Trish and Stephen are longtime volunteers of Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS). Their story with SAS began in 2004 when they adopted their dog, Titus, from the shelter. About a month later, they became official volunteers. As they were working to get Titus (a husky-lab mix) acclimated to their Lower Queen Anne condo, a dog named Timber went into the foster care of Trish and Stephen after a short stay at the shelter. Staff noticed that Timber was resource guarding his food and exhibiting very stressed behavior; they thought it would be best that he went to a foster home, instead of staying at the shelter, until he found his forever home. While Trish and Stephen were a little wary at first because they weren’t sure how Titus would react, they agreed. Thankfully, Titus calmed down immediately once Timber was in the home; Timber also enjoyed having a play buddy in Titus. Over the first couple of weeks, they fed Timber by hand every day, gradually moving to the bowl until Timber’s resource guarding disappeared. Seeing the strong connection Titus and Timber had with each other (Trish and Stephen lovingly called the two buddies “TNT”), they decided to adopt Timber, as well — making Timber’s journey to his forever home a short and sweet one.
About a year or two after Timber was officially theirs, Trish and Stephen brought in another foster, Noodle. The shelter’s kennels were going though renovation, and foster dog volunteers were asked to take care of some of the dogs while the kennels were getting fixed. Enter: Noodle, a 3 to –6-month-old greyhound mix. While Trish and Stephen were a little worried about bringing in a third male into their one-bedroom condo, Noodle joined the group. Thankfully, the experience went very well. Noodle settled in and was the quietest and best behaved out of all three. During their foster care, Trish and Stephen brought Noodle over to Stephen’s sister’s house. She fell in love with Noodle and adopted him a month later.
Trish and Stephen continued to walk dogs every week at the shelter and took in about ten additional foster dogs. During this time, they moved from their Lower Queen Anne condo to a house, which made fostering more manageable and easier. Diamond, another foster dog of Trish and Stephen, also found her forever home with them. Unfortunately, Titus was having health issues; they became worried about Timber, too, since the duo had become so close. After some time fostering Diamond, they could see the connection she had with TNT and decided to make her a permanent member of the household, as well.
After a few years, Titus and Timber passed away. While Diamond was enjoying all the love, dog food, and attention from Trish and Stephen, they thought it would be good for her to have a buddy. They decided to foster a puppy. After about three days, Diamond decided Leo (the foster puppy) was an acceptable addition to the household. Four-and-a-half years later, Leo weighs 75 pounds and is still a puppy at heart.
Today, Trish and Stephen continue to walk dogs at SAS, though their frequency has gone down a bit due to the pandemic. While they have stopped fostering dogs, Trish and Stephen decided to foster four guinea pigs from SAS, after the organization seized more than 200 animals in a suspected animal cruelty case. They’ve had fun with all their foster animals throughout the years and appreciated the many people they have met along the way. They’ve enjoyed the learning opportunities they’ve had and, of course, appreciated all of the animals they’ve encountered along the way. They are also grateful for the community support the shelter receives, which help make their volunteering possible.
Events like Furry 5K support the valuable work volunteers like Trish and Stephen do. “The Furry 5K has been a wonderful opportunity to bring dogs and their owners together in one place to benefit all of the furry beings passing through SAS. So many people consider their pets regular members of their families, and Furry 5K celebrates that. It’s also a reminder that there are pets-to-be at the shelter, awaiting their forever homes,” says Trish. “To our donors, please know that what you have given has not only saved lives but has allowed dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, reptiles, and others to flourish in foster care and new homes.”
Support and celebrate the work done by wonderful SAS volunteers like Trish and Stephen by registering for Furry 5K or donating to the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation.