Meet Justin Klemer of Pepper’s Senior Dog Sanctuary

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Klemer. They and their team shared their story with us below:

PSDS started in 2019 by Mary Leprino and Justin Klemer. Our mission is to protect and house dogs that are lingering in shelters due to age, medical complications, or any other reason they might be lingering in a shelter at risk of euthanasia.

In 2019, we started fundraising and designing our new facility which we were able to open in July of 2023. Through lots of dedication and hard work, the whole PSDS team was able to make it happen. We now have 26 dogs in our care with room for 40 more as we grow.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. It has been difficult but super fun and rewarding.

We started construction right as covid began so that was a very hard obstacle to overcome. Due to covid and COVID-related happenings, construction was delayed by almost 2 years and cost more than double originally planned.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Pepper’s Senior Dog Sanctuary (PSDS) provides senior dogs with a compassionate, forever home, at our veterinarian-supervised sanctuary. We care for our dogs for all the days of their lives, including hospice needs.

We are the premier “dog retirement community” for canines who need us most—forever. We fill a unique need and space in senior dog sanctuaries. While you won’t find shuffleboard at our sanctuary, our seniors have other amenities and support that make Pepper’s a well-deserved luxury for senior dogs.

We provide small group and one-on-one care; enormous space to play, lounge, and sleep kiddie-pool-side; individual bedroom suites, professionally trained staff and volunteers; and dedicated physical therapy and medical care. Dogs who become part of the Pepper family win the retirement lottery.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
We have learned to be even more patient and caring than we thought possible. Covid extended our construction and made everything we were doing more expensive and complicated but through perseverance and consistency we got the job done.

We also learned to use the extra time covid added to our building timeline to our advantage. We were able to do more research and make changes to the building layout that are beneficial in the long run.

Contact Info:

• Website: psds.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peppers_senior_dog_sanctuary/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/psdscolorado
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJjn1TX-gc7YLtZKozEu5Q