Janelle Dixon is ending a 33-year career working in animal welfare advocacy.
Dixon told the Sun Post she is excited to retire, and feels “like it’s time to pass the baton.”
However she said her feelings are is mixed.
“I have those pangs of ‘oh, I’m not gonna be here for that.’ I’m still very much in the ‘we’ and ‘our’ mode. So overall, [I feel] good but not without sadness because I’ve been tied to the organization for so long.”
Dixon said she was able to spend over thirty years there partly because it changed so much. She’s never gotten bored.
Thinking back to when she started in 1991, Dixon said she wanted to help with a mission of some sort, like children’s education or homelessness. She applied for a few positions, including at the Minnesota Children’s Museum. Eventually she found herself at the humane society.
The Humane Society of Ramsey County—where Dixon began—merged with the St. Croix Animal Shelter in Woodbury and became the Humane Society for Companion Animals. Then in 2007, the Animal Humane Society (Golden Valley and Coon Rapids), the Humane Society for Companion Animals (St. Paul and Woodbury) and the Greater West Metro Humane Society (Buffalo) merged. This was when it became the Animal Humane Society it is known as today. This was also when Dixon took over as chief executive officer/executive director of the organization.