Buzz Miller

I had been a volunteer in the pet and companion animal world for over 30 years. About 10 years ago, I followed this passion of mine, and left a successful law practice that I had founded to work almost 24/7 on advancing the human-animal bond with its myriad benefits.

What inspired me to embark on this encore was learning that countless military men and women, faced with long-term deployments, were surrendering their beloved pets to shelters because they did not have any other choice. It broke my heart to see people who protect our nation relinquishing the animals they considered family members, and I knew I had to do something to change that.

In 2010, I formed an organization called PACT, People + Animals = Companions Together, which provides free foster care of animals, with the goal of the owners taking the animal back home once they are able.

In 2012, we began our Hospital Program after receiving a call from social workers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. A young heart patient and his family who could not find pet care, so we placed the boy’s dog temporarily in one of our foster homes.

We even serve homeless individuals and their pets. People like Anthony, a homeless vet living in a garage with his violent protective pit bull. We found a safe place for the dog, allowing Anthony to enter a veterans hospital for treatment.

Our goal is to have ZERO companion animals unwillingly submitted to animal shelters due to a temporary military or medical crisis. Without this help, these pets would likely be euthanized or adopted out, never to be seen again by their owners who dearly love them. Instead, owners receive peace of mind from knowing that their pets are receiving wonderful care with foster families providing regular updates through social media.

The most dependable long-term foster families have been the older adults who love animals and who welcome older, longtime pets who might not be as much of a handful as a new puppy in the home. These families are responsible and caring, and love the companionship of the foster animals. They find real fulfillment in helping a deployed soldier who is protecting our freedom or a hospitalized patient struggling to overcome a serious illness.

Both fosters and pet owners are satisfied when the pet is able to return home, and often stay friends long after the foster term. We have managed to create a family of individuals driven by the desire to preserve the human-animal bond through unexpected crises.

Military personnel from 24 states place pets in our care while they serve our country. Pets have come to our suburban Philadelphia headquarters from as far away as California, Texas, Florida and Idaho. We have over 160 foster homes within 75 miles of our headquarters in suburban Philadelphia, and are currently receiving more applications from foster homes throughout our country than locally.

We now serve all five branches of the U.S. military, as well as patients from infants to senior citizens at children’s, veterans and many adult hospitals here in Pennsylvania while expanding nationally.

One surprise for me: I am now convinced that I am able to make a more positive change in the world through my charitable and nonprofit work than through the work of my former law practice, and that is deeply satisfying.