Lisa Zimmerman had always shared a special bond with animals — especially dogs. But it wasn’t until she sat beside her terminally ill father, watching her pups snuggle up to him and bring him comfort in his final days, that she realized just how healing a pet’s love could be. When a hospice nurse mentioned that many patients had no one to help care for their pets, let alone take them in after they passed, Lisa felt a tug on her heart. There had to be a way to help, she thought — and that was the moment the idea for Hospets was born.
“Your dogs really love your dad,” the hospice nurse told Lisa Zimmerman as her pups cuddled with her father, Larry, who was sadly dying of lung disease.
“He’s always been a real dog lover,” said Lisa-, and so had she.
For years, she’d run a Marysville, Ohio, pit bull rescue, arranging adoptions and fostering unwanted pups.
Lisa was startled by what the nurse told her next: “Most of my patients with pets can’t get out to take them for walks or to the vets and groomers,” she said. “And they live alone with no one around to help them or take in the animals after they’re gone.”
Surely there are groups that can help out, Lisa thought, but after she did some research, nothing turned up. When her dad died in December 2011, Lisa channeled her grief into action.
I’m going to start a project to help these animals, Lisa thought, feeling hopeful that she could make a difference. I’ll call it Hospets and help the pets whose owners are sick or have passed.
Her rescue work had given her connections with veterinarians, groomers and other pet care resources to recruit volunteers.
Support for seniors
Before long, Lisa discovered how many non-hospice seniors also couldn’t adequately care for their fur babies. They often lived alone and could no longer drive or pay for pet care.
Some even shared their Meals on Wheels with their animals because they couldn’t afford pet food.
“I remember once when I was sick and a friend gave me Charlotte,” Lisa recalled to a friend of receiving her pit-mix puppy. “Feeding, training and walking Charlotte gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning. At first, she felt like a burden, but then she brought me joy. Sometimes, caring for a pet is the only thing keeping you going!”
Lisa Zimmerman
Changing lives: four paws at a time
Soon, Lisa announced on the Hospets social media accounts that they would be broadening their mission to help all struggling pet parents. And her volunteers became busy driving seniors to and from discounted vet visits. They delivered pet food and kitty litter and offered trips to the groomers to clip ingrown nails and matted fur.
Lisa also called on her rescue experience to organize a foster care network for people with no one to pet sit when they had to go to the hospital for treatments.
“When I was in the hospital with a heart condition, Lisa took my terrier-mix, Lilly, home with her, and one of her volunteers came and fed my cats,” says a grateful 75-year-old, George Noonan, who lives alone. “I have no family nearby to help, and I can’t drive anymore, but Lisa’s always ready to help out with pet food or a trip to the vet for shots.”
Today, Lisa takes in at least 150 pets a year for respite care or foster care, while she finds new homes for orphaned dogs and cats. She helps another 500 pets a year with food, grooming and medical care.
And it’s not just the pets and their owners who benefit.
“I started Hospets for the animals—I’m not much of a people person,” she admits. “But Hospets has changed me. I’ve made so many great friends, I’ve come to love my people as much as their pets.”
