When dog owners go to rehab, he’s making sure their pets are cared for

Dallas, Texas (CNN) — Stephen Knight has saved thousands of animals from ending up in shelters. But 13 years ago, he was just trying to save himself.

Knight, whose nonprofit provides foster care for the pets of people who need to go to rehab, was motivated by his own experiences with addiction and animal rescue.

In 2011, when Knight was 51 years old, he had lost everything to meth addiction – his family, his job, his home, and nearly his life. HIV positive, and living out of his car, Knight entered rehab at the behest of his mother.

“She said, ‘I don’t want to have to bury you,’” Knight recalled. “I worked hard and got a second chance in life. You have to learn how to live again.”

Eight months into recovery, a time that is crucial for addicts and a period when counselors often advise against forging new relationships and commitments, Knight answered the door of his sober living apartment to find a friend in tears. She had relapsed, and in her arms was a 15-pound fluffball – a Maltese/Dachshund mix named Jayde.

Knight’s friend said no one would take Jayde, and she asked Knight for a ride to a shelter so she could surrender her.

“I looked at Jayde, and we looked at each other,” Knight said. “It was one of the most spiritual moments, like ‘I think we might need each other here.’”

Knight says his own response was spontaneous and not one he would recommend to his own clients in his work today as a substance abuse counselor.

“I said, ‘I’ll take her,’” Knight said. “That moment was that one act of kindness that I never thought would turn into now thousands of other dogs getting help that they need.”

Opening his home and his heart

Knight began his new life as a dog dad to Jayde that night. And he soon learned that other people struggled to find temporary homes for their beloved pets when they needed treatment for substance abuse. Often, a shelter was their only option.

“These shelters are running 150 percent over capacity. If you’re over capacity, then you start euthanizing dogs,” Knight said. “We cannot have the solution be euthanize dogs. We can’t.”

Knight, who had never owned a dog as an adult, also learned that people often delay rehab or forgo treatment altogether when they cannot find safe housing for their pets. Along with friends and family with whom he’d made amends as part of his recovery, Knight began saving dogs like Jayde one by one, becoming a beacon of hope for addicts and their pets.

“It gives them so much hope,” Knight said. “We’re finding the bond between the animal and the human made such a big difference in the recovery. People were staying sober. People had purpose.”

As Knight studied to become a licensed substance abuse counselor, he also learned more and more about the positive impact that staying connected to a pet can have on one’s recovery. And as more requests flowed in for assistance fostering animals, it became his passion – one he admits he embraced with both enthusiasm and naiveté.

“It’s hard for me to say no,” Knight said. “At the beginning, I was just like, ‘Here, come on. Come in. Everybody get along.’ And it didn’t work that way.”

At maximum capacity, he was fostering eight dogs in his small home when he mistakenly put his hand between two dogs who were fighting over a toy. He realized, after losing half a finger, that he had a lot to learn.

Knight sought advice from a local animal rescue, Dallas Pets Alive!, and began to follow a stricter protocol, educating himself on best practices for animal rescue and recovery.

“They taught me a lot,” Knight said. “They will tell you exactly how you should foster a dog. They have manuals. They have trainers.”

13 years and 1,200 dogs

In 2015, Knight’s organization, Dogs Matter, became a registered nonprofit, and he buttoned up his program – vetting applicants, conducting animal behavior assessments, and executing contracts that required participants to stick to their recovery plan and complete a 12-month post-release wraparound program.

“We have to stay in touch with you and you are obligated to stay in touch with us,” Knight said.

Egan, 28, who sought treatment for fentanyl addiction last spring, says his love for his dog Remy was what motivated him to seek treatment.

“Through all the times that I’ve felt like I didn’t deserve love, Remy has always loved me unconditionally,” he said. “I didn’t want to lose my dog, and then somebody told me about Dogs Matter. I had no idea just how much help and resources that it would bring into my life.”

During a three-month period last spring, Knight provided pictures and updates of Remy while Egan was in rehab.

“I’d flip through those pictures every day,” Egan said. “Knowing that he’s happy and being taken care of, it would remind me that I’m doing the right thing.”

This year, Dogs Matter teamed up with Dallas Pets Alive! to serve even more people and animals, including cats.

“I always got the question of, like, ‘So, you call yourself Dogs Matter. Do cats not matter?’” And I’m like, ‘Cats do matter, and we will take your cat now!’” he said.

The expanded outreach includes helping those experiencing homelessness find safe temporary homes for their pets and provides Knight with a wider pool of available foster families, a component he says is crucial to saving more lives.

“If we don’t have the foster families, we’re not able to do this mission,” Knight said. “You’re saving that dog’s life and the owner’s life. And we’re able to prevent a dog going to shelter.”

Today, Knight lives with his three dogs, Jayde, Piper and Lady, and his organization has helped more than 1,200 dogs and their owners. And as Knight approaches 14 years clean and sober, he hopes to make Dogs Matter a national model program, with the goal of giving other animals and their humans the same second chance at life that he got.

“When somebody makes that decision to go into treatment, it’s one of the biggest decisions, the bravest decisions, they’ll make,” Knight said. “What I teach my clients is with sobriety and recovery, you really can have life beyond your wildest dreams.”

Want to get involved? Check out the Dogs Matter website and see how to help.

To donate to Dogs Matter via GoFundMe, click here

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