A special report written by Julia Young, Cary Academy student and Peak Lab Rescue Foster
Jeff Fillgrove is in his seventh year of volunteering with Peak Lab Rescue. He mainly works with transporting dogs now (Debbie always tells those helping Jeff to just look for Santa Claus when they’re trying to find him), but he has an extensive background in fostering too.
His funniest foster story is actually about his foster fail, Dasher. Dasher is a big baby (85 pounds!), and lives up to his backup name of Goofy. When Jeff and his wife were fostering Dasher, he would hide from any potential adopters. It wasn’t until the 4th or 5th person that came around that Jeff’s wife finally gave in and agreed to adopt Dasher.
Jeff is retired now and says that helping out with PLR gives him something to do with his time. Saving dogs makes him feel fulfilled. Jeff often rescues dogs that would’ve been put down the very next day and transports them to safety.
When Jeff walks in the door, his four dogs are all excited to say hi, and especially enthusiastic about smelling the dogs Jeff has been transporting. It’s because of moments like these that Jeff loves rescuing dogs so much. Because as long as you love a dog, you’ll always get loved back. Even with Jeff’s most introverted dog, Reed, that’s been true. Despite being with Jeff and his wife for almost a year, Reed still doesn’t let Jeff pet him by hand. Understandably, Jeff didn’t really feel connected to him. But he still sits next to Reed and rubs him with his foot whenever Reed is near. Even though Reed hasn’t always shown how much he loved his pack, when he escaped their yard a couple of months ago, he returned back to their home.
Jeff loves all of his rescued dogs, but he also adopted them, instead of purchasing from a breeder, because he knows there are more than enough dogs out there needing homes. Jeff’s philosophy is that dogs don’t need to be sold. They need to be given love and a home.