I like being part of a community!
I firmly believe human evolution has been shaped by the fact that we are pack animals. At the earliest stages of our development we were living in packs on the Serengeti, hunting together and supporting one another. That is how the pack survived.
This original pack organization has created many of the behaviours we now exhibit, though we probably attribute them to higher reasoning abilities or other more evolved-sounding origins. I believe this dictates that we do better, feel better and prosper as a community when we support one another in our community.
For me, it means trying to keep the idea of community at the forefront in my daily decision-making. When I choose a dentist or a mechanic or shop for my wife's birthday present, I try to support members of the South Windsor Animal Hospital community. Sometimes this becomes complicated (what happens when you have five clients who are lawyers?) but I do the best I can.
On a larger scale, I try to support my Windsor community. Certainly, this means driving a North American-built vehicle, but it also means eating in local restaurants and shopping, preferably, in Windsor stores. My thoughts on the hypocrisy of having a "Buy A North American Vehicle" sticker on your bumper while you sit in customs to buy your American groceries or clothes is something my wife has to listen to whenever we do go over the border.
I also believe we should support our community in non-commercial ways. The South Windsor Animal Hospital has a long history of going into schools or children's groups and giving presentations on the companion animal industry and safety with dogs.
We enjoy doing this and the kids seem to really like it. We are now adding another event to our community support calendar. On Sunday, July 15, 2012 between 10am-2pm, the entire staff of the South Windsor Animal Hospital will be at our hospital providing free nail trims for any cat or dog or pocket pet (rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs). In exchange for the nail trim, we are asking pet
owners to make a food donation (minimum of 2 cans) or monetary donation which
will be given to the Windsor Downtown Mission.
This event is open to clients and non-clients. We ask that all cats be transported in pet carriers and all dogs stay on their leashes at all times. We also ask to minimize socializing between dogs as these encounters are not always predictable.
We are looking forward to helping support this great Windsor charity. We welcome all pet owners to help us support our community.
Thank you,
Dr Chris Chamandy