A Place to Call Home for Senior Dogs with Valerie Reid | The Long Leash #65

Today on the show, Valerie Reid, who started the non-profit Whispering Willows Senior Dog Sanctuary. The mission? To provide an extraordinary retirement community for senior dogs who find themselves unhoused and unhumaned.

Elderly dogs find their way to Valerie for one of several reasons. Their human may have passed, and their surviving family members can’t provide proper care. Other dogs come from horrendous hoarding situations. Others are rescued from horrible conditions at drug houses.

Peanut, who watches over Valerie throughout this conversation, is a drug house rescue. As he sits on Valerie’s lap, you would never guess this serene little one-eyed gentleman was found blistered and scalded and in desperate need of care. He was left in a cage in 90-degree weather with no food or water. Those who used the drug house he was rescued from didn’t let him out to pee, so he had terrible urine scald. His skin was blistered from the beating sun.

Who would take in such a pathetic creature, who had so much need? Whispering Willows, Valerie’s nonprofit.

Whispering Willows is a senior dogs’ paradise. A gracious home on five acres of fenced property in Missouri gives them shelter and food and companionship for the rest of their days. The dogs are never left alone or caged. They have free range to go where they want, whenever they want. They receive 24-hour care and live as a family with their Caregivers.

They are never, ever alone, right up until the end.

About Valerie Reid

Valerie Reid is the President and Founder of Whispering Willows. Since starting the sanctuary, Whispering Willows has been able to offer full time care for over 600 senior dogs. Over 550 of those seniors have passed over the Rainbow Bridge, with love being whispered until their last breath.

Episode Links

Whispering Willows Senior Dog Sanctuary

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