Karen Thomas, founder of Payton’s Promise Sanctuary, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the organization.
Payton’s Promise Sanctuary is a place that helps special needs dogs.
Thomas said, “Payton’s Promise officially started three years ago, but in my heart, it started when I was seven years old. So that’s almost 50 years ago. But I take in dogs that are senior, so from the shelters that are senior with special medical needs, so either hospice, end of life, nearing end of life, cancer diagnosis, that sort of thing. The dogs from the big, giant shelters up in more like Miami and West Palm Beach, the ones that aren’t going to make it out alive. We have amazing shelters down here in the Keys. My career for 30 years was being a registered nurse for humans. So I did medical care, I did hospice, I worked in hospitals. I did all of that for humans, and my passion was always taking care of the dogs. I started volunteering at a local shelter in my area when I was seven, and that’s when I knew that this is what I wanted to do. So, fast forward, I officially retired from human nursing, and I now take in the dogs. In 2022 I helped my mother transition. She was at the end of her life, and she left the house for me in Marathon because she knew I wanted to start to fulfill my dream of bringing dogs in. So we converted the pool house into a sanctuary house, and the dogs can live the rest of their lives with us in complete respect, dignity, comfort, and if they can be rehabilitated, they can be adopted out and that has happened more often than I was anticipating. They looked really, really, really sick in the shelters, and they were and then with a little TLC and some really good vet care, they came around and some of the dogs now I’ve had for three years, so it’s great.”
It can be tough for animal shelters.
Thomas said, “In the larger shelters, I’m not sure if people are aware, but Miami Dade has close to 1,000 dogs on any given day, between 800 and about 1,000 and West Palm is up there too in numbers. At the end of the day, like West Palm, they admit they have to euthanize for space, and the sickest ones go and that’s just the way it is. Shelters across the country are overpopulated with animals. We’re in a crisis. Many people don’t realize, but we’re in a crisis mode. So yeah, that is the sad reality.”
Was Payton the first resident of Payton’s Promise?
Thomas said, “There were many, many dogs who could have got me to start this sanctuary, because when I first moved here to the Keys, in 2002 I started volunteering at the local, what is now the Marathon campus of Keys SPCA. So I volunteered there for 20 some years and there were many dogs. I’ve always gravitated toward the senior ones with the special medical needs, because that’s where my heart was. In 2020 Payton Rose was a very beautiful German Shepherd that came in. She was surrendered, and she had major medical issues, like multiple major medical issues, so I was able to help with her care. It was the beginning of 2020, and I did what I could do for her, and then it was COVID, and the volunteers weren’t allowed to come in and all of that. So I hadn’t seen her in a few months. By the time I got back in there, she was in worse shape, and she had a lot of progressive diseases happening in her body. I resumed my care for her, and she very clearly gave me the message, she’s very vocal. Would you just please start that sanctuary that you were telling me about? Please, we need the sanctuary. So I said to her, Payton, I promise you, once I see you through your journey, I will start the sanctuary. That was my promise to Payton Rose and it was very beautiful, because the director of the shelter, who is amazing, an amazing friend, she allowed me to adopt Payton on the last day of her life, so that we could give her a party here at the house, and I was able to take her to my vet for private euthanasia. So we really celebrated her. I’m a big fan of giving best last days, especially when we know it’s going to be their last day. I love to do whatever they want it. Do they want a party? Do they want to swim? Do they want their favorite food? If they can eat, if they’re too tired, is it a massage and just telling stories about all the wonderful times we had? So I like to end that the earthly process on a very beautiful, honorable note as possible. So that’s what we did.”
Dogs are really special creatures.
Thomas said, “The beautiful thing about dogs, I mean, they’re my greatest teachers, and I’ve learned, I continue to learn so much every single day. They really teach us present moment awareness. They live in the present moment. They don’t feel sorry for themselves for something that has happened in the past, and they don’t project into the future. It’s their superpower that I wish humans, I wish we were blessed with, but we’re not. So what they really teach me? Because with all of them it’s a roller coaster. Some have cancer ongoing, and they’re up and they’re down, so we never know. So I strive to make every single day meaningful, right? Like we just really strive to get them on field trips when we can, or get them out for ice cream, or just every day, just stay present with them, make it the most meaningful experience for whatever time they have left on this earth, because we just don’t know. They come in scared, hesitant, generally, it takes some time to build trust, and then once they realize that they’re safe, then they can just open up and accept all of the love. Every dog has its own time frame, but everyone that we have now really has made massive transformations in every way, physically, emotionally, mentally, it’s just, it’s so beautiful to watch, and they really are enjoying themselves.”
There are a lot of ways for people to help.
Thomas said, “I am volunteer based only and we just have a core little staff of volunteers, if I can call them a staff, they’re fantastic and dedicated. I have a dog currently that I would love to highlight, and his name is Jasper, and he’s actually, I hate to say this, but it’s true. He’s actually too healthy for our sanctuary. It’s a long story, but I pulled him out of West Palm Beach shelter. He was going to be euthanized. He was supposed to go somewhere else, but that fell through, which is why I have him. He’s eight years old. He’s a big red dog. He reminds me of Clifford, kind of, he’s 80 pounds. He’s really gentle and sweet. He came from a dog hoarding situation, so basically 15 dogs lived in an outside pen. They had to fight for resources. He never really learned proper socialization skills. So he feels safest when he doesn’t have to, in his mind, compete with other dogs. So I’m advertising him as an only dog, but really anything is possible. He’s fine with cats. I cat tested him. He couldn’t care less about cats. He couldn’t care less about chickens. He seemed to be fine around small dogs, maybe non threatening to him, but I’m really pushing for him, because he isn’t boarding right now. He is getting all of the love and the one on one attention in boarding, but he can’t stay there forever. It sounds funny, but he does not like it here. It’s too slow for him. It’s kind of like healthy person going in a nursing home. He walks really well in the leash. He’s doing great. I have a volunteer walking him every morning, so please, I would love, like that is my biggest wish right now, is to get him into a forever home, which will be the first time in his life that he has experienced that. So that’s my greatest wish at the moment. But yes, donating money is an amazing way to help.”
How does Payton Promise find dogs to rescue?
Thomas said, “Oh, I get hundreds of emails a day, so I’m partners with Miami Dade, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Tampa, so all of the dogs that need out and need out now, I get the emails. So I go through a lot, and I get private messages all day long, because people know that I’m hospice. I can’t rule out Marathon campus and Key West. I am open to taking dogs from there as well, which I have done. Sadly, I have to say no more often than not, because there are so, so, so many dogs that need help. They’re part of my healing journey, right? We’re always healing. We’re always working on ourselves, and they’ve helped me heal along the way again, since I was a child, so it’s a big part of my life. They help me as much as I help them.”
For more information, click here: https://paytonspromisesanctuary.org/