At NAIA, our hearts go out to the families who have suffered losses during this destructive pandemic.

Like most Americans, the NAIA staff and most of our board members are shuttered in and working from home. It's not all bad. On the positive side, the extremists seem to be shuttered in place, too, so misdirected state and local legislation is at an all-time low!

And although we have had to reschedule many of our plans and events, this down-time has allowed us to refocus our attention on unfinished projects, long-simmering ideas and new opportunities. We are especially grateful to be able to call on the talent and diversity of our board of directors. Their expertise runs the gamut from being superb dog-breeders and trainers, horse aficionados, farm and ranch experts, animal industry leaders, lawyers with animal law and welfare skill, to neuroscientists, respected veterinarians, biologists, educators and science writers. Their talent and readiness to share are truly amazing.

Today we are introducing one of our long-planned projects called Consider the Source and along with its introduction we will be presenting a series of short pieces related to COVID-19. We'll typically offer articles more directly related to animals, but with a pandemic disrupting our lives, we thought a series shedding light on the subject of virulent disease might be interesting. So, over the next couple of weeks while we're all house bound, we'll be introducing a number of short pieces on viruses, contagion, pandemics and a host of related issues. Huge thanks to our board member, Dr. J. Richard Schrock for providing the framework, expertise and much of the writing for this series.