Our Story
Our story begins in July 2023, with our founder’s relocation to the Ft. Worth area. We quickly became engaged with our community and their pets and within weeks got a late night call about a dog under a house in a brutal heat wave, appearing to be in distress. Pup Pup spent the night before heading off to animal control to try to find out how Pup Pup ended up in this situation. He was a sweat, younger, typical cattle dog; mouthy, pushy, goofy, and lovable. This began our relationship with a local large shelter. Pup Pup was adopted, and returned, and bounced around and lost in the system, eventually being labeled as aggressive, much to our protest, and then put on last call. We were stunned. This cute, friendly guy was now facing death, largely because the system was inadequate to understand his breed, and did not educate a new owner on simple things like how to introduce a new dog to your existing family dog. We mounted a massive last hours Hail Mary on social media and by a miracle he was saved, just an hour before his end. A friend of his owner saw the post and forwarded it. Pup Pup, now Atlas, had a family, a young girl that loved him deeply, a mom, and an awful story of the dog being forcefully taken, and the family unable to find him and eventually assuming the worst. This case stuck with us, how could such a great dog end up in a city shelter and go from sweet and loving to listed for euthanasia due to behavior?
Gizmo, our founder’s service dog, and Pup Pup, July 2023 (two cattle dog mixes that connected very well)
Through our continued work with dogs at the shelter, offering training and evaluations, fostering, and doing whatever we could to make a difference. We began to foster in our own home and ended up with a senior German shepherd. Dallas was a last call dog, amazing in all ways, sweet and super smart. We quickly unlocked her secrets; she was capable of over twenty different commands/skills. But she became ill, and we had to rush her back to the shelter for medical care, only to find out after her being there overnight that this care was simply to watch her, not run lab work, etc. In this illness Dallas missed her ride, her chance with the rescue for a better life. We could not fail her so we began a campaign through contacts and social media to find Dallas the right human. And that we did. We connected with a young Navy pilot looking for a German Shepherd to be his co-pilot in life. He was perfect and she was perfect for him. Dallas, like Atlas had dodged an awful ending, and landed in Florida where she takes long jogs on the beach with her dad every day, and is inseparable from him. Ideas began to form, what could we do to help even more.
Ms. Dallas, her lambs, and those beautiful teefs!!
And the calls began flooding in. Two opossums in a garage with an owner ready to shoot them. A banded pigeon on a roof. A stray cat. Can you help remove a dead dog from near a school. Two wolf dogs loose and injured. Two emaciated labs roaming the streets. And the drop offs started as well. A box of kittens, a long-haired shepherd, and many many more. We did chipping clinics with partners in our community and began to realize the magnitude of animals in need in the area.
Then came Espen. This story is one that is very hard to write about. Espen was a gorgeous King Shepherd pulled on behalf of a rescue for a rehab, eval and prep for transport. Espen had gone last call as he had been sick in the shelter for a month and was degrading. Espen stole our hearts as he came out of his shell revealing an intelligent, sweet boy. But he would have moments of aggression that increased both in magnitude and frequency, eventually turning on the one he loved most. A decision was made, the hardest and most painful one to make, Espen had to be put down due to the idiopathic aggression. He would not find his forever home, we were too late, unable to bring him fully back to a loving dog. Espen’s final days were filled with spoiling and love like he deserved. But in the darkness there is always light. We’d no longer just foster and train, and volunteer throughout our community but we’d go all in and start a rescue, one in the most loving memory of our Espen. We would work tirelessly to pull dogs before they are euthanized; the dogs struggling in the shelter environment, the dogs no one wants, those forgotten and neglected, and in kind find their home, often people struggling with their own disabilities and challenges needing help finding the right partner. We’d make this our life mission, to work to end the senseless death of such beautiful friends and companions. In Espen’s name we will fight with all we have to change this world one city at a time so every dog finds its furever home. We started this rescue in September of 2023 as a 501C3 Charity. We created a medical fund for our dogs in Espen’s name, and a general donation account so we can have the resources to do this.
Every penny goes toward helping these beautiful dogs, with food, supplies, training and rehabilitation, etc. All of this care is provided by our team of volunteers who every day spend their own money to meet the never-ending needs. Help us make a difference with not just dogs but helping people that can’t afford a service dog find one, and embark on their journey together.
- To Espen my love. You will always walk beside me and remind me why this journey, though so painful and hard, is the journey I must take.
Espen, our sweet boy, 2023.
In loving memory of Espen. You will never be forgotten. You lit a spark inside that will never fade.