The healing power of pets: How staying with animals can transform lives during addiction treatment

Saunders, inspired by her own addiction, founded PAWsitive Recovery to support addicts by caring for their pets during rehab.

Simon Rubick had lost almost everything to decades of alcoholism and drug addiction. In 2022, he found himself without a vehicle and without a home, which forced his two teenage children to move in with friends. He had burned bridges with friends and family and it took a drug-induced stint in the hospital for him to realize his cocaine addiction was going to be a “death sentence.”

Rubick, who lives in the Denver suburb of Arvada, Colorado, knew he needed help. But first he had to figure out what to do with one of the only sources of unconditional love and support he had left: his beloved German shepherd rescue, Tonks.

Most residential rehab centers in the United States don’t allow patients to bring their pets along, said Rubick, 51. So when his brother could no longer help care for the dog, Rubick thought he would have to make the excruciating decision to give up Tonks. “It basically came down to being able to take care of my dog or being able to take care of myself,” he said.

Rubick — who has been sober for more than two years and is now an addiction recovery coach — was connected to the group PAWsitive Recovery, which fosters animals while their owners receive treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, and for people dealing with domestic violence or mental health crises.

“People that are trying to get into recovery sometimes have lost their families, their children, any kind of support system that they have had," said Serena Saunders, the organization's program manager. "You’re not going to compound trauma that you’ve already had by giving up the one thing that hasn’t given up on you, and that’s people’s animals.”

Saunders founded PAWsitive Recovery in Denver three years ago. Since then, it's helped more than 180 people and their pets, and Saunders said the group has looked to expand nationally after it became a part of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International. The organization, whose largest foster network is in Colorado but accepts applications nationwide, is one of just a few programs in the U.S. that cares for the pets of people seeking treatment for substance abuse.

Saunders' own experience with drug and alcohol addiction has helped her tailor the program. She said she had a “pretty broken childhood,” with her mother being schizophrenic and addicted to methamphetamine and her father also struggling with addiction. She sought comfort in alcohol when she was about 12 and was using hard drugs by the time she was 14.

“Addiction just gave me trauma after trauma,” said Saunders, now 41. Saunders was seeing a therapist for her depression and PTSD when a fortuitous session planted the seed of PAWsitive Recovery. With a background in veterinary and shelter medicine, which focuses on caring for homeless animals, she told her therapist she wanted to incorporate her love of dogs in her recovery.

“And that’s what we did,” said Saunders, who fostered Tonks for several months while Rubick was in treatment and facilitated visits between the two best friends. “To see a broken person when we’re meeting them in a parking lot, when they have nothing left to live for but their animal. And to see how broken and how desperate they are in that moment, and then to circle back around six months later and see them completely turn their lives around is just so special. It’s amazing,” said Saunders, who has been sober for 3 1/2 years.

That sentiment is echoed by the organization’s volunteer foster families, some of whom are drawn to the program because of their own experiences with addiction. Denver resident Ben Cochell, 41, who has been sober from alcohol for more than seven years, has two dogs of his own and has fostered several more.

“One of my favorite parts about fostering in this program is the ability to teach my kids some life lessons in how to help others and how to care for animals and be kind, be loving. And to just give of yourself,” he said. “That’s what you have. Your time and your energy. And you can give that away freely.”

If not for PAWsitive Recovery, Rubick said he probably would have ended up living on the streets with his dog and trying to figure out recovery on his own. But as it turned out, by being able to keep his rescue dog, Tonks ended up rescuing Rubick, he said. “It’s that connection, caring for another creature and having something else care for you the way that animals do,” Rubick said. “It’s just unconditional, and sometimes that’s one of the things that people in recovery really need to be able to feel.”