Two Pups Wellness Fund marks 5 years saving dogs

According to Nancy Silver, the co-founder of the Two Pups Wellness Fund, it started with a sick dog and a promise five years ago. 

As Silver sat in the waiting room of a veterinary hospital, she was horrified by the number of pet owners she saw leaving the hospital feeling defeated because they could not afford to pay for the care their pets needed. 

“When my two dogs were sick, I would watch people go into the veterinary hospital and have to turn around because they didn’t have the money to help their dog,” Silver said. “I knew I had to do something about that.” 

After the passing of her second of two rescue dogs, Silver decided she has seen the same scene two too many times and she called upon a good friend and former neighbor of hers to kickstart the Two Pups Wellness Fund — Bip Haley, the former owner of the Naked Horse Gallery on Marshall. 

“Bip originally had an art gallery across the street and my two dogs  — Lacie and Mr. P. — would come out and sit at the top of the stairs and wait for Bip to bring them treats every day,” Silver said. 

Upon the passing of Mr. P. in 2017, Silver decided to treat Haley to a dinner where she gave her pitch of starting a wellness fund that would help fund animal shelters in providing care for their animals, fund surgeries and pay for pet’s medication. 

“We went to dinner and I saw her vision and work and I knew who needed help out there,” Haley said.

After toasting their glasses to a new venture, the two were quickly introduced to the needs that animal rescues across the state were facing. 

“Immediately when we started, we got a phone call that a dog was hit by a car and we were asked if we could help,” Haley said. “That was our first project and once word got out,  it just started snowballing.” 

Haley said that when she and Silver started the Two Pups Wellness Fund, they anticipated funding two to three cases a month.

But they have since been funding anywhere between 10 and 20 dogs a month who had myriad needs. 

“It can go anywhere if this dog is sick – if it needs complete blood work and exam shots to where it needs long-term medication for valley fever or heartworms or if it needs surgery,” Haley said. 

“Then there are special projects like when shelters go down with a disease and they have to quarantine,” she added. “We’ll go in there with the funds to treat those dogs.” 

Their reach over the past half-decade has spread far outside of the Valley as the fund has cut checks to 55 shelters and rescues state-wide. 

One shelter that found the Two Pups Wellness Fund to be a lifeline is the Glendale-based animal rescue, Stealing Hearts Rescue. 

“There are all kinds of grants that are open for shelters all over the place but trying to get them is worse than pulling teeth,” said Stealing Hearts Rescue founder and director Toni Cerepanya. 

“Fortunately, with the Two Pups Wellness Fund it’s an easy form that says what you need and why and that’s it. Because of that, we can pay for medical procedures for dogs we would have had to euthanize.” 

As the Two Pups Wellness Fund enters its fifth year, the nonprofit is excited to announce it is bringing back its signature Booze and a Band event and Silver hopes to eventually take the nonprofit national. 

“All I want to do is save dogs, that’s all I want to do,” Silver said. 

Info: Two Pups Wellness Fund accepts checks and grant funding. To contribute or find out additional information, visit twopups.org