Our Story

After my first dog, Nikki, passed away in 2009, I wanted to find a way to honor her memory. She and I had 16.5 wonderful years together. I struggled financially, living paycheck to paycheck throughout her lifetime, and as a responsible pet owner, I always put her needs ahead of my own. If I only had $5 to get me through until the next payday and she was out of dog food, I'd buy a 5lb bag of dog food for $4 and a package of hot dogs and bread for $1. This was back in the 90s when you could still stretch a buck! I never hesitated to get her to the vet when needed. I would go without to ensure that she had anything and everything she needed. I didn't view it as a sacrifice; it just was the way it should be.


I realized that I was fortunate that my decision was only between doing for myself or my dog. I knew that many people had an even more difficult situation of having to feed their children and their pets before feeding themselves. Sadly, many times parents aren't able to fill the table and the pet bowls. In my years of doing rescue work, I quickly came to realize that many pets being surrendered already had wonderful loving homes, but their owners just couldn't afford to give them what they needed. This is why I've always had the dream of starting Pet Assistance Network.


Over the years, I did what I could to help pet families with what I personally had and with the support of my wonderful and very generous network of clients, friends and family. Several of my friends and I have discussed getting together and officially starting Pet Assistance Network as a non-profit organization, but we just were never in a position to make it happen. Finally, in 2018, we were ready and we have officially formed Pet Assistance Network as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization!


Nashville has way too many homeless pets already. Pet Assistance Network's goal is to reduce that number by helping the many pets who are at risk of losing their great homes that they already have! We have many ideas for future programs to meet the needs of struggling pet owners to help them keep their pets. Right now, we are working to start our flagship program, a community pet food bank. Click here to learn more about how you can help us keep pets and families together.