For big dogs, a big-hearted home

By Rebecca Jones, Special To The News
June 14, 2004

The bigger and crankier they are, the more Lisa Kavanaugh loves them.

Which, given the limited public demand for 100- to 200-pound dogs with questionable temperaments, is a very good thing for all the castoff Great Danes, mastiffs, Saint Bernards, Newfoundlands, rottweilers and other colossal canines who have found their way to Kavanaugh's 35-acre Blue Lion Animal Rescue ranch in Yoder, 30 miles east of Colorado Springs.

In all, she's providing shelter to some 60 dogs - plus two horses, who aren't that much bigger than some of the dogs. She finds loving adoptive homes for as many as she can. But many, who have endured past abuse and neglect, have dispositions unlikely to win them new homes. They will live out their lives at Kavanaugh's ranch, where even grumpy growlers seem to relax under her gentle care.

"She just wants to provide homes to as many as possible," says Susan Magness, a retired United Airlines flight attendant who last year signed on as Kavanaugh's volunteer assistant in rescue operations and dog care. Since then, Magness has criss-crossed the country picking up huge unwanted dogs that almost certainly would be euthanized if not for Kavanaugh's willingness to provide them a home and a second chance.

"Many of them have aggression issues," Magness says. "A lot of these dogs would never get adopted. So when shelters see they're going to have to put one down, they'll call us and we'll go get it."

She's driven as far as Florida to fetch a dog and bring it back to the ranch.

While Kavanaugh has been rescuing large dogs for 15 years, and her shelter is licensed by the state, only recently she was granted nonprofit status by the federal government.

Nonprofit is an accurate term, she says. Her dogs eat their way through some $1,500 worth of dog food a month. And vet bills add up, she adds.

"I told my mom, if she'd just have let me have even one dog growing up, I wouldn't be in this mess today," says Kavanaugh, laughing. Instead, Kavanaugh, 44, had to wait until she got married to get her first dog.

"Someone gave me a Saint Bernard puppy as a wedding present," she says. "It was just love at first sight. The marriage didn't last, but the dog did."

Kavanaugh, a chiropractor, began breeding Saint Bernards. And rescuing unwanted ones. Eventually, she found herself with 20 or so. Then someone started poisoning the dogs. Kavanaugh, who lived in the mountains at the time, realized she needed to move for the dogs' safety. While many dog owners experience the difficulty of finding a suitable place to live, Kavanaugh's challenge when she moved with 20 Saint Bernards was immense. "And, like all good divorced women, I had terrible credit," Kavanaugh says. "So I bought this property. It didn't have a house on it. I lived in a tent for two months."

Things are easier now, with a real house and lots of fenced areas for the dogs to roam. But easy is relative when you're the primary caretaker for upward of 3 tons of dogs. Kavanaugh continues driving into Denver three days a week to see her chiropractic patients.

Burdened by high food and veterinary bills, Kavanaugh and Magness last year hit upon a fund-raising idea: greeting cards. Kavanaugh insisted that Zeldamae, her Dogue de Bordeaux, enjoys dressing up in clothing and would make an ideal model.

"I said 'OK, let's get some outfits and a photographer,' " says Magness, who proceeded to scavenge for suitable attire for Zeldamae, and later for other Blue Lion models. That's how the Ugly Dawgs line of greeting cards was born.

Today, Ugly Dawgs has a selection of 12 cards featuring Zeldamae and two Neapolitan Mastiffs, the 180-pound Mister Houdini and Miss Fiona. The line of Christmas-themed cards is ready to go to the printer this month. After that, Magness hopes to introduce four new cards to the selection every two months. In addition, a line of T-shirts is ready to go on sale later this month.

Magness says Zeldamae is a born model who loves to ham it up for the camera. The other dogs required some training, but eventually got the hang of it.

"Mister Houdini came from a horrendous home," she says. "He was living on a patio with no shelter for over a year. We had to buy him from the owner. When I first saw him, he had no spirit whatsoever. But we've had him since January, and now he's just Mr. Waggy Tail."

Greeting cards

• Ugly Dawg cards cost $2.50 apiece and are available at both Tattered Cover locations in Denver, the Pet Stuff Place in Castle Rock, Pet Outfitters in Greenwood Village, Pet Empawrium in Arvada, and C.J. Kard, Terra Verde and Wild at Heart, all in Colorado Springs. They also are available for order online. For information on Blue Lion Animal Rescue or Ugly Dawg greeting cards, call 1-719-478-2374 or go online to www.UglyDawgs.com.