From childhood…as many children (given the opportunity) I have been an animal lover.  Didn’t matter what kind… they were all fascinating.  I grew up in the country with 4 brothers (never a dull minute).  As time went by my love for animals never changed. I got married very young to another animal lover…this was awesome …my husband grew up in the country in a big family  around all kinds of  animals always bringing something home to nurture or rescuing something.  As we started our family it was sharing our lives with animals.  My daughters grew up around monkeys & spiders & snakes ...not to mention the regular dogs, cats, hamsters etc.  Having a houseful of pets….In 1969, we decided to open a pet shop & continue to share our love for animals with fellow animal lovers.

Our pet shop was like a mini zoo in Jefferson County Missouri…because we had many unusual and exotic animals. We had acquired our 1^st chimp in 1972 and a 2^nd in 1975.  It was a place that people would bring their out of state company to see.  We would take some animals to schools and entertained many Boy Scout & Girl Scout & 4-H groups at the location.  We closed the Pet shop in 1979 and began taking in animals that were in need of a permanent home.  Retired performers, ex-pets, some abused or neglected.  This only made my love of animals stronger.  My husband died in 1986…and I am still caring and sharing the love of animals… especially the Chimpanzees.