My Nonprofit Reviews

We adopted a double merle Australian Shepherd from Speak, and it was a wonderful experience. Double merles can be blind or deaf, or both, and they are born as a result of bad breeding. We had known that we wanted to adopt a double merle, but having never had a disabled dog before we weren't sure about adopting Tristan, because she's severely visually impaired and completely deaf. One of the amazing things about Speak is that they're entirely foster-based, which is obviously emotionally better for disabled dogs, but also better for adoptive parents as well. Tristan's foster mom spent a lot of time talking to me about her, telling me about what she needs to feel safe and happy. She completely calmed my nerves - not just before we adopted Tristan, but she also talked to me several times after the adoption anytime I wasn't sure about anything, and we keep in touch through Instagram four years later. The work they're doing is incredible, but they also doing the work in an amazing way because they center what the animals need. They aren't trying to find them homes, they're really trying to find them forever homes (or furever homes). I would absolutely adopt from them again, and I make donations as often as I can.