APRIL 2018 14 | That’s why, together with her friend Bip Haley, Silver established the Two Pups Wellness Fund in 2017, in memory of Silver’s two dogs. Operating under the umbrella of the Arizona Community Foundation, which provides help managing and distributing funds, Two Pups provides financial assistance to shelter and rescue animals in need of life-saving care. Maricopa County Animal Care and Control director Mary Martin has seen the remarkable impact Two Pups has made in only a year. “For me, this is magical,” she said. Martin has been in animal welfare for 25 years, starting as a veterinary technician at the Arizona Humane Society before working in shelters nationwide. She ran Animal Care and Control for the City of New York, built spay and neuter clinics in Los Angeles, and was executive director of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society for nine years before returning to Arizona. In all those years, she hasn’t seen anything like the Two Pups Wellness Fund. “It is terribly hard on your heart when you see conditions that can be treated—that should be treated—but the only thing that’s stopping us from providing treatment is having the resources to do it,” she said. That’s where Two Pups steps in. The animals that come to Valley shelters are most often there as a function of poverty. Many have been hit by cars or run away from homes that didn’t manage their animals well. “We see every disease, because these are dogs that have not been vaccinated,” Martin said. “We see a lot of dogs that have been left out in yards with no ability to get out of the sun.” Valley Fever, parvo, cancer, heartworm — the conditions run the gamut. Martin looks for what she calls “discrete conditions” that have an end point. What that means is, if a dog has a fractured leg, after the fracture is fixed you have a healthy, adoptable dog. Such treatable conditions are candidates for Two Pups assistance. Shelter workers take the animals to private practitioners for discounted treatment and Two Pups pays the bills. “There is no law against having animals. We see so many animals come in from owners who simply can’t afford veterinary care,” Martin said. After receiving care supported by Two Pups, many animals are able to return to their homes; others get adopted by new owners. The work can range from simple things, like removing a benign tumor from a kitten’s ear, to more complicated conditions. Silver recalls the night she received a phone call from Bip Haley describing a frightening situation. “Bip said, ‘We have an emergency. There’s an epidemic at the county’s east shelter and we need to figure out what we can do.’” A fast-spreading bacterial infection had hit the shelter, endangering the lives of 330 dogs. “I said do whatever it takes,” Silver said. “Twenty-five thousand dollars later, we bought all the vaccines. Long story short, we only lost four dogs.” Another Two Pups patient made headlines and won hearts throughout the Valley. BB Bear, an abused Husky, was beaten within an inch of his life and abandoned in a dumpster near Seventh and Southern Avenues at just 2 months old. Suffering from a massive skull fracture, he was taken to Phoenix Dog, Cat & Bird Hospital. With expert care along with financial assistance from Two Pups, BB Bear made a tremendous recovery. In the process, he garnered national attention and became a social-media sensation. After receiving more than 200 adoption applications, BB Bear was adopted by an East Valley family and COVER STORY CONTINUED

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