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In 2008 I was blessed to have welcomed this wonderful Am Staff named Nemo into my family. He was this beautiful brindle boy with huge muscle and strong demeanor. I won't lie, I was intimidated! But, it wasn't long, that Nemo had climbed right into my heart and became by favorite "little man" which was his nickname. He went everywhere with me, from running errands to hitting the road with my mom and I to barrel races for a whole weekend. Nemo was my pal! I loved him so much.
In 2014 Nemo got his first girlfriend who was a rescue from Texas, my first Texas rescue! Goodness did they love each other. Sasha tormented him, but he loved her with everything he had. Having Sasha in his life was a blessing, because in March of 2015 Nemo started getting sick. He saw many vets in the area, and he was diagnosed with UTI's. Which was so rare for boy dogs. He was on a lot of meds, and I had a heck of time getting him to eat. He started getting so so thin. Finally I pushed for better reviews on him, and had some more tests done. That is when I was advised to head to the cities to see a specialist. Nemo was so ill, but he sure had the best spirits as he always did. That next day, after he spent the night in the ER at a veterinary hospital, the results were in. I was devastated. Nemo had really bad cancer and it had already spread everywhere. There was nothing that could be done. They said he had weeks to months to live. I loaded him in the truck and we started the drive home. I sobbed and sobbed all the way home, he knew I was heartbroken. He held on as strong as he could until I got home. Soon as we got there, Nemo and I laid in the grass, I held him tight and he passed away in my arms. There is no greater pain, or feeling of uselessness that at that moment. But now Nemo wasn't in pain anymore and he crossed over the rainbow bridge happy and healthy. Nemo passed away August of 2015.
That same summer, I joined a program called Leadership Duluth. Being from Grand Rapids, I wasn't familiar with Duluth at all and knew that this was a great program to join. In this program, not only do you learn much about leadership and about Duluth, they assign you to create a service project to give back to the community. We had many amazing options to choose from or design one of your own. So one day we were touring the more challenging aspects and realities of our city, our homeless shelter in Duluth. I saw cars running outside with cats and dogs in them so I asked what the story was with that. They stated the animals are not allowed in the shelter, for many understandable reasons. I also asked where they get supplies for their animals, which I found was a bit of a challenge. Right there, my service project was born. Nemo Paws collected thousands and thousands of pounds of dog and cat food as well as cat litter. Bagged it into 1 gallon freezer bags and donated it all to CHUM food shelf. This wasn't going to be a one time deal, I wanted to keep helping, keep doing more and eventually turn into a nonprofit organization. In 2017 I officially turned Nemo Paws into a 501C3 nonprofit organization. With that dream in mind to one day have rescues of my own just like Sasha, as well as still helping those in need in our community. That dream turned into a fast reality when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas. We knew what needed to be done. I created a great team to work with me on this rescue mission, and we got an unbelievable amount of support! We rented two vans, loaded down with tons of food and supplies for shelters in need, and came back with 20 dogs! Since then, Nemo Paws has adopted out over 25 dogs. Thank you to my amazing team of help! Nichole Jopke owner of Passion Fur Pets and Elizabeth Schultz from Grand Rapids. Our slogan is "It takes a village!" Because it really does - one person simply cannot do this alone.
So what is the future of Nemo Paws? Well, we still work with CHUM food shelf - when they need me, they know they can call me. I will be there! We also will continue to do our rescue missions. Right now things have slowed down, the last vet bill just came in on one of our dogs from Texas from September 2017. And we are trying to catch back up again, our goals for 2019 are to get better insurance, that way we can partner with our local humane societies and assist them when they have overflow. In addition to that, when doing our out of state missions, we need to make sure we have the proper funds to handle bringing in these dogs. The dogs we rescue are not highly appealing to the public. They tend to be less attractive, have health issues or were abandoned for no good reason. What comes with these types of rescues, is a large expense. We need more support from our communities so we can continue to do what we do best! And that is help save the forgotten, get them healthy and well enough to find their furever homes.
In 2014 Nemo got his first girlfriend who was a rescue from Texas, my first Texas rescue! Goodness did they love each other. Sasha tormented him, but he loved her with everything he had. Having Sasha in his life was a blessing, because in March of 2015 Nemo started getting sick. He saw many vets in the area, and he was diagnosed with UTI's. Which was so rare for boy dogs. He was on a lot of meds, and I had a heck of time getting him to eat. He started getting so so thin. Finally I pushed for better reviews on him, and had some more tests done. That is when I was advised to head to the cities to see a specialist. Nemo was so ill, but he sure had the best spirits as he always did. That next day, after he spent the night in the ER at a veterinary hospital, the results were in. I was devastated. Nemo had really bad cancer and it had already spread everywhere. There was nothing that could be done. They said he had weeks to months to live. I loaded him in the truck and we started the drive home. I sobbed and sobbed all the way home, he knew I was heartbroken. He held on as strong as he could until I got home. Soon as we got there, Nemo and I laid in the grass, I held him tight and he passed away in my arms. There is no greater pain, or feeling of uselessness that at that moment. But now Nemo wasn't in pain anymore and he crossed over the rainbow bridge happy and healthy. Nemo passed away August of 2015.
That same summer, I joined a program called Leadership Duluth. Being from Grand Rapids, I wasn't familiar with Duluth at all and knew that this was a great program to join. In this program, not only do you learn much about leadership and about Duluth, they assign you to create a service project to give back to the community. We had many amazing options to choose from or design one of your own. So one day we were touring the more challenging aspects and realities of our city, our homeless shelter in Duluth. I saw cars running outside with cats and dogs in them so I asked what the story was with that. They stated the animals are not allowed in the shelter, for many understandable reasons. I also asked where they get supplies for their animals, which I found was a bit of a challenge. Right there, my service project was born. Nemo Paws collected thousands and thousands of pounds of dog and cat food as well as cat litter. Bagged it into 1 gallon freezer bags and donated it all to CHUM food shelf. This wasn't going to be a one time deal, I wanted to keep helping, keep doing more and eventually turn into a nonprofit organization. In 2017 I officially turned Nemo Paws into a 501C3 nonprofit organization. With that dream in mind to one day have rescues of my own just like Sasha, as well as still helping those in need in our community. That dream turned into a fast reality when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas. We knew what needed to be done. I created a great team to work with me on this rescue mission, and we got an unbelievable amount of support! We rented two vans, loaded down with tons of food and supplies for shelters in need, and came back with 20 dogs! Since then, Nemo Paws has adopted out over 25 dogs. Thank you to my amazing team of help! Nichole Jopke owner of Passion Fur Pets and Elizabeth Schultz from Grand Rapids. Our slogan is "It takes a village!" Because it really does - one person simply cannot do this alone.
So what is the future of Nemo Paws? Well, we still work with CHUM food shelf - when they need me, they know they can call me. I will be there! We also will continue to do our rescue missions. Right now things have slowed down, the last vet bill just came in on one of our dogs from Texas from September 2017. And we are trying to catch back up again, our goals for 2019 are to get better insurance, that way we can partner with our local humane societies and assist them when they have overflow. In addition to that, when doing our out of state missions, we need to make sure we have the proper funds to handle bringing in these dogs. The dogs we rescue are not highly appealing to the public. They tend to be less attractive, have health issues or were abandoned for no good reason. What comes with these types of rescues, is a large expense. We need more support from our communities so we can continue to do what we do best! And that is help save the forgotten, get them healthy and well enough to find their furever homes.