Valley dog rescue group seeks permanent home

PALMER — If in July you head to Alaska Dog and Puppy Rescue and no one is there, don’t freak out.

The organization still exists, and vacating their headquarters on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway is, hopefully at least, a step toward something bigger and better.

“What we’re looking for ultimately is someplace where we can build a sanctuary for dogs in Alaska where we can provide a place where they can live with dignity and find a forever home,” ADPR president Paul Aitken said.

If a dog can’t find a forever home, the sanctuary will be a forever home, ADPR vice president Angie Lewis added.

The rescue group is therefore seeking a large piece of property. Aitken said donated land would be best, but the group could maybe swing some kind of low-cost deal. It would like utilities — water, sewer and electric — but a home is optional. It should be close to the core area of the Valley, but still large enough for dogs to have room to run.

Eventually, the group would like to put in a training center, maybe a surgical facility, and multiple places where dogs could be separated from one another if need be.

ADPR is serious about having “Alaska” in its name, rather than “Valley” or “Mat-Su.” The group takes in dogs from Bethel, Dutch Harbor and Aniak, as well as all up and down the road system. It also sends dogs to new homes in all sorts of places, even out of state.

“We started here and we have slowly expanded out. The need is not just a Valley-based need, it’s a statewide need,” Aitken said.

The sanctuary idea will be modeled on Best Friends Animal Society in Utah, which runs a sanctuary for animals. Lewis said she’s donated to the organization and visited its facilities.

Aitken said he’s been with ADPR for 10 years and what attracted him initially was the idea of building a sanctuary. It’s a goal the organization has had all that time.

“We have this dream out there and now it’s time to do something about it,” he said.

So the group is letting its lease expire at the end of June. All of the dogs it rescues go to foster homes already so it won’t be any kind of disruption for the animals. In fact, the sanctuary won’t end the foster program; just enhance it.

The rescue group deals with a staggering number of animals each year. Lewis and Aitken both had stories about crazy days in which dozens of dogs came into their care.

“This one lady came in here one day she said, ‘Can you help me?’ I said, ‘What do you need?’ She said, ‘I’ve got these dogs in my car.’ I said, ‘How many?’ She said, ‘A lot,’” Aitken said.

And by “a lot,” she meant 12 puppies and six dogs. Apparently, when word got around Trapper Creek that the woman was heading to ADPR, people started asking her to take their animals as well. She ended up having to borrow a pickup. Two more litters came in that afternoon.

Almost as if the universe heard them telling these stories, an elderly dog musher came in the afternoon they spoke, seeking help for more than 57 dogs he was having trouble caring for.

Alaska, Aitken said, has a problem, and part of it is that dogs are still treated like property.

“When dogs are unwanted they’re just shot and we find that to be unconscionable. The whole attitude in Alaska is that dogs are property and not sentient beings capable of care and love,” he said. “That’s the predominant attitude that we’re trying to change.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.