KING

Judith Piper and her husband Lee operate Old Dog Haven in Arlington, north of Seattle.

ARLINGTON, Wash. - Howard is probably 12 years old, overweight by 40 pounds, has a respiratory infection, and most likely a weak heart.

But at Old Dog Haven, he is loved, along with so many others.

"Victor is the expert at playing. He can play with anything," said Lee Piper.

For most any dog, this is a piece of heaven just outside Arlington, with warm places to sleep, good food, lots of friends, plenty of wide open spaces and lots of love.

"Our business is to make a happy ending," said Judith Piper.

A few years ago, Judith and Lee decided to open up their home to older canines that were down on their luck, and quickly approaching the end of their lives.

They nurse the sick ones back to better health. But often, there are heartbreaking stories of neglect and selfishness.

"We try not to think about the people. We try to think about the dogs. If you wasted your energy getting angry at the people, you couldn't help the dogs," said Judith.

They have seen dogs that were starved to death, tossed outside of moving cars or simply abandoned by their longtime owners who didn't want to deal with them anymore.

"And those are the ones that really bother me.  Really, really bother me.  There's no excuse, there's not excuse," said Judith.

"Most people aren't cruel, they just don't understand, or they're in trouble … financial, moving, life changes.  Or you die.  A lot of the early dogs we got were literally found with their dead owners," said Lee.

So Old Dog Haven tries to find foster homes for these happy faces, with good people out there who might want a mature new friend for awhile.

Last year, they helped find homes for nearly 300 dogs, even rescuing some that were going to spend their final days in a cage at an animal shelter.

A passion for pets has become a life's work.

"You could do much worse things with your life.  And they're such good creatures, such good creatures," said Judith.

Old dog haven relies on donations to help save so many of the elderly dogs.

Send donations to:

Old Dog Haven
PMB A4
621 SR9 NE
Lake Stevens WA 98258-9400