News
Sister Ambrose...A Friend to the Animals
February 16, 2007, 12:0AM MT
By Michelle Buckalew
by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends Animal Society
by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends Animal Society
There’s not much personal history known about this spiritual woman from Grants Pass, Oregon. At the time of the fatal accident, Sister Ambrose was dressed in her habit. She was sadly taken from this world prematurely on January 1, 2007.
Her car was located down an embankment, crashed into a tree. At the scene of the accident, the driver’s license found was registered to Robyn Alexandra Schuttais. But most knew this lady, compassionate friend to the animals, and spiritual leader simply as Sister Ambrose.
Sadly this tragic accident took one of the world’s most low key leaders in animal welfare and her pet chicken, aptly named Chicken. Her life was somewhat mysterious. Her legacy was loud and clear. Sister Ambrose, rescuer of animals, had long been fighting the good fight where love and compassion triumphs all. That is until her untimely end.
It was reported by Grants Pass Daily Courier that she was a member of the Order of St. Dominic, and this fact was echoed by some of her colleagues. But none of them seemed to know what she did religiously to spread the teachings of the gospel – not in a formal sense.
She was always rescuing and saving animals or educating the public on proper animal care. Many times a similar story was told: she used her habit to gain access to people’s hearts and homes! She would use this access to convince them, for example, that they should either take their dog inside (in the case of chaining) or release the dog to her for safe placement.
She was a staunch supporter for the anti-tethering movement, giving the public options and helping to educate them. Her spirituality seemed to spring from her dedication to the voiceless animals that needed her help.
“She was so grounded, she lived by example,” explains Gail O’Connell a long time friend, when describing Sister Ambrose, “she kept her compassion and vision in the face of some of the worst acts of man. She never let what she saw – the abuse or neglect of an animal, discourage her from her mission.”
Another friend, Mary Theodora, described her as “a real person with a real sense of humor. She always left you laughing, she took her rescue work seriously, but never herself too seriously! She was optimistic on the goodness of man and she stayed the course. She was a dandelion and left many seeds in the wind to sprout.”
Donna Harold, another rescue colleague said, “She was seventy years old, but so young at heart. She had a smile and a love of animals. If you asked her for help with an animal situation, it didn’t matter what the request was, she always said yes!”
She began her dedication to animal rescue in Oregon in 1988, after moving up from Big Bear, CA, and did it on her own. She took in the stray and homeless animals. Every rescuer in the area could feel her impact. Soon the whole community was on her side and helping her in anyway they could.
Her local veterinarian, Dr. Jean Manhart gave her a break on spay/neuter fees (she insisted they all be altered before being adopted out). She got food donated from Grants Pass SPCA and was even known quite well at the local WalMart where the cashier would immediately page the Manager to see how they could help her out that day!
Mary Vaotuua from the pet department at WalMart said, “She loved the animals so much, and never saw it as work. She never talked about religion, but was totally into health. She was a vegan, and she would tell you why being a vegan was better for the whole earth! She drove the cashiers crazy, she was constantly buying dog food, around $700 per month, and she’d buy about 70 cans of dog food at once, but would want only two per bag! She was serious, but also very quirky and funny.” Dr. Jean Manhart adds, “she never talked about anything other than animals, except once. She talked about the book When Elephants Weep – which was, of course, about animals.
She would often have between 20 – 50 animals in her care, she literally saved hundreds to thousands of animals. She kept the hardest ones, the ones that had been severely abused, you know the ones with burns or found with the mouths taped shut.
Even though Sister Ambrose saw these terrible things, she held no grudge against mankind. She was into educating the public, and would talk to anyone about ways to help make things better for the animals.”
And she helped animals far and wide – she took in Katrina animals, she took in animals displaced from the infamous Biscuit Fire, she helped animals by keeping a proactive network of people that were all willing to help her cause.
She showed up at Town Council meetings when she knew there would be animal issues addressed. At one of those meeting, emergency evacuation was the topic of discussion, and the question was posed “what do you need on hand for an evacuation?”
“You need to take care of the animals!,” Sister Ambrose immediately retorted and continuing, “Go in gentle, you get more with honey than you do with vinegar,” Donna continues, “she always started out very friendly but would stand her ground if she was talking to a neglectful pet owner. And the louder the person retaliating got, the quieter she would get. She’d been punched at and even had a gun pulled on her, but she never backed down and often got her way.
She was not afraid to stand up for what was right. If an animal needed care, and the people would not relent, she would bring in the sheriff. She would try to counsel people, but in the end, it was always for the welfare of the animals. She said it went back to human abuse: a child is abused, and the child turns around and abuses an animal, and it goes down the chain. But she said the chain must be broken!”
All her rescue colleagues agree, she never turned anyone away that needed help! If someone needed pet food, she gave it to them. If a dog needed to be spayed, she would pay for it. Her personality made people want to help her and each other.
At the time of her passing Sister Ambrose had about seven seemingly unadoptable dogs. Her colleagues went to Saving Grace Pet Adoption Center in Roseburg, OR. In speaking with the shelter staff to see if the dogs still needed placement, they were told that all the dogs were spoken for, and getting ready for transport to their forever placement! Her colleage Donna said, "The public’s outpour of offers of loving support is wonderful! People are pulling together and working together, and that is her legacy. Her spirit is watching!”
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