LEXINGTON, Ky.— When Laura Helvey met Catherine Gabbard in her yard in the summer of 2023, she was sitting on the ground next to her dog, Bossy, crying.
Gabbard was about to disregard her court orders to go to addiction treatment for one simple reason: she couldn’t leave Bossy behind. Gabbard was packed and ready to run into the woods with Bossy, just so she could stay by her side.
Bossy, a pitbull-hound mix, was also pregnant and the only source of constant affection and support Gabbard had for the past couple of years, some of the worst times of her life.
“She helps me if I am sad,” Gabbard told the Herald-Leader. “She feels what I am feeling. When I was getting high, she was feeling the trauma from all of that, too.”
Helvey, a stranger to Bossy and Gabbard, sat and consoled the pair and ended up bonding with the dog. Helvey made the decision to foster Bossy so Gabbard would feel at ease to leave for treatment.
A few days later, she was fostering seven dogs — Bossy and her six newborn puppies. They were nicknamed “the recovery pups” and named after recovery facilities in Kentucky: Hope, Isaiah, Ethan, Spero and Arc. One puppy, Spark, did not survive.
Helvey, who lost her son Daniel to an opioid overdose in 2019, operates SPARK Ministries of Madison County, a centralized community center which runs as a non-profit to point families and people with substance use disorder towards rehabilitation programs, detox programs, support groups, churches, job opportunities and more.
At its core, Helvey’s office helps remove barriers for people seeking recovery.
Helvey: Fosters are the biggest need for group to thrive
It wasn’t until another woman came to the small SPARK office building on Main Street with her dog every day, resisting treatment because her dog had no place to go, that Helvey recognized another barrier.
The group, “ Fostering for Recovery,” quickly was created and calls were coming in weekly from people asking for Helvey and Kristall Morris to take in their dogs so they could go to treatment.
“Through all her struggles, that dog was with (Gabbard),” Helvey said. “That dog was with her when she lost her family, when she lost relationships, when she lost her home. The dog was with her. Bossy loved her unconditionally, no matter if they were living in a park or in a tent.”
Gabbard wasn’t allowed to visit with Bossy for a while, but Helvey sent her pictures that Gabbard printed out and placed in her binder and on the walls in her room. When the two were reunited, Gabbard said, “Bossy knew I was better.”
Gabbard successfully completed her treatment program, and has been reunited with her family and Bossy. She is one of nine people the program has helped get into recovery by fostering their pets.
“When we started advertising it, it really took off,” Helvey told the Herald-Leader. “We get several calls a week.”
Finding fosters is the hardest thing, Helvey said. There are requirements that Helvey and Morris look for before allowing them to foster. There is only one treatment center in Eastern Kentucky which will take an emotional support animal when accepting clients, according to Helvey.
“We have had to turn people down because we don’t have fosters. That is our biggest need,” Helvey said. “It is really sad.”
When the dogs are taken in, they are taken to the vet for spay and neuter operations, to establish responsible pet ownership once the pets are returned after their foster homes. Both fosters and clients sign contracts about their participation and expectations for being a part of the program.
