If you’ve ever wondered what just one person can realistically do in the face of a seemingly insurmountable problem, let me introduce you to my friend Mindy Sanders Diffenderfer.

Mindy is a tiny little fireball of a human. Louisiana through and through, she’s a wife, a mom and a nurse by training. She grew up a military brat, which may explain why she cares so deeply about the small Louisiana community where she spread her roots nearly 30 years ago. She also loves to travel, to meet new people and to tell sidesplittingly funny stories about her long-suffering and good-humored husband Keith, who mostly tolerates her antics with good spirits.

But what she does that is so extraordinary is that she endeavors to save the life of every single abandoned, abused or otherwise forgotten dog in her rural Louisiana parish. As the founder and CEO of the non-profit Walking in the Sun Rescue Group, she and her dedicated group of volunteers work in the trenches every day, crawling under houses, traipsing through abandoned properties and answering the calls of the community to save every dog they possibly can.

I have known Mindy for many years but it wasn’t until I asked to interview her for this column that I truly knew the full extent of her efforts.

Nearly 15 years ago, when Mindy’s now-adult son was in school, he was required to earn volunteer service hours for one of his classes. At that time, though Mindy had always been an animal lover, she barely knew anything about her community’s local animal shelter. She called to ask about volunteering with her son and, when they arrived, she said what she saw took her breath away. She couldn’t believe the sheer number of homeless, abused and neglected dogs. Her son soon finished his required volunteer hours at the shelter but Mindy was just getting started. Before long, she was working to be a problem solver looking for big picture solutions.

One problem she immediately identified is that the local shelter in her community is owned and operated solely by the city. The parish itself doesn’t have a shelter and it doesn’t offer any animal control services. And, as she puts it, “Where do unwanted animals get dumped? In the country.” Thus, if an animal was located or reported as having been abandoned or injured in the parish, there were no government services available. Likewise, if a person showed up at the shelter to surrender an animal, the shelter had to refuse the animal unless the person surrendering the animal was a city resident.

A small and dedicated group of volunteers had already started a humane society to support the city shelter and, before long, Mindy was on the board. For several years she and those volunteers, many of whom are still active in rescue to this day, worked to close the gap in services provided to the community.

Then in 2014, when the needs of the community continued to outpace what the volunteers could provide locally, Mindy started to think big again. She started her own rescue organization with an eye toward providing expanded services to members of her parish community who had nowhere else to go when they needed help. Walking in the Sun Rescue, Mindy’s nonprofit organization, was born as a result of her visionary hard work and the pro bono services of a group of animal loving lawyers. The organization has no paid staff members, receives no government funding and relies solely on private donations and a host of volunteers.

Mindy and the members of her organization focus a large part of their efforts on fundraising for vet care, spay and neuter services and animal rescue transport. They take in dogs that would be abandoned, forgotten and doomed to an inhumane existence, place them in foster care, provide them with necessary medical attention and then transport them to rescue organizations, largely in the Northeast.

I met Mindy years ago while driving as one of her volunteers. In our own personal passenger vehicles, we have been known to squeeze in as many as a dozen or so “Mindy puppies” to help drive them along their way to freedom. Now though, Mindy (in typical Mindy fashion) has taken her transport efforts to a new level: In 2020, her husband Keith surprised her by purchasing a large transport van for the rescue which enables Mindy and her group to move 50 or more puppies at a time. We’ve seen those transports as they pull through Knoxville and let me tell you, it is a sight to behold. 

Even with the efforts of groups like Mindy’s, there’s still so much work to be done. You’ve probably heard that animal shelters are full right now and this is true. Mindy told me that this is the worse she’s ever seen shelter conditions in all the years she’s worked in rescue. In fact, even some of the shelters in the Northeast which typically take our Southeast rescues are getting full. It is a time when communities need to work together to find solutions and to help pet owners keep their companion animals where possible. Mindy said the shelters became particularly crowded when evictions resumed recently.

You don’t have to start a nonprofit like Mindy to help animals in your community. First, you can adopt from your local shelter or rescue organization. Your pet will likely already have been spayed or neutered and will have likely had some initial veterinary care when you adopt. It’s a win-win! Second, you can volunteer to serve as a foster to help alleviate some of the crowding in local shelters and rescues. Third, Mindy suggests you can do something as simple as offering to help pet owners afford the costs of spaying or neutering their pets if you know they are struggling to afford those services themselves. Fourth, you can volunteer to drive transport routes. I’m always happy to tell you how to get involved as a driver. And, of course, you can donate to animal rescue organizations. They really are doing so much work with so few resources and at a time of unprecedented demand. There’s a role for everyone to play and I hope you’ll consider joining in some way if you’re so inclined.

I’m really proud to know Mindy. Countless dogs have been saved because of her work, including one very grateful mutt that is snoring at my feet while I type. If you’d like to volunteer, to learn more, or to support Mindy’s efforts, please visit Walking in the Sun Rescue on Facebook or Instagram. |||