b"The Right Place. The Right Time.The Right Person For The Job.Photographs and Text by Anna CookeThe pigs name was Bacon and he was about to be sprung from event at Trinity Regional Rehab Center. She was volunteeringhis cell at Hernando County Animal Services, under unusual for the Florida branch of Boston Terrier Rescue of Tennessee. Shecircumstances. Two people would be bidding against each other adopted Reggie, a Boston Terrier, after fostering him.for Baconone, a vegetarian She served on the board ofwhowantedtorenamehim directors for Florida Voices forTofuthe other, a carnivore Animals and was one of sev-who could care less whether or eralpeopleinstrumentalinnot the pig had a name at all. creatingtheannualTampaAnimal services picked up Bay Veg Fest. She has traveledthe six-month-old pig, who had to Washington, D.C. to lobbybeenfoundwanderingtoo for stronger animal protectionfarfromanyfarms.Dina laws and has made presenta-Athanassie,alongtimeanimal tions on animal issues rangingwelfareadvocate,wasatthe from factory farming to vivi-county shelter on official busi- section.nessasExecutiveDirectorof InMay2014,TheHumane Society of the Nature HumaneSocietyoftheCoast. When she came face to UnitedStateshostedtheirfacewithBacon,shestepped annualAnimalCareExpooutofherroleasExecutive inDaytonaBeach.DinaDirector and said she wanted to attended,sawajobpostingadopt Bacon. Her plan for the fortheHumaneSocietyofpig, after changing his name to theNatureCoastexecutiveTofu, would be to find a sanctu- director position and emailedary where he could safely live aninquiry.Severalboardout the rest of his life. There was membershappenedtobeone hitch to Athanassies plan. attendingtheExpoaswell,Pigs,consideredlivestock,are whentheyrespondedtonot adoptable. Bacons only way Dina'sinquiry. Whenevery-outofthecountyshelterwas one realized they were all atonthepublicauctionblock. the Expo, a preliminary inter-Athanassie found herself com- view was set up and conductedpeting with a man who made it Dina Athanassie, Executive Director of Humane Society of the onthespot.Athanassiewasclear he had only one thing in Nature Coast with Astro, an eight-year-old Jack Russell Terrier mix, hired soon thereafter, assum-available for adoption.mind for Bacon. ingthedutiesheldfor11Amused, the man played along with the bidding war. He years by Joanne Schoch, who retired in February 2014.must have assumed he was dealing with a bleeding heart part- Founded in 1964, the Humane Society of the Naturetime animal lover who would quickly tire of the game and walk Coast is a small, no-kill shelter doing big things. One of the firstaway. It turns out, when the bid hit $110, he threw up his hands items on Dinas to-do list, after becoming Executive Director,and declared, Im done. That pigs not worth it, walking away was to convince the board to look at how to expand their reachwithout his Bacon and obviously no longer amused.beyond Hernando County. That, and to have a more people-Athanassie paid for the pig using her own money, then friendly walkway to the adoption kennels installed. She imme-made a few phone calls. Tofu, now known as Leonidas, is living diately noticed how the property, which slopes down, floodedthegoodlifeatRootervilleAnimalSanctuary inMelrose, whenever it rained. Without a well-constructed walkway, theFlorida. conditions made it difficult for visitors, as well as for volunteersWe first met Dina a few years ago during the Dog Days exercising the shelter dogs.52THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com"