Pacific Beach residents Catherine Chow and her partner Dr. Stanley Perkins could never have guessed their animal-loving friend John Peterson – a former Navy serviceman who often walked their dogs and occasionally house-sat for them – was wealthy. He was quiet and unassuming; he enjoyed a simple, unpretentious lifestyle that revolved around his animals.
Imagine their surprise when Peterson approached them to request they be executors of his estate – which, it turns out, was sizable – upon his passing and dedicate all of his accumulated wealth to helping animals in need.
“‘Stunned’ would be an understatement,” said Chow of her initial reaction to Peterson’s request. “We’d known him for years and had no idea he had this kind of wealth. But we also felt so honored he would choose us for something so important.”
After Peterson’s death from late-stage cancer in 2019, Chow and Perkins got to work, forming the John R. Peterson Foundation to ensure better, longer lives for companion animals, just as their friend had asked of them.
Since its creation in 2020, the private foundation has kept Peterson’s legacy and love for animals alive, distributing more than $1 million from his estate to animal welfare organizations, including San Diego Humane Society.
The foundation’s mission employs three key strategies to extend kindness to animals:
- Increasing community participation in spay and neuter programs;
- Supporting veterinary care programs that address disease prevention and treatment; and;
- Contributing to community efforts that enable people to keep their pets in tough times.
May is “Be Kind to Animals” month, and Chow recommends reaching out to an animal welfare organization to offer up whatever it is you have to give. “Not everyone can give like John, and that’s OK,” she said. “You can foster animals; you can volunteer your time to walk dogs. There are lots of ways to help.”
The foundation currently supports a variety of projects toward those efforts, including funding spay/neuter clinics in San Diego and Hawaii, sponsoring a veterinary residency at San Diego Humane Society’s Pilar & Chuck Bahde Center for Shelter Medicine, and funding educational opportunities to help animal owners understand the needs of their pets.
“Our pets don’t have choices – they’re entirely dependent on us,” said Chow, chief executive officer and board member of the John R. Peterson Foundation. “It’s our responsibility to care for them. They provide unconditional love without expectation of anything in return. I think that’s why John was such an animal person.”
Chow devotes her time to running the foundation.
For more information on ways to be kind to animals, contact San Diego Humane Society at www.sdhumane.org or 619-299-7012.
