On Friday, December 17, an American Legion Color Guard played a very special visit to a very special war hero: "Fella", a K-9 German Shepherd buried at the Humane Society of Greater Miami's Oak Lawn Pet Cemetery.

"Fella" is believed to have served in the South Pacific with the Marine Corps and was put to rest in the cemetery in 1954 with full military honors in his war jacket and medals by Marine Corps pall bearers.

The recent ceremony is largely the result of the diligent work of Greater Miami Humane Society Deputy Director for Society Advancement Kelly Grimm, who was dismayed by the condition of the American flag above his grave. It was Grimm who called the American Legion to request a new flag.

Grimm said, "There's always been a flag and flagpole there, but this past hurricane season it took a particularly bad beating. It wasn't torn and it didn't have holes or anything like that--it was just faded. I decided to call the American Legion and see if they'd be interested in doing some sort of ceremony."

What she didn't expect was the extent and enthusiasm of their response. Not only did they agree to perform a ceremony, they suggested a full honor ceremony, complete with a 21-gun salute.
"The most interesting thing about dealing with the American Legion," Grimm later mused, "was the fact that they made no distinction between a two-legged and four-legged soldier. The animal/human bond, which we work so hard to promote and emphasize, was so strong between these men and this animal who had served in combat right alongside them. Examples like this that show the mutually beneficial relationship between humans and animals so very clearly helps our cause a great deal."

But thoughtful innovative projects like this aren't the exception under the leadership of Executive Director John Lisk, they're the rule.

For example, this year's Greater Miami Humane Society "Walk for the Animals" will take place simultaneously in two places at once, South Beach's Lummus Park and Coral Gables' Ponce de Leon Blvd, in front of the University of Miami.

The event, planned for Saturday, February 26, 2000, will start with sign-in at 9:00 AM and is a primary event for the shelter, which is nonprofit, and does not receive state or federal funding (and is in desperate need of new facilities).