Saturday, January 18, 2014

Chap, No Kill No Way, Has Left The Building

I got my first accurate taste of the No Kill mentality shortly after the Nevada Humane Society board of directors hired NathanWinograd to head hunt for them. Nathan came up with Bonney Brown and the rest is " sordid"  history .  During the weeks and months that followed, after I wrote an anti No Kill article,  the smell of my blood was carried lightly on the wind. As the group from the crazy train began to attack, support began to pour in.  Not surprisingly, a great deal of it from the Nevada Humane Society volunteers and staff.  It was, after all, their good name being smeared as well as mine.  Among my new friends there was this strange old guy that never blew up, always got the job done, and wore his collar backwards. He went by Chap, and though he didn't like the internet, and truly hated Facebook; he picked up the cudgel and swung.  I never saw Chap lose his temper, I did see him in earnest prayer a few times in chambers.
He assured me once that both Nathan and Bonney would get to Heaven because Satan would never allow them in Hell.  That was as low as you could go in Chap's world.  He touched lives, and gave so many the encouragement needed to fight for their shelter.  The first time he sent me a " not for publication" comment on this blog , I thought he was " to good to be true" and almost didn't respond.
He started his blog, No Kill No Way, shortly after reading Oreo's, Chap felt that as an active volunteer at NHS he was qualified to speak for the animals, and conditions there, from an inside perspective  Chap moved briefly to Sacramento to be near his son, and while there volunteered at Sac County.  He saw how hard they tried and watched as that shelter came under attack, you could always find Chap near the firefight.
The loss of Chap has been hard on all of us, Greta and Kevin were both brought into animal welfare through Chap, and the ripple of  compassion spread outward. We have been accused of collusion ( we prefer collaboration ) of being each other, of all being somebody else.. The list of goofy guesses could cross a river, and we laughed and had another cup of Joe:) I know whatever path Chap is wandering now, it's somewhere between a prison and animal shelter and he is looking for someway to help.  His blog is set to private until his family decides what they want to do.  Thank all of you who loved him, I tried to get in touch with as many of the folks he gave me numbers for as I could.  he loved his Gray Cat, Wigglebutt and many many more......
In Chaps love
Oreo

4 comments:

DogLogic said...

Has Chap passed on?

Happy Camper said...

Thank you for asking Dog Logic, Chap had been having health problems for a while and and moved over to Oreo and that is where his final comment remains. We kept it quiet, so the " ones who are rude" could not trouble his family.
He remains in the care of a loving God, as he lived his life that way, but we miss him something fierce. Greta came up from the Bay Area for the celebration of his life. and Kevin ( he was another name for many years :) was able to be here.
You would not believe how many Not for publications I got..

georgiabear said...

I haven't checked in for a while, and I just came accross this today. While I never met him, I truly loved reading his work. He was one of a kind, and I can only imagine just how much he will be missed by those that really knew him.

Happy Camper said...

Hi Georgia, I think of you so often, hope your newest Lab is doing well. When last we spoke you and the new guy were bonding.
Chap's loss is tremendous, and we are feeling it. He was very peaceful, it was an anyeurysm, so he knew for a few weeks it was coming and put all his affairs in order. Blessing to you and your shelter efforts, Washoe County is under full court press by the Nevada Humane Society to take over AC. My God, that would spin Chap right out of his grave. Keep in touch my friend, Gret, Kev and I continue to work forward.