INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Fate or some other positive energy was clearly in play in 1995 when Judy Koehler and her husband Michael Newell chose Vero Beach as their retirement destination.
Although familiar with Florida, they had not yet chosen their ideal spot.
“I told Michael that I wanted to live south of Daytona and north of Jupiter on the east coast,” said Koehler when asked how they settled on Vero Beach. “He came down by himself, drove along A1A, got to Vero and said, ‘this is it – we’re coming to Vero.'”
As luck would have it, while they waited for the completion of their home at The Shores, they rented a house next door to Nancy Benedict, a long-time supporter of the Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County.
While it’s likely that Koehler would have found her way to the shelter eventually, meeting Benedict made it a sure bet.
Koehler previously volunteered with the greyhound adoption rescue organization, Greyhound Friends, in Hopkinton, Mass., where she helped with dog socialization, daily feedings and maintenance.
The necessary but mundane chores she performed there turned out to be good training for her early years at the shelter.
“When I started with the Humane Society it was still on 41st Street,” explains Koehler. “I cleaned cat cages for the first five years. Then, I noticed that they had computers.”
Koehler had retired from a career at IBM, and Newell from EMC, a maker of data storage computers, and early on it was evident that the couple was not ready for full-out retirement.
They put their extensive computer skills to good use and established Senior Net in Vero Beach, offering computer literacy training by an all-volunteer staff to senior citizens.
During the company’s 10- year history, the school trained more than 8,000 students.
Recognizing another use for her talents, she volunteered to come in everyday and input a backlog of thousands of pet ID tag entries.
“While doing that, I learned – I heard them on the phone, saw people at the desk, and became very educated in doing adoptions.”
She eventually took on the project of computerizing the entire adoption process, working with a software company in California to set up the program and installing all the hardware.
Koehler laughs as she remembers. “We had wires strung all across the ceiling. We’re still using it today; the software not the hardware. That’s been changed out about four times now.”
Ready for the next challenge, Koehler became a cat adoption counselor.
The Humane Society began a new program, originally developed by the ASPCA, called Meet Your Match.
She and three other volunteers, Laurie Iodice, Sheila Marshall and Toni Faulk, manage the feline match program.
“We assess the cat in 10 different areas. It’s about a 45-minute assessment to determine their felineality,” says Koehler. “They fall into one of nine categories depending on their confidence, and their gregariousness.”
/ Potential adopters complete a survey about their home environment, and reviewers then match them with the right cat.
“There has been a remarkable difference since we started this program. There are far fewer returns. We’ve been doing it two years in September and we’ve only had two cats that have been returned in the first four months. That’s pretty remarkable; it means we’re making good matches. We’re putting the right animal with the right family.”
Koehler is also working with Marshall as co-chairs of Art for Animals, an art show scheduled to take place at the shelter the weekend of Nov. 25-27.
“It was Sheila’s idea; her brainchild. She thought it would be wonderful for us to have an art show that combined local artists and animals. We thought it would bring in traffic if we had the art show here; have people come out and look, and maybe adopt an animal. It’s a fundraiser, but we want people to see how beautiful this place is. And it’s clean – this place is so clean.”
A call to Indian River County artists has been issued, inviting them to enter up to three pieces of art in a variety of media, with the caveat that it represents companion pets or Florida native wildlife.
Artists pay a minimal entry fee of $10 per piece and agree to donate a 10 percent commission to the Humane Society.
“There will be paintings by dogs and cats too. It’s a whole process,” laughs Koehler. “You use non-toxic watercolor paints, like you do for finger paints. One animal at a time will get a chance to paint. You dip their little paws in the paint and you have canvas on the floor and turn them loose and let them do their thing.”
They anticipate only having three dog and three cat paintings.
/It’s unique so get there early for a chance to buy a four-footed piece of art. “Chalmers Morse has done a spectacular job,” says Koehler of the Humane Society’s executive director. “The staff that works here are the most dedicated and caring people that I’ve ever met. They sure as hell don’t do this for the money. They are an incredible group of people. I have been in shelters all over the world, and this is the best run shelter I have ever seen.”
“We take in over 7,000 animals every year and accept everything. We also offer services to Indian River County residents such as private euthanasia services, low cost spay and neuter vouchers.”
Koehler and her husband haven’t completely abandoned the connection to computers either.
In 1999 Senior Net and the course book Koehler wrote, “Computer Workbook for Seniors,” caught the attention of a cruise line and the couple now spends approximately six months each year teaching computer literacy classes on luxury cruise ships.
“It’s a great way to see the world. I love to teach; we teach on sea days only. The ships’ crews and their guests are just wonderful to learn from and interact with and be with. And of course we love traveling the world – we’ve done five total world cruises and have been to 93 countries.”
“My life is the cruise ship and the Humane Society.”
