Photo by Erin Nelson.
From left: Deb Sellers, Sonya King, the founder of Two by Two Rescue, and John Sellers sit on the front steps with their newly acquired senior foster dog at the rescue group’s new location near Ross Bridge.
The Two by Two Rescue group that helps find homes for unwanted, abused and abandoned animals soon will have a home for itself.
The organization, founded in Helena in 2005, recently purchased about 2 acres and a house near Ross Bridge with money donated by new board member John Sellers.
The rescue group has never had a physical facility, with staff members instead working from their homes and out of their vehicles, founder Sonya King said. Now, they’ll have a central place to work and an intake facility where they can keep animals for health and personality assessments before putting them in foster homes, King said.
That will give rescue staff time to determine if the animals need immediate veterinarian care or shots or if they’re ready to go to a foster home, she said. It also will eliminate some of the travel that takes place as animals are moved around before placement and provide a chance for rescue staff and volunteers to work more closely with one another in the same location, improving communication and efficiency.
Two by Two Rescue has three full-time staff and many volunteers, King said.
“I’m excited to move my home office over there,” she said. “It’ll help me clean off my dining room table.”
The rescue group is renovating the house and garage that already were on the property and adding another structure. King said she hopes all the work can be completed by the end of this year.
The expected cost of renovations and new construction is about $100,000, and the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization will gladly accept any donations to help cover the cost.
The more money that can be raised for renovations, the less money that has to be taken out of the organization’s fund for veterinary care, which is the group’s biggest expense, King said.
Two by Two Rescue is a no-kill organization, which means the group has a goal to end the killing of all animals that are not irremediably physically suffering.
Irremediable suffering is defined as “a poor or grave prognosis for being able to live without severe, unremitting physical pain even with prompt, necessary and comprehensive veterinary care.”
The principle is applied to all species of animals, including, but not limited to, companion mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, aquatic animals, “farmed” animals and wildlife, according to the group’s website.
The group helps animals without regard to age, breed, color or medical condition and provides a lot of veterinary care for animals, even if it’s extensive.
Two By Two mostly deals with dogs and horses, but also has helped some cats and a few pot-bellied pigs.
King and a partner started the organization in 2005 not long after she moved from Montgomery to Helena. She intended to practice law but became so distressed by the number of stray animals in the community that she started scooping them up and taking them in, she said. The city of Helena was looking for someone to help with the problem, and Two By Two was formed out of that.
The number of animals helped has increased each year and this year exceeded 1,000, King said. Animals have been placed in about 40 states. They are accepted from anywhere, but mostly from the greater Birmingham area, she said.
“The requests we have on a daily basis are mind blowing,” she said. “We turn down a couple thousand animals every week. We wish we could take ’em all. We really do.”
The organization also provides behavioral training for animals that may be considered to have problem behavior, she said. “We don’t discriminate against breeds,” she said. “We give all breeds a chance.”
The group has a motto that there are no “bad dogs,” she said. “That’s a great program to see animals flourish and bounce back from whatever circumstances they’ve been through.”
King said she’s especially grateful to Sellers for both finding the property and making the donation to make the purchase possible.
“He’s just been such a blessing. He’s been on the board less than a year, but he has this energy and passion for animals,” King said. “He actually surprised us with this property. We were elated.”
For more information about Two by Two Rescue or to make a donation, go to twobytworescue.com.
