Editor’s note: It’s the third in a holiday series called Everyday Heroes, which rewards community members who do good things out of the spotlight. Each was nominated for recognition. The series continues Thursday with Lynn Walling. Featured on Monday was Trevor Allen; Tuesday was Burtis Williams.
Ritchie Rud, an “everyday hero” for 2022, still remembers his late wife’s love of animals.
Whether it’s caring for his own rescue cats and dogs or transporting those belonging to Meals on Wheels Plus customers to the vet or groomer, he knows she would be proud of him.
“It’s all part of my grieving journey,” he said.
In March 2021, the Meals on Wheels driver began picking up animals from customers’ homes and taking them to a veterinarian as part of the nonprofit’s Pets to the Vet program. Last April, he decided to take the animals to the groomer to have their nails cut or trimmed.
Betty Bradley, who nominated Rud for “Everyday Hero”, is the executive director of Meals on Wheels Plus. She said the longtime nonprofit organization partnered with the Big Country Veterinary Clinic and the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation several years ago to provide annual free and free Vaccinations and Medications for Pets. low-income customers.
However, Rud pays out of pocket for the claw trimming and grooming of each animal.
“Ritchie Rud has a big heart for pets and their owners,” she wrote in her nomination.
Rud said he got the idea to involve a groomer while driving by Dog Gone Pretty Pet Salon. He spoke to the owner, whose mother had delivered meals years ago, and was able to get a discount for taking multiple animals.
Rud retired in 2001 from Dyess Air Force Base after serving as a C-130 loadmaster for 27 years. He earned a degree in social work from Abilene Christian University in 2004 and briefly helped Meals on Wheels as part of his degree requirements. He also worked as an Abilene Police call dispatcher/answer.
He and his wife moved to Katy, near Houston, where he worked for a company that helped corporate pilots with international logistics and flight preparation. Later, he loaded cargo and served as a flight crew member on large commercial aircraft.
He returned to Abilene in 2020 after his wife’s death.
Bradley said Rud has delivered more than 13,000 meals since joining Meals on Wheels and made more than 150 trips to the vet, many involving multiple pets.
Additionally, he took 132 pets for nail trimming, 16 for grooming, and four for a bath.
“He’s even bought sweaters for newly groomed pets because he knows they’ll be cold without the heavy fur blanket they once had,” Bradley wrote.
She said Rud asks to be assigned different routes so he can watch for animals that need care. He helped Four Meals on Wheels customers euthanize their pets when they couldn’t get them to the vet or couldn’t afford the cost.
He also obtained a pet after a client died and took it to another client whose animal died a few months before, she said.
“I check on fur babies all the time,” while delivering meals, Rud said.
He said the groomer he takes the animals to goes with him on Tuesdays when the business is closed, to make tours inside. He added that some customers are reluctant to let their pets go even for a trip to the groomer because they are so attached.
At home, Rud takes care of a handful of cats and dogs that have been rescued, abandoned or injured.
Bradley said he has kept pets while their owner was hospitalized and even provided shelter for animals whose owner had died.
Rud said he wanted to create a network of adoptive parents who could shelter an animal until someone took it permanently in the event of death.
“One of my goals is not to have the client’s animal go to an animal shelter,” he said.
“He would also like to find people willing to adopt pets whose owner is no longer able to care for them for whatever reason,” Bradley wrote.
Seeing his wife being so dedicated to the family pets inspired him.
“I love them too, but she really loved them,” he said.
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