Page 13 - Talk of Tequesta - January '24

The Talk Of Tequesta, Page 13

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The Pet Cottage Post

Catching Up With Wendy Derhak

11 Years After Launching, This Nonprofit Founder Discusses The Past, Present And Future Of The Pet Cottage In This Exclusive Interview

Why Did You Start The Pet Cottage? Today, we celebrate and a nonjudgmental and supportive place for solutions. If a
It all started with my dear friend protect the magical relationship homeless pet fits our mission, we commit to taking care
Joan. She was an active senior in between people and pets by of it for life. This forever promise gives surviving family
her early 70s and at the time I was offering home-style care to pets and friends peace of mind.
her personal trainer. We worked who lose their humans due to Our pets, which are mostly seniors, live in the home
out three times a week and became death, disability or deployment. of a forever guardian or at our sanctuary property. The
close friends. Truthfully, she was like We also provide senior people majority of our forever guardians are senior people. The
a mother to me. When she received a with pet companions. forever guardian provides love and a safe place to call
terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis, her biggest concern What Are You Most Proud Of? home. The Pet Cottage covers all veterinary expenses.
was: Who will care for my three senior cats? I’m proud of our forever Because of this partnership, many senior people in our
Joan was a strong independent woman. She had no promise. We are not an adoption Wendy and Bella Pom community are able to have a senior pet companion.
spouse, no children and no siblings. Her three furbabies, agency or foster program. We are Our forever promise to each pet in our care means that
Shadow, Smokey, and Jeremy, were her entire world and a new concept. When a pet becomes homeless due to the no matter what happens to a guardian, the pet will have a
sweet companions. death, disability, or deployment of their owner we provide loving home. It’s a win-win-win situation that makes us
We started to explore options do a happy dance!
for rehoming them upon her death. To date, we have made 100 forever promises to pets
And we kept hitting dead ends. The and supported 84 forever guardians and 87 volunteers.
thought of placing these beloved What’s Your Vision For The Future?
family members who had brought Our big goal is to secure a sanctuary property that we
her so much joy and love in a shelter can call our own. We currently rent in Jupiter Farms and
was out of the question. having our own property would allow us to expand our
So we decided that I would mission and services by building additional dog cottages,
become the guardian of her cats and a cat hotel, and larger volunteer space. We want to be a
her lawyer crafted a legal agreement. pillar of support in the community and a known entity for
As I supported Joan through people and pets in need.
the end of her life, I had many We are always open to new volunteers and forever
conversations with the hospice staff guardians joining our pack. Contact us below for more
about how often pet owners with information.
terminal illnesses face this reality. The Pet Cottage,
They said it was a problem without (561) 818-5025,
a solution. www.thepetcottage.org
In 2012, I founded The Pet
Cottage as a solution!