The Woman Who Never Stopped Saying Yes

Walk into Tanya's home and you will hear it before you see it. A rustle here. A squeak there. The soft shuffle of something small and curious. This is her world. And she would not trade it for anything.

Tanya is a mom. She is an aunt. She is a sister and a daughter. But ask the people in her neighborhood who she is, and they will probably say: she is the one who takes in the animals.

She has been doing it most of her life.

It started with a guinea pig

It was her daughter who started it all. She wanted a guinea pig. So they went to the shelter and adopted one. Tanya had not done much research at the time. She quickly changed that.

When that guinea pig passed away, her phone started ringing. Word had gotten out. People needed someone to take in their animals. Tanya said yes.

She has never really stopped saying yes.

She does not advertise. She does not have a website. Everything comes by word of mouth. Over the years she has taken in guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, and chinchillas. At one point, she had 27 guinea pigs living under her roof.

She laughs when she says it. But you can tell she means it. And you can also tell that if someone called her tomorrow with a guinea pig in need, she would at least pick up the phone.

The soul dog

Tanya'with Will, her Bernese Mountain Dog. Photo by [Photographer Name].

Among all the animals that have come through her door, one stands above the rest. His name was Will. He was a Bernese Mountain Dog. He weighed about 130 pounds. And from the moment they met, Tanya says, it was love.

Will came to her through her ex-husband. His previous owners were leaving the country to do missionary work. They gave away everything they owned. That included Will.

Will became her shadow. Her best friend. Two peas in a pod. Then he got cancer. She had to say goodbye.

She cried every single day after losing him. She cried until she got a tattoo of him. It helped. A little.

Tanya still gets quiet when she talks about Will. He was her soul dog. That is the only word for it.

The zoo she calls home

Today, Tanya shares her home with quite a crew. There are three dogs. Emma the pug is the queen of the house and she knows it. Odis is a toy poodle who has been around about a year. Dennis is a big mystery mix who showed up six months ago and made himself at home.

Then there are the cats. Tink is the elder. She is 16 or 17 years old. She came to Tanya as a tiny baby, found up in a tree in the middle of a thunderstorm. Star started as her daughter's cat. As these things tend to go, she became mom's responsibility.

And then there is Lily.

Tanya spotted Lily while volunteering at the Animal Rescue League. She was the most beautiful cat Tanya had ever seen. Then she learned Lily's story. Lily's family had died in a house fire. Lily survived. Someone found her and brought her to the shelter.

That was that.

Beyond the dogs and cats, Tanya also has three rabbits, two chinchillas, a parakeet, a full fish tank, and two aquariums. In those aquariums live three axolotls. Tanya is, by her own admission, highly obsessed with them.

What she wants you to know

Tanya has a message for anyone thinking about getting a small animal. Small animal does not mean small responsibility.

Do your research before you buy anything. The colorful plastic cages sold at pet stores? Harmful. A lot of what is on those shelves is not safe. Guinea pigs and rabbits need hay around the clock. It makes up 80 percent of their diet. They eat constantly. And they make a mess constantly. Be ready for that.

She also wants people to adopt, not shop. There are hundreds of thousands of animals in shelters right now. They are waiting for someone to walk through the door. For small animals and cats, she recommends the Animal Rescue League, tucked in the back of a locally owned store called I Pet Food and Seascapes on 22nd Street in West Des Moines. For fish and axolotls, she swears by Crowned Aquatics. Both are small, local businesses she believes in.

And if you need to rehome an animal? She points people to Animal Lifeline, a thrift store where every dollar raised goes back to the animals. Tanya donates there herself.

Trash walks and other good deeds

When Tanya is not caring for her animals, she is outside picking up trash.

She calls them trash walks. She heads to the park with a bag and starts picking up litter. Straws. Bottle caps. Plastic bags. All of it. She does it because litter kills wildlife. That is the number one reason. The neighborhood looking nicer is just a bonus.

A few weeks ago, six kids came over and joined her. Just like that. She loved it. She sees herself as a positive influence for young people. Show them that one person can make a difference. Show them that small acts matter.

The rest of the story

There is a converted school bus parked outside. It has electricity. The back is home to her axolotl collection. Of course it is.

Tanya loves to thrift. She collects things. Mason jars. Lava lamps. Tamagotchis. Spice Girls memorabilia. Britney Spears. Mushrooms. ALF. Yes, the alien. Her favorite place to shop is Animal Lifeline. The money goes somewhere that matters.

Ask Tanya what the most amazing thing she has ever done is and she does not mention the animals. She does not mention the trash walks or the bus or the tattoo on her arm.

She means her daughter. A teenager now. Tanya is proud of her in a way that does not need many words.

That is Tanya. Quiet kindness. Open doors. A home full of creatures that needed someone to say yes.

She keeps saying yes.