Human obituaries
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2005:
Elmina Brewster Sewall, 93, died on April 7, 2005 in
Kennebunk, Maine. Among the first breeders of Sussex spaniel show
dogs in the U.S., Brewster Sewall “between 1936 and 1940, imported
some of the best stock available in England,” and “went on to breed
seven litters over the next six years,” wrote John Robert Lewis Jr.
in Sussex Spaniel, A Complete and Reliable Handbook (1997). Brewster
Sewall also “bred and raised pugs, and was a familiar figure at the
Westminster Dog Show,” recalled Katie Dolloff, program coordinator
for the Animal Welfare Society of Southern Maine. But she had also
become concerned about pet overpopulation, and in the 1950s allowed
her line of Sussex spaniels to die out. After several years of
informal animal rescue, Brewster Sewall and friends incorporated the
Animal Welfare Society in 1967. A longtime AWS board member,
Brewster Sewall was also active in greyhound rescue, and assisted
other charities including Mainely Girls, Friends of the Sea Otter,
the Student Conservation Association, and the Massachusetts SPCA.
The AWS named the Elmina B. Sewall Animal Shelter after her in 1990.
It finds homes for more than 3,000 animals a year,” Dolloff said.