Every Old Dog Deserves to Matter
Friends of Felix Senior Dog Rescue & Sanctuary was built on a simple belief: a dog’s life does not become less valuable with age.
We exist for the dogs who are too often overlooked — the gray muzzles, the medically complicated, the ones who need a little more patience, and the ones whose remaining time may be measured in years, months, or sometimes days.
Some will come to us, receive the care they need, and find families of their own. Others will remain with us as sanctuary residents, surrounded by comfort, love and the freedom to simply be dogs for however long they have left.
Because whether a senior dog has five years or five days ahead of them, those days still matter.
It Started With Felix
Friends of Felix was born from loving a dog through the chapter no one ever feels ready for.
Felix’s battle with bladder cancer changed the way I thought about rescue, aging, and what it means to give a dog a truly good life. Caring for him showed me that quality of life isn’t measured only by how much time is left. It’s found in favorite meals, slow walks, sunny afternoons, soft beds, ridiculous routines, and being surrounded by people who make you feel safe.
Losing Felix left an enormous hole — but it also gave that love somewhere to go.
His legacy became the beginning of Friends of Felix Senior Dog Rescue & Sanctuary: a place created specifically for senior dogs who deserve comfort, dignity, excellent care, and someone willing to choose them.
Felix may be the dog whose name is on the rescue, but he isn’t the only dog whose life helped shape it.
For the Gray Muzzles
Senior dogs enter shelters and rescue for countless reasons. Their person may have died or become unable to care for them. Families experience financial hardship, housing changes, or medical crises. Some dogs arrive with years of veterinary needs that have gone untreated. Others simply find themselves homeless at an age when starting over is especially hard.
Whatever brought them here, we believe their story deserves more than an ending defined by what they lost.
Friends of Felix focuses on giving senior dogs what they need as individuals. That may mean veterinary treatment and preparation for adoption. It may mean rehabilitation and time to decompress. And for dogs whose age, medical needs, or circumstances make adoption unrealistic, it may mean a permanent place in our sanctuary.
There is no expiration date on being worthy of love.
Rescue Without the One-Size-Fits-All Approach
We want Friends of Felix to be thoughtful not only about the dogs we serve, but about the people who want to love them.
Our adoption philosophy is conversation-based, education-focused, and barrier aware. Instead of treating every imperfect application as an automatic rejection, we look at the whole picture.
Sometimes a potential adopter simply needs education, resources, or help getting an existing pet’s care up to date. When a safe and responsible path forward exists, we want to help build it.
And adoption isn’t where our relationship ends.
Our goal is to provide lifetime support to Friends of Felix adopters — from questions about senior dog care to help coordinating routine veterinary needs and navigating the challenges that can come with loving an aging dog.
We aren’t interested in simply placing dogs.
We want placements to last.
Rescue. Sanctuary. A Soft Place to Land.
Not every senior dog needs the same future.
For adoptable dogs, our goal is to find loving homes where they can spend their golden years as cherished family members.
For permanent sanctuary residents, Friends of Felix becomes home.
That means comfortable spaces, enrichment, appropriate exercise, veterinary care, pain management, companionship, and plenty of opportunities to enjoy the things that make each dog happiest.
We believe end-of-life care is still life care.
A dog does not have to be young, healthy, or adoptable to deserve investment, joy, and a future worth looking forward to.
Behind Friends of Felix
Friends of Felix began with one person's love for senior dogs, but bringing the mission to life takes a community. Meet some of the people helping turn that vision into a safe, compassionate future for senior dogs.
Olivia Wilhelm - Founder/Executive Director
For more than five years, Olivia has been involved in animal welfare, with senior dogs quickly becoming the ones who stole her heart. As a nurse, foster, adopter, and lifelong animal lover, she believes deeply in meeting each dog where they are and making quality of life matter at every age. Friends of Felix grew from the many senior dogs who changed her life—and her determination to make sure more of them get the second chance they deserve.
Powered by community.
Behind every person you see here are board members, volunteers, donors, partners, friends, and supporters helping Friends of Felix grow.
Removing Refuse and Scrap
Where We Are Now
Friends of Felix is in its founding and development stage, building the infrastructure, resources, partnerships, and programs needed to responsibly welcome senior dogs into our care.
We’re taking a thoughtful, sustainable approach to growth—developing safe intake and decompression spaces, expanding veterinary and community partnerships, improving the sanctuary property, and exploring foster homes when they allow us to safely help more dogs.
We may be building one piece at a time, but the mission is already underway.
Clearing Old Structures
Contact us
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