Petey Pirate spent 10 years of his life chained up, getting beaten by the person who was supposed to take care of him. By the time Take Me Home Dog Rescue pulled him from a Los Angeles shelter in 2020, he was hours from being euthanized. He was also a black pit bull, which meant the odds were already stacked against him. One of his eyes was so badly damaged it had to be removed.

He got a little eye patch (hence the pirate name) and eventually, a new life in Seattle with a woman named Andrea. He loved everyone he met after that. Every person, every kid, every dog, even cats. He lived almost three years with her, complete with an annual pirate-themed birthday party, before he passed away.

There are dozens of stories like this at Take Me Home Dog Rescue, a Boise-based, all-volunteer nonprofit that’s been rescuing dogs from high-kill shelters since 2017. When they leased a small facility here in town to house dogs in transition, they named it Petey’s Place in his memory.

How it started

Sharon Helmandollar, founder and president of Take Me Home Dog Rescue, spent 36 years as a nurse, mostly working in the pediatric ICU. She also regularly volunteered for animal rescues around the Treasure Valley. Other volunteers began telling her that she should start her own rescue. After she retired from nursing that’s exactly what she did, forming an all-female founding board in 2017.

When they sat down to figure out what kind of rescue they wanted to be, they noticed something. Back then there were plenty of purebred rescues. There were no rescues in the area who were focused on mixed breed dogs, even though mixed breeds make up the majority of dogs being euthanized in shelters nationwide. In addition, most adoption platforms are built around specific breeds, which makes mixed breed dogs harder to market.

“We just thought, we’ll go for the underdog,” Sharon said. “They’re great dogs. There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re healthy, happy, adoptable dogs, but they’re overlooked.”

The underdogs

Take Me Home partners with shelters across Idaho, Utah, California, Texas, Louisiana, and Maui. Shelters post which dogs are scheduled to be euthanized, along with a “due out” date. A few years ago, that date was usually two to four weeks out. Now it’s often just 24 to 48 hours, which Sharon attributes to overcrowding in shelters.

“There’s no space to put the dogs coming in,” said Sharon. “If a dog comes in as a stray, it gets a mandatory 7 day straight hold so someone can find it. If a dog comes in as an owner surrender, it can be euthanized the same day.”

When Take Me Home commits to a dog that is out of state, they cover its spay or neuter surgery before it travels to Boise, since it’s often significantly cheaper to do the procedure in the state where the dog is located. The dog spends at least two weeks with a foster family to make sure it’s healthy enough to travel, then heads to Boise fixed and vaccinated.

Getting them here isn’t simple. Some dogs travel by plane. Others take a long road trip through a volunteer relay network called Kindred Hearts. A dog leaving Louisiana might spend four days on the road, passed between 29 different drivers with four overnight stops along the way, until it reaches Boise.

For dogs coming from Idaho shelters, Take Me Home volunteers go pick up the dogs and bring them back to Boise, then spay/neuter and vaccinate the dog.

Not every transport goes right. One recent dog, a German Shepherd named Dennis, arrived last September from a Texas shelter. He’d been shipped in a crate several sizes too small, right after being neutered, and had a broken femur that had healed wrong once already and rebroken in transit. He also had old gunshot wounds. Dennis needed two surgeries and months of rehab. Sharon fostered him herself to ensure he was healing properly. Take Me Home also no longer works with that shelter. Dennis has since been adopted and is now living happily on a ranch.

“Their lives matter,” Sharon said. “They shouldn’t have to go through that stress.”

The right fit

Take Me Home currently has about 13 active fosters and six regular volunteers, who help with dog walking and care for dogs who are waiting for a foster family. Fosters have to be over age 21, provide a safe home, and work on basic manners with the dog. Food, crates, and any training a dog needs are covered.

Dogs typically stay in foster care for at least three weeks before going up for adoption, because that’s about how long it takes for a dog’s real personality to show. “Our rescue bases adoption on what the dog needs, not what the human wants,” Sharon said.

Every adopted dog goes home with a leash and collar, a small tradition meant to symbolize a new chapter of life. Puppies and pit bulls go through a foster-to-adopt process with positive reinforcement training before the adoption is final. In almost eight years, they’ve only had three dogs returned, and none of those were because the dog was the problem.

How to help

Take Me Home needs fosters more than anything else, but there are a few other ways to help.

You can apply to foster or start an adoption application directly on their website. Adoption fees range from $100 to $250 depending on age, and the fee is waived for adopters 65 and older taking home a senior dog.

If fostering isn’t in the cards, Petey’s Team lets you sponsor dogs at the facility for a donation of $25 a month, which gets your dog’s photo featured on their site as a member of the team helping keep Petey’s Place running.

On Saturday, August 1, from 2-6pm, Take Me Home is doing Relay for Rescue, a scavenger hunt and bar crawl through downtown benefiting several local animal welfare groups. Tickets are $40 and include a team shirt and drink discounts. Take Me Home won last year!

On Monday, August 24, from 6-10pm, head to Payette Brewing for Kegs 4 Kause, where 50% of tap sales that night go straight to Take Me Home Dog Rescue.

You can also donate directly any time. Learn more about Take Me Home Dog Rescue here.

Thanks for reading!

With love from Boise,

Marissa

This story is sponsored by Take Me Home Dog Rescue

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