80s rocker Rick Springfield raising money for Colorado dog rescue
Colorado tops the list of states with "most devoted dog owners," but still, there are many, many pets who languish in shelters. The mission of Pepper's Senior Dog Sanctuary is to rescue older dogs who would otherwise have a difficult time getting adopted and provide high-quality, comfortable care for them until the end of their lives.
"Pepper was a dog that I rescued several years ago. I decided that I wanted to give back to a senior dog during a particularly difficult part of my life, and he ended up rescuing me. I saw the value of senior dog rescue. It's amazing," said Mary Leprino, co-founder of Pepper's Senior Dog Sanctuary.
The multi-million-dollar facility is located in Douglas County and has a veterinary clinic, comfy couches for sleeping, and play areas designed for older dogs and dogs with medical complications. Leprino is dedicated to providing the best possible end of life care to the dogs she takes in.
"From the minute they wake up until they go to bed at night, they are cared for perfectly," Leprino explained.
The kind of high-end care that Pepper's provides comes at a cost. Leprino said that the sanctuary is currently serving 20 senior dogs all from shelters across the state.
"We only pull from shelters and the reason being is because we want every dog to have a chance at adoption; and by the time they come to us they've had no chance of adoption. They've been on the adoption floor, or for medical reasons, sometimes behavioral reasons, they are not a candidate, so we take those dogs that are unadoptable. And they come and stay with us until they lovingly pass with us," Leprino told CBS News Colorado's Kelly Werthmann.
LINK: Raise the Ruff Fundraising Event
Raise the Ruff is a fundraising event that benefits Pepper's Senior Dog Sanctuary. This year the event features a benefit concert by 80s rocker Rick Springfield on Thursday, Aug. 29 at the Mission Ballroom in Denver. They're hoping to sell 1,500 tickets and raise $500,000. Springfield is a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and musician who has sold 25 million albums over the course of his career.