Hometown Hero:
Kelly DeJesus
Creator of “The Lost and Found Pets of the Navajo Nation” Facebook page
Kelly DeJesus moved away from Shonto, Arizona in 2004 to go to school for Public Health administration. In 2018 her husband was away for a military deployment and Kelly was visiting her home on the Navajo reservation when her support dog “Mako” went missing. She did everything she could think of to find him including putting up flyers, newspaper ads, contacted radio stations, etc. Unfortunately, she did not find him. This experience inspired her to create a resource for the community to share information about lost or found pets as well as pet care information. Mako’s Navajo Nation facebook page was created and then evolved into making an actual group called The Lost and Found Pets of the Navajo Nation so that people could share photos of their pets and get info from volunteers and rescue groups.
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Kelly is now a Public Health graduate student and has previously helped with putting the issue of bite cases and stray dog packs on Navajo at the forefront of the council and Navajo Nation communities. “My intentions are to continue to build my advocacy and platform for animal health and welfare as part of public health highlighting anti-animal cruelty. I have taken the summer off from school to focus on Navajo animals this summer and to see how else I can advocate for them."