DENVER — Simon Rubick had lost nearly everything due to decades of alcoholism and drug addiction.
By 2022, he was left without a car and a home, forcing his two teenage children to move in with friends. He had burned bridges with friends and family, and it took a drug-induced stint in hospital before he realised his cocaine addiction was a “death sentence”.
Rubick, who lives in the Denver, Colorado, suburb of Arvada, knew he needed help. But first he had to figure out what to do with one of the few sources of unconditional love and support he had left: his beloved German shepherd, Tonks.
Most residential rehabilitation centers in the United States do not allow patients to bring their pets, said Rubick, 51. So when his brother could no longer care for the dog, Rubick thought he would have to make the painful decision to give up Tonks.
“It basically came down to whether I could take care of my dog or take care of myself,” he said.
Rubick, who has been sober for more than two years and is now an addiction recovery coach, was affiliated with the group PAWsitive Recovery, which provides shelter for animals while their owners undergo treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, and for people dealing with domestic violence or mental health crises.
“People who are trying to recover sometimes have lost their families, their children, and any kind of support system that they had,” said Serena Saunders, the organization’s program manager. “You’re not going to compound the trauma that you’ve already had by giving up the one thing that hasn’t given up on you, and that’s people’s animals.”
Saunders founded PAWsitive Recovery three years ago in Denver. Since then, it has helped more than 180 people and their pets, and Saunders said the group has looked to expand nationally after it became part of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International. The organization, whose largest foster network is based in Colorado but accepts applications nationwide, is one of the few programs in the U.S. that cares for the pets of people seeking substance abuse treatment.
Saunders’ own experience with drug and alcohol addiction helped her tailor the program. She said she had a “pretty broken childhood,” with her mother being schizophrenic and addicted to methamphetamine and her father also struggling with addiction. She turned to alcohol for solace when she was about 12 and was using hard drugs when she was 14.
“My addiction caused me one trauma after another,” said Saunders, now 41.
Saunders was seeing a therapist for her depression and PTSD when a lucky session planted the seed of PAWsitive Recovery. With a background in veterinary medicine and shelter medicine, focusing on caring for homeless animals, she told her therapist she wanted to incorporate her love of dogs into her recovery.
“And that’s exactly what we did,” said Saunders, who fostered Tonks for several months while Rubick was in treatment and facilitated visits between the two best friends.
“To see a broken person when we meet them in a parking lot, when they have nothing left to live for but their animal. And to see how broken and desperate they are at that moment, and then to come back six months later and see them completely turn their life around, it’s just so special. It’s amazing,” said Saunders, who has been sober for 3 1/2 years.
That sentiment is shared by the organization’s volunteer foster families, some of whom are drawn to the program because of their own experiences with addiction.
Ben Cochell, 41, a Denver resident, has been sober for more than seven years and has two dogs of his own and has fostered several.
“One of my favorite parts of being a foster in this program is the ability to teach my kids some life lessons about how to help others and how to care for animals and be kind and loving. And just give of yourself,” he said. “That’s what you have. Your time and your energy. And you can give that away freely.”
Without PAWsitive Recovery, Rubick said, he likely would have ended up on the streets with his dog and tried to recover on his own. But as it turned out, Tonks saved Rubick by keeping his dog, he said.
“It’s that connection, caring for another being and having something else care for you like animals do,” Rubick said. “It’s just unconditional, and sometimes that’s one of the things that people in recovery really need to be able to feel.”
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Associated Press editor Colleen Slevin contributed to this report.
