Jessica Cooke is known for her love of animals. She owns about 130 of them, and has serviced thousands of others over the years through The Yuppy Puppy Pet Spa. But Jessica’s love for dogs extends beyond grooming them. She and her canine cohorts have found homes for more than 3,000 dogs since 2019.
Jessica is the director for Yuppy Puppies Forever, a nonprofit she designed to give orphaned pets a second chance.
“I was always an unintentional rescuer,” Jessica says. “I would always find the strays and try to find their owners.”
YP4Ever formally began after a Yuppy Puppy client came to Jessica for help. The woman said Jessica had groomed her mom’s dog, and that her mom had recently passed away. She then asked Jessica if she would find her mother’s dog a home.
“Our main focus has been on displaced pets due to their owners being deceased,” Jessica says. “We create bonds with our clients, with two legs and four legs. Over the years many of our elderly or sick clients have passed away or have been no longer able to care for their beloved pets, and family couldn't keep their pets for one reason or another. Many of them approached us to see if someone at Yuppy Puppy would take the pet, because the loved one told them about our staff, and we usually did.”
But the requests became so frequent the staff couldn’t take in any more dogs. “That’s when YP4Ever was born,” she says.
Jessica says pairing up animals with new owners is a labor of love, but it can be hard on the heart. “Then there are dogs whose owners don’t have any families, and the dog is found lying by the body when the paramedics come. It is heartbreaking, but it's such an honor to get to care for that loved dog. I have always loved giving animals a second chance. I swear the dogs wait for the right person.”
Jessica says she experienced firsthand having to rehome the pet of a deceased family member when her husband’s aunt passed away. “This 90-year-old, 100-pound woman lived alone with a 180-pound bullmastiff. He was her best friend. When she died, the dog was distraught. That experience really sparked the need to help someone. We saw the impact it made personally. That dog never left her side.”
The main mission for YP4Ever is for owners who need to rehome due to illness or death, but the group also takes in dogs that themselves are elderly, have long shelter stays, medical conditions and other reasons.
YP4Ever also works with local government shelters who house dogs that come in from deceased owners.
Jessica says she finds solace among her own horses, alpacas, donkeys, chickens, ducks, cats and yes, dogs, that she doesn’t find other places. And while she says finding new best friends for animals whose owners have passed can be painful, “I feel very blessed to do that work."
She adds her husband has asked, when her own time comes, how he will find her in heaven. “I say, ‘Just look for me with all the animals.’”
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