Bella Bear’s Senior Pet Sanctuary (BBSPS-JT) is a federally recognized veteran owned and operated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations will be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Mission Statement

Bella Bear’s Senior Pet Sanctuary – Joshua Tree (BBSPS-JT) is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and providing lifelong sanctuary and hospice care for abandoned and at-risk senior dogs and cats in Joshua Tree and throughout the greater Morongo Basin. We provide a safe-haven where they can live out their remaining years in safety, comfort, and dignity.

BBSPS-JT serves as a compassionate safety net for senior pets BEFORE they ever enter the shelter system.

We work to intercept owner surrenders by offering emergency and transitional care for elderly animals whose guardians are facing medical crises, hospitalization, surgery, recovery, displacement, or end-of-life circumstances. Ensuring these beloved companions are not abandoned, euthanized, or lost in overcrowded shelters after the death of their family.

Senior pets receiving temporary sanctuary care during an owner’s surgery, illness, or recovery are reunited with their families once they are stable and able to resume care.

All services are provided free of charge to families in need. BBSPS-JT operates entirely through donations, sponsorships, and community support so that financial hardship never becomes the reason an elderly animal loses safety, stability, or love.

Need Statement

Senior dogs and cats are among the most medically vulnerable, emotionally fragile, and least adoptable populations entering shelters today. Across rural and unincorporated desert communities throughout the greater Morongo Basin, limited access to affordable veterinary care, senior pet resources, emergency foster support, and financial assistance contributes to unnecessary abandonment, suffering, and euthanasia of treatable elderly animals.

Many senior pets enter shelters not because they are unloved, but because their owners are elderly, hospitalized, recovering from surgery, experiencing housing instability, entering assisted living, or have passed away unexpectedly. In these moments of crisis, families often have nowhere safe for aging pets to go.

Without intervention, countless senior animals face overcrowded shelter environments that are physically and emotionally devastating for older pets with medical conditions, mobility limitations, anxiety, or hospice needs.

BBSPS-JT was created to fill this critical gap in care by providing a humane alternative rooted in compassion, preservation of the human-animal bond, and dignity for aging pets. Through sanctuary care, hospice support, emergency placement assistance, and temporary recovery fostering, we strive to keep vulnerable senior animals safe, loved, and out of the shelter system whenever possible.

Every donation directly supports:

Preventive and Emergency veterinary care

Chronic disease treatment

Pain magnagement and medications

Nutritious food, mobility support, & transportation

and Hospice care

No Salaries, No administrative costs, just care.

No animal is turned away solely due to old age, medical condition, or an owner’s financial hardship.

What is happening right now:

At the sanctuary: We are currently providing all of the services described above for senior cats and small senior dogs. I am fundraising specifically for the veterinary medical bills we have incurred so far.

Out in the community: On a case by case basis if space and resources provide: we offer services to elderly, disabled, and otherwise low income elderly pet owners: to include covering the cost of veterinary care, in addition to covering the cost of euthanasia for suffering pets and finally, cremation/burial expenses.

We are currently in the infrastructure phase creating safe outdoor spaces for dogs:

Installing secure fencing to include a small and large dog yard.

Renovating the homestead cabin to be temperature controlled shelter, which can be used for either cats or dogs depending on the need at the time. Big dream: May possibly be turned into a small medical clinic in the future, since Vet care is so outrageously expensive.

NO kennels, NO cages, just safe indoor and outdoor housing.

About Me and My inspiration: During a very low point in my life, I went to the San Diego Humane Society Shelter and met a sweet Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix who had been there for months. The animal care staff were so relieved that someone was finally showing an interest in her. I asked why no one had adopted her and was told that it is very difficult to find homes for older dogs (especially if they had medical issues or any anti-social behaviors). That broke my heart, so I brought her home and named her Bella Bear. Bella Bear quickly became the best friend I could have ever asked for. I didn't rescue her, she rescued me from a very dark time. As she aged, she faced a host of medical issues. Ultimately, she passed away in 2021, and it was the greatest loss of my life.

When I moved to Joshua Tree in March 2023, I began looking up the shelters, because I felt that I had mourned Bella Bear for long enough and I was ready to open my heart to another dog. I tried through many of the shelters in San Bernardino County and I was denied each time because I did not have fencing. I had just bought a house and could not afford the thousands of dollars for fencing. Last year, a nice woman sent me the information for a very old dog at the San Bernardino County Animal Shelter on Shelter Way who was going to be euthanized. I happened to be at a VA appointment at the VA Clinic in Redlands, and it was only 12 miles to the shelter. I went to the shelter and they were closed to the public, I believe it was a Monday. So I called and spoke to a woman who told me that old dogs with medical conditions would not be released to the public. They are only released to rescue organizations. In that very moment Bella Bear's Senior Pet Sanctuary was born.

My contribution: I live on a peaceful five acre property in beautiful Joshua Tree, CA. I am in the fortunate position to live on a pension and my home and property are completely paid off. I have no children and want to spend the rest of my days caring for elderly pets. I have enough for all of the pets basics. I am volunteering my own money, property, time, and most importantly ... love. I am currently installing safe fencing and renovating the homestead cabin. I am paying for all of the pets basics, also relying heavily on donation of used pet supplies through generous local supporters. What I need help with is the pets medical bills and that is where you come in.

Thank you for believing in this mission and helping me ensure that no elderly pet in my orbit will spend their final years scared and alone.