Our Mission

The mission of Sweet Dreams Senior Pet Sanctuary is to support elderly individuals who can no longer care for their senior pets by providing a safe and loving home for their cherished companions.

The founder and executive director of Sweet Dreams, Carole Harrison, has worked with the elderly population since 2005 as a physical therapist and since 2011 as the Director of the inpatient rehabilitation unit (IPRU) at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center. In this capacity, Carole has witnessed countless elderly patients who find themselves in the position of having to move into an assisted living facility or nursing home due to a catastrophic medical event. The toughest decision frequently involves the future care of their wonderful four-legged companions. These beloved pets often go to a shelter with very minimal chances of ever being rehomed. We have chosen to focus on senior pets as they are much more difficult to rehome. At the shelters, these pets are placed in kennels, provided basic food and water, and then wait for an adopter that will probably never come. This is extremely devastating for the senior pet as well as the loyal owner. A senior pet being placed in an already crowded shelter also puts more stress on the hardworking rescue organizations who work feverishly to get unwanted animals adopted into safe and loving homes.

The sanctuary will provide a loving and comfortable indoor home, veterinary care, nutrition, grooming, preventative medications, exercise, love and affection, pain management, and dignified end of life care. A senior pet still has so much love and life to share and the sanctuary provides that home for the pet to embrace and enjoy the remainder of his/her life. A typical day for a sanctuary pet will include set meal times, play time outdoors, socialization time, multiple rest periods and visitations as appropriate.

The senior pet will come to Sweet Dreams Senior Pet Sanctuary through owner surrender. The intake process will involve information gathering from the owner(s) as well as the veterinarian who has cared for the senior pet in the past. In cases where the animal’s history is unknown, a full veterinarian exam as well as updated vaccinations will be administered prior to entering the sanctuary. The intake may also involve quarantine to ensure the safety of the animals already living at the sanctuary.

In addition to housing the senior pets at the sanctuary, we will also offer a forever foster program in the community. This occurs when a responsible community member would love to bring a senior pet into his or her home but is concerned about or unable to pay for expensive veterinarian bills, preventative medications, and other costs of owning a senior animal. The potential foster will complete a detailed application and allow a home inspection by a Sweet Dreams volunteer prior to being approved as a foster to a senior pet. Once approved by Sweet Dreams as a safe and appropriate environment, the foster will provide the loving home, companionship, and appropriate nourishment while Sweet Dreams will cover the healthcare costs. The senior pet will remain part of the sanctuary community and will be monitored at least quarterly by Sweet Dreams to ensure a continued good fit and a safe and loving environment. In a situation when the foster is no longer able to provide appropriate care, the senior pet will return to the sanctuary. These senior pets will never return to a shelter or become homeless. We plan to recruit volunteers as well as additional board members who recognize the importance of taking care of our senior adults and senior pets. Older adults often suffer from sadness and depression which may be compounded by the loss of their home and their loyal companion.

Sweet Dreams is developing a visitation program which will allow the original owner and the sanctuary pet to visit with each other on a regular basis if desired and appropriate. We will work closely with the local assisted living facilities and nursing homes to facilitate these visits. Volunteers will transport the pet to the prior owner for the scheduled visitations. In order to ensure that the costs associated with the sanctuary pets are covered, we plan to raise funds from the general public, through fundraisers and sponsorship opportunities, as well as through grants to cover the costs associated with the care provided.