My Story

I have been rescuing abandoned and/or abused dogs for 50 years.

I took in my first rescue dogs in 1960. I took in two great Danes from a breeder that was going to destroy them because they were not goon enough to show. One was a runt and the other was too big to show. I found a home for the runt fairly quickly. I had the bigger one for about 3 years. He could put his forepaw on my shoulder and his head was a foot above mine. The neighborhood kids used to take him to school and ride him down the hall. That had the teachers tarried so they would give ma a call to come and get him.

My folks got married in 1932. My dad bought a lot that was about 1 and a half acres for $50 and built a house himself on it. The house was built out of ship lap two by four that cost my dad $2.75 for 1,000 board feet We got water from a spring out in back. It was during the depression and times were tight. I was born in 1936. In 1945 we first got electricity and running water. We moved into Seattle the next year.

When I got out on my own, I moved to Finn Hill just north of Kirkland and got a job as a baker for Van de Kamp's. After 23 years there I felt I was just treading water.

During my summer vacations I would take my two pack burrows and explore the Pasayton Wilderness which is high in the Cascades just south of the Canadian border. That was a much better life than being a baker in Seattle. I purchased my land in Easton in 1977 and built my cabin by hand from logs on the site. I chinked the logs with mud and straw like they used to do. On July 6th 1979 when I was 43 years old, I quit and moved to my cabin. Electricity was not available then and I saw no reason to try to make due with a generator. I had not needed electricity as a boy and I did not need it now. I still do not have it. I neighbor and good friend gave me a cell phone a few years back because he was worried about me. I was not about to pay for such a thing but for free, it was worth it. I charge it when I am out driving.

My first serious rescue effort was Alice. I saw her limping along the road on the south side of the freeway at Easton while I was heading over to the tavern to drop off eggs for them to sell. On my way back I could not find her even though I looked everywhere and asked around. But all was not lost because she wandered down my driveway a few days later. She had obviously been nursing pups recently because her mammary glands were still enlarged. I took her to the vet to find out about the limp and in the course of the examination the vet found she had an arrow in her that had passed from behind through her mammary glands. She had chewed off the tip. There was also a bullet wound and signs of being hit in the side of the head with something like a shovel. We became life long companions. I had her a little over 16 years before she passed away in May 2009. She was cremated and I have specified in my will that her ashes and mine are to be scattered together.

IThe state park at Lake Easton also leans on me to deal with strays that show up there.

The North Kittitas County Tribune has run 2 articles about my operation. Unfortunately they do not post their articles on line.

I keep a log of every stray I take in. I've taken in 56 dogs so far.

Rev10/3/10