Chicago cop raises most money for Naperville’s ADOPT shelter
Laura Agin has seen a lot in her nearly 25 years as a Chicago police officer. And not all of it involves people.
“It’s bad (in the city),” Agin said. “Sometimes I don’t want to go on the calls, but I have to; I have to do something about it.”
Agin’s “it” involves animals — abandoned, abused, “you name it,” she said.
“Some say you become more callous when you’re the police, but it’s been the opposite for me,” Agin added. “I’ve become more compassionate.”
This compassion for homeless animals has inspired Agin to get involved. She donates money to a variety of animal causes such as the ASPCA, the Humane Society and Red Door, but “as far as volunteering, (I only give time to) ADOPT.”
Agin earned the award for the top individual pledge getter of Animals Deserving of Proper Treatment’s 18th annual Makin’ Strides for Strays Walkathon May 1 in Naperville.
“They (ADOPT) gave me my heart, my little Joey Wiggles, and that’s my place now,” Agin said.
Agin, who raised $3,750 for the shelter in Naperville, said officers often find abandoned and abused animals wandering the city,
“We (police officers) find a lot of dogs in the street, and we are really lucky to find homes for them, but every once in a while we can’t,” Agin said. “And I won’t take them to a kill shelter.”
Because she resides in Chicago, she originally was unaware of the no-kill facility in Naperville; her nephew tipped her off to ADOPT.
“He told me, ‘I know a place (for stray dogs),” Agin said. “He took (one of our stray dogs) there, and ADOPT (accepted) it.
“So when I was looking for another dog (of my own) seven years ago, I went to ADOPT,” Agin said. “And they gave me the little love of my life — Joey Wiggles. Then my mom went there, and we got her a dog, and my niece went there and got two cats.”
Joey Wiggles, a Jack Russell terrier, is one of Agin’s three dogs.
“I am a big animal lover,” she said. “We didn’t have many pets growing up, sometimes hamsters or guinea pigs, but once I became an adult and saw all these dogs out here, I said, ‘I have to start doing something for them.’ ”
Thus began Agin’s involvement with ADOPT
Also the top pledge getter in 2009, Agin said she has “generous family and friends.”
Agin’s dad, Larry Agin, supports his daughter all the way.
“He told me, ‘I’ll match whatever you raise,’ so I went out there and raised $2,000 by asking every person possible in the police station, neighbors, on the Internet’s FirstGiving, and then he put in the other two grand.”
Agin, who has participated five times in the walkathon, said her little Joey Wiggles goes with her every year.
“She didn’t want to leave (the walk) this year,” Agin said. “I had to pick her up to get her out of the parking lot.”
In addition, Agin’s dad, 75, walked with her, accompanying one of her other two dogs.
And her future after serving as one of Chicago’s finest?
“When I quit (being a police officer), I want to do something with animals,” she said.
Ÿ Linda Kane is an ADOPT volunteer and writer.
By the numbers
Heres a look at the numbers from Animals Deserving of Proper Treatments recent Makin Strides for Strays fundraising walkathon:
Total pledges: $45,000
Total participants: 518
Total dog participants: 302
Top individual pledge-getter: Laura Agin, $3,750
Second individual pledge-getter: Pam Siddon, $1,800
Top team: NNHS Huskies/Kristen Gamble, $1,368
Top online team: Team Abby/Linda Marsh, $1,115.77