News
Keeper of the Animal Kingdom …
June 12, 2009, 5:17PM MT
By Fran Farrell
Susan Chernak McElroy’s incredible journey
Susan Chernak McElroy’s incredible journey
By Sabina Clarke
Since she was a little girl with a pet rat she named Hermoine, Susan Chernak McElroy, author of the New York Times bestseller, “Animals as Teachers & Healers: True Stories & Reflections,” has been entranced with animals. “My grandmother had a farm in the Catskill Mountains and I would go there often. I have specific memories of the chickens and the dog having puppies, which was quite thrilling. We used to catch frogs. I have snippets of memories of animals and can still recall the smell of the chicken house but I don’t remember the people. I have always had a fascination, enchantment, great respect, awe and reverence for all living things; none of them are creepy to me. For me, squirrel and mice were absolutely adorable. So having a [pet] rat was almost like having a squirrel with a scrawny tail,” says the author.
Her enchantment with animals and her strong belief in the power of animals, both domestic and wild, to heal the human soul evolved from a lifetime of working with animals as a veterinary assistant, a zookeeper, a Humane Society educator, a dog trainer, a kennel and stable hand, and a wildlife rehabilitator.
Diagnosed with advanced cancer in 1987 and faced with a grim medical prognosis at the age of 37, McElroy discovered that the lessons learned from animals over the course of her life and particularly, from her dog, Keesha, triggered her own healing and complete recovery—“Each animal you bring into your life is a magical being. And that one animal can never be repeated. For me, it was Keesha; a shepherd malamute mix. We were joined at the hip. Keesha’s fatal illness mirrored and preceded my own medical problems. I think it was preordained for her to come into my life. Her illness foreshadowed my illness and taught me that if I were to die from my illness; that was okay too. Keesha was sent to teach me. She was invaluable to me. She had been dead for a long time but she was still there with me. I talked to her all the time.”
McElroy credits her dogs Strongheart and Arrow for teaching her about protection, “not in the physical sense but more like how an angel might watch over you.” Her animal companions have included a sickly donkey named Phaedra whom she adopted and nursed back to health and Simone another donkey who helped McElroy through her father’s death. Simone was very asthmatic and needed my constant care so I spent long stretches of time with her in the barn which helped me process my own grief over my father’s death.”
Does she believe that animals go to heaven? “I don’t believe in heaven as a place but I believe in the continuation of energy. Energy never dies. It changes form. If you believe this, you have to be open to all kinds of possibilities such as the deceased animal’s sending messages to the animal you have now. Since energy never dies, the deceased pet is still there in the house. I’ve had animals that have remained for years. My dog Strongheart is one of those. I have a very deep belief that animals that are with us and animals in general really don’t have a great concern about what side of the consciousness curtain they are on. The trauma when an animal has to be euthanized is whether their family is going to be okay without them.”
Today, McElroy has downsized to two dogs, a cat and two tarantulas, “I am trying to focus my energy more on being able to see and interact with wildlife and birds and cycles in the seasons.”
This past October, because of her husband’s business she moved from a small farming community in the foothills of the rocky mountains on the Wyoming-Idaho border to Bloomington, Indiana where her bedroom window looks out into the woods of Indiana and is surrounded by beech, maple, hickory, poplar, and hemlock trees with a creek running below—paradise for a nature lover like McElroy. Prior to living in Idaho, she had lived on Bright Star farm in Oregon where she had a barn and there she got to realize her “donkey and llama and sheep and chicken dreams.”
Other books McElroy has authored are: “Animals as Guides for the Soul;” “Heart in the Wild;” “All My Relations;” and “Why Buffalo Dance”—her personal favorite. Susan Chernak McElroy’s remarkable “dance with animals” is persuasive. It attests, even for the non-believer, to the amazing healing power of animals.
McElroy concludes with this bit of wisdom, “Animals offer solace as well as lessons in living to anyone willing to listen.”
Additional Information and Resources
• Read more about “Animals as Teachers & Healers: True Stories & Reflections”
• Visit Susan McElroy’s website.
Photo by Clay Myers, Best Friends staff photographer
Posted by Fran Farrell, Best Friends staff