OTHER LIVES: STAFF PROFILE

You’ve Got a Friend

As a child, Anne Russell wanted to adopt three kittens that were to be destroyed. Her mother agreed she could have one, but Russell returned home with all three. Her mother allowed her to keep them provided she saved the money to spay them. “That was in the mid-’60s, and that was a lot of money to save, but I saved the $75,” said Russell. “I think she instilled in me a responsibility that when you adopt a pet, it’s yours for life, and you have to be responsible for its care.”

Russell, Wildcat Card program system administrator and president of CSU, Chico’s Friends of Animals, displays photos on her office bulletin board of the many past and present dogs and cats she’s owned. “Friends of Animals helps people who are willing to adopt with some of those initial costs, such as testing, vaccinating, spaying, and neutering, or with special cases where the animals need special medical treatment,” explained Russell. Friends of Animals was formed in 1995 and has more than 120 members. One of the group’s first actions was to trap, spay, neuter, and find homes for a family of five cats discovered living in the basement of Kendall Hall. Since then, the group has directly helped 152 animals, and indirectly helped more through their donations to local groups, such as the Chico Cat Coalition, and to individuals, such as the student who cares for several feral cats and needs help to cover the cost of vaccinations.

Russell’s own pets were strays, and many are special needs animals. “Not a lot of people are willing to take on an older animal or a sick animal or an otherwise special needs animal,” said Russell, “but that’s what we usually end up doing.” The rescued poodle Russell and her husband adopted was born without the use of his back legs and gets around by using a canine cart, a sort of walker.

Russell became an animal rights advocate in her mid-30’s. She was waiting at the vet’s office when she picked up a PETA newsletter. “When I came home, I was so distressed because it was about cosmetic testing on animals, something I had absolutely no idea occurred, and it was the biggest shock to me,” she said. She became a vegetarian, tries not to wear leather, but sometimes does wear leather shoes.

Russell has worked on campus since 1974. In 1994, Dave Foreman started the Wildcat Card program. “He did the hard part, then I came in shortly after the program was introduced to campus,” Russell said. She became the program administrator in 1997 and has overseen its steady growth. The card can be used to open doors, buy food, print copies, and next year will be used to pay university fees.

“I’ve really enjoyed working here; it’s like my second home,” Russell said of her 28 years on campus. “I’ve developed most of my friendships here, so there’s such a blend of my private life with my working life … I do feel it’s like a family here.” Russell’s father was in the military, and she never really felt at home anywhere until 1973 when she came to visit a friend attending CSU, Chico. “I took a bike ride down Esplanade—it was in the fall. I just stopped the bike, and I looked at all those gorgeous trees lining the Esplanade and moved up here.”

Barbara Alderson