SMALL TOWNS: De Peres Bette Anderson has dedicated her life to animal welfare [Video]

DE PERE, Wis. (WBAY) – Bette Anderson’s love for animals started when she was a young girl. When she was six, bedridden with illness, her small cat wouldn’t leave her side.

The De Pere woman, who turns 94 next month, has returned that loyalty her whole life.

“An animal lover,” exclaimed Anderson, when asked to describe herself. “I think I was born with it, really.”

For nearly seven decades, Anderson has made it her mission to help animals across Northeast Wisconsin. She has had a hand in helping start five animal shelters in the region, including the Bay Area Humane Society in Green Bay.

In Keshena, on the Menominee Reservation, she helped launch a clinic that has changed the landscape and the lives of hundreds of animals twice a year, every year, since 2006.

“When we started on the reservation, 35% of the dogs tested positive for heartworm,” Anderson explained, …