GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The role of the Animal Humane Society is to help thousands of animals in need across Minnesota.
Janelle Dixon has spent over 30 years doing just that.
“Everybody comes in because they love animals,” said Dixon, president and CEO of Animal Humane Society.
That love led her to leave Silicon Valley in 1991 for Ramsey County, and a role as a volunteer coordinator for the Humane Society.
She joined at a time when euthanasia was more common.
“It’d make me cry [laughs]! You’d see these animals who were perfectly perfect,” Dixon said. “There was no hope for them.”
Dixon was determined to change that. In 2007, she was elevated to president and CEO.
“She’s a force,” said Melissa Peacock, senior planned giving advisor for Animal Humane Society.
Peacock has worked closely with Dixon over the last 29 years.
“She’s been able to change the way animal welfare in our community has operated and brought people together,” Peacock said.