Therapaws Senior Sanctuary

TheraPaws - a 501(c)3 - was designed to bring senior humans and senior dogs together. “These dogs just want to cuddle and be loved by their person.” Shauna - the founder of TheraPaws - says, “When my dogs and their elders connect, all kinds of memories start coming out. Even seniors struggling with dementia or Alzheimer’s will start talking about their childhood pets, about happy memories from their lives. You can see it in their eyes, the younger person coming out to play. Seniors to seniors; they see each other differently than other people do. The bond between them is something they understand in a way no one else could."

TheraPaws offers these visits for free: Shauna never charges a care center to bring her animals to the elders.

Here’s how you can help: while Shauna has self-funded the TheraPaws program for seven years, she’s about to lose the dogs' sanctuary. The owner of the house died, and it’s being put up for sale in July. She can’t afford to buy the home. The refuge is perfectly set up to house the senior pets and the charity’s base of operations. The non-profit needs $500,000 to buy the house and save the dog’s sanctuary.

These are two very underserved communities that truly deserve this kind of care and love. Please donate in honor of the pet you love. Donate in honor of the elders you treasure. Your donation goes straight to the 501(c)3 to save the TheraPaws sanctuary.

You can make a difference by donating today to Therapaws Senior Sanctuary.

Here's more about the history of the TheraPaws cause...

Have you ever walked into a senior care center, maybe to visit your mom, or your grandfather, and noticed that elder? The one, sitting alone? Not interacting, not talking, or smiling? As if they’ve already retreated from the world, and it’s heartbreaking.

Shauna noticed this, too. Every time she’d bring her dogs in to visit her mother at her care center, she wasn’t the only one to brighten up and come alive again. “I started noticing that residents I’d never seen before would come out on the days that I’d bring my babies in to see Mom. They’d be waiting for a chance to see the puppies.” Shauna would gently place the dogs into an elderly pair of arms and she would see it- the tentative smile on a wrinkled face, their cheek resting against the soft fur, and sometimes, words from a soul who hadn’t spoken in a long time.

“When I walked in one day,” she said, “and found the whole rec room filled with residents and even some family members, waiting for me, I knew I’d found my calling.”

While Shauna often brought in puppies or even kittens she’d foster for the Utah Humane Society, her true loves were the senior dogs. “No one wants to adopt an elderly pooch, knowing that they might die soon. But I’d rather bring them home, love them and have them just rip out my heart when they pass away, knowing the last of their life was a happy one.”

The residents at one of the care centers Shauna and the TheraPaws pets visit tried to start this fundraiser for her, but they were just informed that their center was closing and they had less than a month to find somewhere else to live. Every one of the seniors begged Shauna to start bringing TheraPaws to their new location. She's got a lot of visits to plan. Please help us save the sanctuary, save the TheraPaws pets, and give these elders the comfort and happiness they deserve. Thank you for anything you can afford to donate, and please tell your friends and family, too!