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Two Pups Wellness Fund marks 5 years saving dogs

BY ALEX GALLAGHER

Tribune Staff Writer

According to Nancy Silver, the cofounder 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 Entering its fifth year as a nonprofit, Two Pups Wellness Fund and co-founders Nancy Silver, left and Bip Haley have saved the lives of over 10,000 dogs by funding life-saving procedures

and care through state-wide animal rescues. (Orlando Pelagio/ Contributing Photographer)

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 but 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 seePUPS page 20

Ahwatukee cacti expert to give online talk

AFN NEWS STAFF

An Ahwatukee man who has studied, raised and rescued cacti in Arizona for most of his life will be the guest speaker at a free ZOOM discussion sponsored by the Desert Rivers Audubon Society at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, Aug. 9.

People can sign up for the Zoom presentation by Cliff Fielding at desertriversaudubon.org,

Wildlife that live in the Sonoran Desert are increasingly challenged to survive and thrive.

Fielding will discuss: the effects on of the extended drought in Arizona; how the desert has recovered from the Bush fire of two years ago; a large volunteer group based in Tucson that saves cacti from developers; and a unique plant that grows on South Mountain.

Society spokeswoman Elizabeth Farquhar of Ahwatukee said, “Fielding became fascinated with cacti when he was a teenager. Today his home is a showcase of cacti from the Southwest and around the world. Part of his backyard is a nursery for plants he is raising from seed.”

Desert Rivers is the local Audubon chapter in the East Valley and hosts expert speakers on the second Tuesday of every month.

During the summer, its programs are only on Zoom but the group plans to resume in-person sessions in September that also will be available online.

The mission of Desert Rivers Audubon Society is to educate and inspire our community to protect and preserve birds, wildlife and their habitats.

From fall to spring the chapter sponsors monthly owl walks at the Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus in east Mesa, as well as family birdwalks in Gilbert’s Riparian Preserve and Chandler’s Veterans Oasis Park. 

Cliff Fielding of Ahwatukee will share his extensive knowledge of Arizona cacti during a Zoon presentation next

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New school opens in Mesa for little kids

TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF

Anew school called Nature’s Path Montessori has opened in Mesa and is enrolling preschool pre-k and kindergarten children. Set on a half-acre at 1704 N Center St., the school includes a small menagerie with pigs, chickens, guinea pigs and a tortoise

“Our Children’s House program (ages 3-6) makes the most of the tremendous learning that occurs in the early childhood years by offering an environment that calls to the natural curiosity and intellect of this- aged child,” a spokesman said in a release.

It said the school aims “to be an oasis, a fertile spot in the desert where children and families can find a place to nourish their souls and bloom strong” and “provide the foundation for a purposeful life." Dr. Maria Montessori found that children’s development is supported by participating in a three-to-four-year program that helps kids reach goals in the same classroom of mixed age- groups, but at their own pace.

Information: naturespathmontessori.com, info@naturespathmontes-

sori.com or 480-245-4256. 

PUPS from page 19

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. 

Two Pups Wellness Fund co-founders Nancy Silver, left, and Bip Haley fund 55 rescues and shelters state-wide and have saved the lives of over 10,000 over the past five years.

(Orlando Pelagio/ Contributing Photographer)