I used to work with 'Pete'

"Pete" is an awesome guy. I used to work with him at a no-kill shelter. We went to high school together. I know he would like to remain anonymous so I am not giving his name or my name.

Back in college, we would spend many a night "liberating" rats from the infested no-kill shelter we worked at that operated on a shoestring budget. We saved them several hundreds of dollars on extermination fees. We would clear out the ceiling and baby rats would rain down like hailstones. He would nurse baby rats back to health using puppy milk even though he lost several nights of sleep over this. I still wonder how he can have so much determination and drive to keep those little babies alive even though the average person would probably squash them or kill them because they are "pests". He would always say that rats have the "same range of emotions" that humans have! We would examine the creatures that we caught and notice that their hands are almost human-like and perhaps one day rats would evolve and fly around in minature fighter jets.

He always had a stray animal that he had taken in at his apartment. His philosophy of life still streams through my consciousness from time to time. I still have several animals from the local pound (2 cats and 2 dogs) that I will not ever give up even though they are taking over my apartment!

We enjoyed jamming in our band that never went anywhere called Saving Throw! He could play a mean drumset!

He has a love of life and and a drive to make things better that many people do not. His dedication is amazing. I respect him and I'm proud that they made an HBO documentary about his cause!

I still haven't seen it, but I have just ordered it from HBO.com

::Sigh::

I sometimes miss the good ol' days of animal liberation....