THE WORK OF SISTER PAULINE

Another nun who recently came to my attention was one I knew many years ago. I found that she died two years ago. We knew each other through the Delta Society, an organization dedicated to study of the human/animal bond.  We traveled the world together doing conferences and workshops.

 When I knew her she was not yet a professed religious, yet had the garb of one, and frankly in those early days I did not know what to make of her, but respected her dedication to her work and desire to better the lives of others.

SISTER PAULINE QUINN is credited with starting the first prison inmate dog-training program (DTP) in the state of Washington in 1981. (Since then, 36 states across the country have adopted various types of prison-based or jail-based animal programs. The most common type of program involves inmates providing care and training for animals from local shelters or rescue groups and, upon completion of training, the dogs are then put up for adoption.

In partnership with the late Dr. Leo Bustad, former chair of Washington State University’s veterinary program, Sister Pauline started the program, called Prison Pet Partnership, at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor.

Sister Pauline was born Kathleen on December 10, 1942, in Hollywood, California.  Our birthdays were two days apart and we were born  in the same city.  She ran away from home at a young age due to family problems and sexual assaults. 

Trying to escape one set of abuse, she ran into more on the streets, causing her more physical and mental trauma.  

Later, Kathleen got the help of a nun, and a policeman pitting her, gave her a retired police dog, Joni, a German Shepherd.  Joni’s unconditional love, companionship and protection gave her a sense of security, the connection of love, and the dignity of a person for the first time in her life.

She would often say, dog was God spelled backward. To her, “dog” was like a mirror reflection of “God” who also gives  people unconditional love and acceptance.

It was because of this healing experience from her dog, that she started her work. But it was not only involving animals.  In 1985, she founded Pathways to Hope and later Bridges and Pathways of Courage, which encompassed the many projects with which she was involved.

Sister Pauline’s other ministries included volunteering with the Comboni Refugee Center in Rome, where she arranged medical care and transportation for the victims of the Bosnian and Gulf wars, as well as assisting refugees from Angola, Ethiopia, and Somalia. She traveled to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and undertook many other global missions of mercy. 

She was a real humanitarian and had an amazing  gift of “conning” people  to bring aid to those in dire need. She made a huge difference in many people’s lives.

Perhaps because a nun had helped her early in her life, she longed for religious life, but many orders found her “strange”  or too old.  In those early days I knew her, I had a sense that she felt  “safe” in religious garb, which also opened doors for her work.

The  Dominicans accepted her  and  in 1996 Sister Pauline made her final profession of vows to Bishop Raúl Vera López, OP.  “Did you know the word Dominican comes from the Latin words ‘domini’ for God and ‘cani’ for dogs. Dominicans are dogs for God.”  Sr. Pauline said she worked like a dog for God.

Sister Pauline became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in 2018  and died on Friday, March 13, 2020, at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan. She was 77 years of age.

 In 2016 Secrets Shared: The Life and Work of Sister Pauline Quinn, OP  written by Susan Nagelsen and Charles Huckelbury was published.

“It is a story of my life traveling on a journey because it was something that God was speaking to my heart to do.  No matter what happened, I wouldn’t give up. Even though I fell many times from the pressure of rejections and indifference, I kept standing up brushing the dirt off then went out and helped thousands…

God works in mysterious ways to show us his compassion and mercy for others, hoping that we learn that all life is important and we have the strength to help rebuild damaged lives by our love. I had no high school education, wounded, little support yet I went out and helped thousands because I found within the Dominican family where I belong”.  

May she now rest in the peace of the Lord.