The Healing Species

The Healing Species began in 1999 as a Violence intervention/character and compassion based 11-week curriculum. We take rescued dogs into 6th grade classrooms and juvenile incarceration facilities and teach the children a process from which to understand and overcome abuse, neglect and grief while teaching life skills in self-esteem, conflict resolution, anger management, respect for the feelings of others, and in gaining success through acts of compassion and responsibility instead of returning "violence for violence." Repeatedly, at some point through the 11 weeks, we have had students tell us about a neighborhood dog or cat that is being abused, about their personal pet who is suffering or other stories of animals in need. In response to these reports of abuse and to show the children what true compassion is, we opened our Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is where dogs, usually the worst of the worst (mange, broken limbs, embedded collars) can come to find refuge from their abusive lives and learn to trust humans again. Once their broken bodies have been repaired and their broken spirit has been restored, we take them out to adoption events to help them find their forever home. The Sanctuary is run by loving volunteers, who are willing to give up their days in order to take care of the dogs in our care. We are a very small non-profit that financially runs off of donations.