“We give seniors peace of mind by caring for their pups!”
When Carie Broecker’s neighbor had to enter hospice, she worried about her beloved dog. “I’ll find her a new home,” Carie promised. And so began a mission to offer comfort to older folks and their furry friends!
“Mheart is breaking. don’t know what I’m going to do with her,” Carie Broecker’s Pacific Grove, California, neighbor, Alice, fretted when Carie came by to walk her 7-year-old dog, Savannah. Alice’s emphysema was terminal; she needed to enter hospice. But she couldn’t take Savannah with her, and she had no family or close friends who could take the sweet pup.
“She’ll be so miserable in the shelter, and at her age, she might never get adopted,” Alice worried. Then, tears flowing, she said, “Do you think it would be kinder if…”
“No! Don’t even think it!” Carie said emphatically. “Savannah has many good, happy years ahead of her. I’ll find her a home. I promise.”
Carie could see the relief on Alice’s face.
“I’ll adopt you myself,” she told Savannah on the drive home, and wondered, How many other seniors are struggling with the same difficult decision? How many other dogs are facing a trip to the shelter, or worse?
By the time Carie reached home, she knew what
she had to do. I’m going to start a nonprofit to find new families for dogs whose people are dying or too sick to care for them anymore, she decided, hope filling her heart.
Love and care
Excited, Carie shared her idea with her friend and fellow animal lover, Monica Rua.
“Count me in,” Monica quickly offered, and suggested they also help older dogs who wind up in shelters. “It breaks my heart thinking about them languishing there. Their chances of adoption are so low.”
“We’ll call it Peace of Mind, because that’s what we’ll be offering to pet owners,” Carie said.
Carie reached out to local shelters while Monica assembled the Peaceofminddogrescue.org website. Soon they were busy enlisting an army of temporary foster homes and matching pups with people eager to
give them a happy second life—when the right time came.
“I don’t have the strength to care for them anymore,” 80-year-old Patricia Bauer explained when she contacted Peace of Mind Dog Rescue to surrender Mattie, her 6-year-old schnauzer, and Morgan, her 17-year-old cockapoo. Patricia had metastasized breast cancer and her prognosis was terminal. Carie and Monica assured her they would find her precious pups a good home, but not yet.
“You still need them with you, and we’re going to make it happen,” the women promised, and quickly assembled a Helping Paw program, sending volunteers several times a day to walk and play with Patricia’s dogs, and even take them to the groomers.
“You were right—i do need their comfort and love right now,” Patricia said, and she thanked Peace of Mind for all they did in her will with a generous donation.
Sweet second chances
Carie and Monica used the money to start a clinic and hire a vet to ensure senior dogs they take in are healthy and ready for their new families, or for a stay with one of their 80 volunteer foster caregivers. Over the past decade, Peace of Mind has helped over 3,000 deserving dogs and their devoted moms and dads. They also refer cat lovers to a different area organization, Golden Oldies Cat rescue (Gocatrescue.org) that offers similar services for feline friends. “No one should have to worry about what will happen to their beloved fur babies when they can no longer care for them,” says Monica.
Last spring, when 76-year-old Sheila Williams, puppy mom to Chex, Acey and Tater Tot, wound up in the hospital with pancreatitis, Peace of Mind provided a temporary home for her BFFS. “Since my husband died, they’re the only family I have left,” she says. “They are what helps me get out of bed every morning.”
And knowing her sweeties would be there when she got well made Sheila fight all the harder to recover. One woman who, at 94, lost her beloved dog says Carie and Monica gave her the peace of mind to adopt another one even at her age. “Having a dog keeps me going and I know they will keep him going, if necessary,” she explains.
“Our pets give us so much love over the years,” says Carie. “When the years catch up with us, they deserve all the love we can give them.”
“Pets give us so much love. When the years catch up with us, they deserve all of our love too”