 Top 10 NomineesRuby Wilson battles any circumstance to save dogs, cats-with no pay. Last summer, Wilson's watchful eye led to the breakup of the largest dog fighting ring in Illinois and the subsequent rescue of 37 dogs from a home in South Holland. In January '08, she helped rescue 20 starving dogs from a freezing barn in Manhattan and has helped with the confiscation of 49 feces-covered Yorkies, chihuahuas and pugs from a puppy mill. Wilson, 42, has trudged through animal waste, over pet carcasses and past fur-encrusted kitchen appliances to gather up pets residing in the homes of hoarders. Last year, she encountered 175 cats living inside a reeking home in Midlothian. After the South Holland bust last summer, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced the need for an animal abuse task force. Now, Wilson gets the assistance of two investigators with the Cook County Sheriff's Special Operations animal abuse division. She has been on the receiving end of her share of abuse, however. The worst came at the hands of a mom armed with a wiffle bat. Wilson had stopped to scold a group of boys who were hitting a dog with the plastic bat. The mother of one of the boys got upset, grabbed the bat and began hitting Wilson. Asked if such attacks make her think twice about the kind of work she does, Wilson said, "No way." Compared with the abuse some of her rescued animals have endured, she asks, "What's a wiffle bat beating?" |
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