of cats in Montenegro and Rome. In Costa Rica, I met a wonderful cat that I call Bebe who followed me to the the house we stayed at and I brought her part of my birthday dinner because she was really sweet and wanted attention. I am also a world traveler and have been to Costa Rica, All over Europe, Australia, Fiji, and Alaska/Canada,” she added.
We look forward to Alexis getting her drivers license and jumping onboard as a Doobert volunteer transporter as well. You just know she would be fantastic.
