Jill lives in Newington with her family, including 3 dogs and a cat. She has loved animals since she could remember and has always wanted to find a way to work with them.

Jill began college pursuing a degree in animal science. She worked at a local veterinary hospital for a year and volunteered at the University’s sheep farm to help bottle feed orphaned lambs. She then changed her degree path to teaching. She worked at a pet store for the remainder of college. Once graduated, she became an elementary teacher and she volunteered at a local animal shelter where she walked and exercised their dogs.

Jill grew up with a golden retriever as her family’s dog and then had 3 Pomeranians. When her first pom passed, she rescued a dachshund mix puppy. Her energy was a little much for her two senior dogs, so she got a puggle puppy for her puppy as a playmate and they have been the best of friends since. After her second pom passed, she combined homes with her now husband, who had a dog and a cat of his own. They called themselves the “animal Brady Bunch”. Sadly Jill’s third pom, Panda, and her husband’s dog Storm, both passed within a day of each other so their pack was cut in half.

The following spring is when Jill found Army’s Legacy. Her friend shared a post about a Rottweiler, Kaine, needing a medical foster. He joined their household for 6 weeks before moving on to his forever home. Then came Cali. She was a 5 month old Rottweiler that came in as a surrender on death’s door because she somehow ingested an entire bottle of pills. She pulled through by the amazing veterinary staff that helped her and went to foster with Amanda. A few weeks later, Amanda had to go on a trip and asked Jill to watch her for the weekend…but they just knew they had to keep her! She fit right in with the other two resident dogs and their pack felt complete again. Jill is proud to have a Legacy and still fosters when the right dog is in need that will integrate well with her pack.

Jill started being more involved by volunteering with application processing for potential adopters. She began taking on more tasks and ultimately wanted to commit her time to this rescue, so she was accepted as the Vice President.