Angel’s Rest Animal Sanctuary, plans to launch a new pet adoption program called ELDER PAWS in early 2016. The initiative will pair senior animals from kill shelters with senior citizens in need of companionship, and ARAS will cover all costs and responsibilities for the pet. Pictured is Kathy Rothwell, 58, previously of Owensville, and foster dog Heath, who passed away this summer.
By Megan Alley
Sun staff

Studies have shown the benefits of owning a pet late in life, and now, a Clermont County animal sanctuary is helping senior pets and senior people pair up.

Angel’s Rest Animal Sanctuary, located in Amelia and founded in 2009, plans to launch a new pet adoption program called ELDER PAWS in early 2016. The initiative will draw older, less desirable animals from kill shelters and match them with elderly and disabled citizens who are homebound, in need of companionship and unable to afford a pet of their own, said Perla Medina-Kinne, founder and president of ARAS in a press release.

The senior people will provide loving homes for senior animals, and ARAS will cover all costs and responsibilities for the pet.

Volunteers and staff will make regular visits to the “foster” homes to check on the pet, perform routine grooming, change litter boxes, weigh and take the animals’ temperatures, bring supplies and provide the elderly caretakers with much needed interaction, according to Medina-Kinne.

Single woman Kathy Rothwell, 58, previously of Owensville, has multiple sclerosis and uses a walker or wheelchair to get around. Last summer, a neighbor in her apartment building, who works at ARAS, asked Rothwell to foster a dog named Heath.

“I’ve had dogs all my life,” Rothwell said. “I was a little hesitant, because of my walking situation, but I said, ‘I’ll try it.’”

Heath, a Mountain Cur who spent many years living in a local shelter, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. ARAS staff members didn’t expect Heath to live very long, and they wanted to find him a good home for his final days.

“He was a good ol’ dog,” Rothwell said. “He was a good companion.”

Rothwell said the ELDER PAWS program is good because ARAS provides everything the pets need.

“They brought his cage, food and toys,” she said.

She added, “The first night he was in the cage, he started howling, so I sat with him. But, whenever I walked away, he started howling again. After going around with that for a few times, I decided to take him out of his cage, and he slept quietly at the foot of my bed from then on.”

Rothwell said that Heath amazed her, because even though he had been in a kennel for years, he easily transitioned to life in a foster home.

“He was a good dog,” she said. “I got a kick out of watching him.”

Rothwell taught vacation bible school lessons to some neighborhood children.

“Heath helped me with my bible school lessons,” she said. “He taught the kids about love and obedience, and they loved him.”

Heath lived with Rothwell for nearly a month, before he had to be euthanized due to seizures related to his brain tumor.

“He was my buddy for 23 days,” Rothwell said. “He was a gentle and loving dog. He was a good dog.

Rothwell said she felt bad that Heath lived in the kennel or so many years.

“On my last day with Heath, I was talking to him about my dad, who died in 2013,” she said. “Heath put his nose on mine and looked at me eye to eye; he knew that something was up. It was a super special connection there.”

She added, “It was sad that we had to lose him, but at least I hope that the last days of his life were happy, and he knows that he was loved.”

For more information about Angel’s Rest Animal Sanctuary and ELDER PAWS, visit the organization’s website at www.angelsrestanimalsanctuary.org or call 513-947-ARAS (2727).