‘That one moment changed my life’ August 2, 2025
“In May 2008, I showed up for my volunteer adoption counseling shift at the Nebraska Humane Society. I was still new, learning my way around, when another volunteer offered to give me a tour of the back kennels where strays were held. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw — rows and rows of dogs, many scared or shut down.
And then I saw her. A scruffy Siberian Husky with one blue eye and one brown —locked right on mine. She looked desperate for someone to understand her. Her name was Princess. She was about nine years old and had already been through the shelter three times. Scrawled across her medical paperwork were the letters “PTS.” I asked what it meant. “Put to sleep.” My heart dropped. That couldn’t be her ending.
I learned that she had been vomiting and having seizures and for medical reasons, she could not be adopted. I told the staff I would adopt her and take on whatever was in store medically, they agreed. Then I drove home, anxious about convincing my husband to agree. Thankfully, he did—and just like that, Princess became Taysia Blue.
Her adjustment wasn’t easy. We had fights between her and our youngest husky. We had medical challenges too — she was diagnosed with megaesophagus and needed to be fed upright to keep her food down. It was messy, hard, and worth it.
Taysia Blue was funny, bossy, and unforgettable. Every day she reminded me how many animals like her don’t get the chance she did. And that thought became a spark. In 2010, I started a rescue in her honor — Taysia Blue Siberian Husky Rescue.
None of it would have happened without the Nebraska Humane Society. It was NHS that introduced me to Taysia Blue. It was NHS that showed me the heartbreak—and the hope—inside an animal shelter. That one moment changed my life and helped me find my purpose. My experience at NHS and with Taysia Blue inspired me to leave a corporate career and dedicate myself fully to animal welfare. Today, I’m proud to serve as CEO of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society — still reaching out for inspiration and connection from the place where it all began. Taysia passed away in 2014, just shy of 15. But her legacy lives on in every life saved, now over 2600 and counting. And it all started with a volunteer shift at NHS.
Thank you for 150 years of creating moments like that—for me, and for so many others.”
-Jackie
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