By Erin Wheeler
The Great Pyrenees Rescue and Sanctuary, also known as Pyrescue, has helped about 3,000 dogs find homes during its 30 years as a nonprofit. As one of the only Pyrenees-specific rescues currently in the southwestern region of the United States, Pyrescue provides refuge for the fluffy, white livestock guardian dogs (as well as mixes of other livestock guardian breeds) that are surrendered by pet owners or transferred from shelters in a multi-state area, including the local Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region.
However, with owners Judy Dole and Dr. Michael Heffron planning to retire soon, the rescue will close its doors this summer, unless they can find someone else to run it.
“We’re desperately looking for someone to take over Pyrescue,” Dole said. “We’ve been working on it for about a year now, and we’re just not finding anyone.”
In Dole’s perfect world, she said the right person would step up to accept ownership of the 501(c)(3) organization and all its assets free of charge, as well as purchase the rescue property located in Peyton so that Pyrescue could carry on at the facility that was custom-designed to accommodate it.
The next-best scenario would be to find an individual who would accept ownership of the organization and all its assets without purchasing the property, then run it from a different facility.
If neither of those options fall into place, Pyrescue plans to move all the dogs out by May, donate the organization’s assets to other nonprofits and list the property on the market in June.
“It’s very, very hard to step away. In fact, we’ve tried to for several years and just could never get ourselves to actually do it,” Dole said.
The couple has had a special place in their hearts for Great Pyrenees dogs and a tie to Pyrescue for many years. They started as volunteers for the organization when it was run by Linda and John Kryder (the original owners who founded Pyrescue in 1994). When the Kryders retired in 2013, the organization was handed over to Dole and her husband, who moved the rescue from its original location in Black Forest to its current location in Peyton — a 40-acre property with the couple’s 3,000-square-foot residence, 16 custom kennels made specifically to house large-breed dogs (that were built as livestock structures for versatility) and a 5-acre fenced yard for the dogs to explore.
Now more than a decade later, Dole and her husband have experienced a shocking shift in dog adoption and surrender trends.
“We’ve been at this for quite a long time, and 10 years ago I had to actually go looking for Pyrenees to put in the rescue. We were adopting them out and then getting them in and it was pretty much a revolving door kind of a situation,” Dole said. “But in the last four years, and every rescuer can tell you this, it has been absolutely insane.”
Until a few years ago, Pyrescue adopted out more than 200 dogs per year. But the adoption rate has dropped significantly since, and Dole said she has considered herself lucky if they adopt out 50 dogs per year during the last three years.
And just as adoptions are down, relinquishes are at an all-time high for Pyrescue.
“I get an average of five to seven calls per day from people wanting to release a dog. And I have had a wait list of at least 50 dogs for the last three years,” Dole said.
Which begs the question: What will happen to the many dogs in need of a home if Pyrescue is no longer there to take them in?
The answer breaks Dole’s heart, she said. She described the gap that will be left in Pyrescue’s absence as “horrible,” adding, “more Pyrenees are going to die than ever.”
As one of the only Pyrenees rescues in the southwest region, the impact of Pyrescue ceasing to exist will be felt far beyond the immediate Pikes Peak region.
As one of the only Pyrenees rescues in the southwest region, the impact of Pyrescue ceasing to exist will be felt far beyond the immediate Pikes Peak region.
“I’m the only one here, which is why I’m so busy,” Dole said. “I’ve had people drive me dogs from New York, California, several from Florida, lots and lots from Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona.”
Dole shared her opinion that Pyrenees are the most misunderstood breed in the world, and with their growing popularity as house pets instead of their original use as livestock protectors, she said she thinks education and a halt on breeding could help lighten the load for rescues and shelters.
“What happens when dogs get popular? Everybody wants one,” she said. “But they don’t bother to research the breed. And the livestock guardian breeds are not like any other dogs.”
With that, Dole said, “We desperately need a Pyrenees rescue in this part of the country, because I’m the only one in a multi-state area. We are just slammed all the time, so we would love to keep it around.”
Dole has one prerequisite for those interested in carrying on the work of Pyrescue: They must love the dogs and be willing to learn everything about the breed.
Anyone interested in more information about Pyrescue can contact Dole at 719-749-2340 or pyrescueco@gmail.com. Visit https://www.pyrescue.org/ to see all the dogs up for adoption.
