320,000 DOGS WERE EUTHANIZED IN U.S. SHELTERS IN 2025. 

Paws for Pigment did not begin with a business plan, a sanctuary, or even a coloring book about dogs. It began during a trip away from home with two stray dogs: Roscoe and Marley.

Roscoe had been roaming around in the summer heat for three weeks when I pulled into my Airbnb and our paths crossed. What started with food, water, a bath, and a safe place to sleep turned into five weeks together, more than 1,000 miles of travel, and eventually a new family of his own.

Marley’s story was different. She was another stray I encountered during that same trip. I wanted to help her too, but I was far from home, in another state, without the connections, resources, or support system I needed to safely take on another rescue. I had to leave her behind, and that stayed with me.

I kept thinking about what might have been different if I had known a local veterinarian, foster, rescue, boarding facility, transporter, or even just one person nearby who could have helped me figure out the next step. At the same time, Roscoe was still with me while we waited for his new family to be ready for him.

One dog showed me what can happen when you are able to say yes. The other showed me how it feels when you cannot.

That became the reason behind Paws for Pigment. I never want to encounter another dog who needs help and have to walk away simply because I do not have the resources or connections to do something.

How the Coloring Books Became Part of It

Oddly enough, the coloring book itself started for a completely unrelated reason. I wanted to buy a certain kind of coloring book and could not find what I was looking for, so I decided to make one myself.

There was no rescue mission behind it. It was not originally going to be about dogs. It was simply a creative project I thought I might enjoy making.

But as I spent more time working on the book, more time with Roscoe, and more time thinking about Marley, the idea started becoming something different. I began wondering whether something I created could help pay for the next bag of dog food, vet bill, tank of gas, emergency boarding stay, or other expense that might stand between a dog and a safe next step.

That is when a coloring book became Paws for Pigment.

What We Are Building

Our mission is to use creativity, storytelling, and community to build real resources for dogs in need. Proceeds from Paws for Pigment products help support rescue-related expenses such as veterinary care, transportation, food, supplies, rehabilitation, temporary housing, and other needs that come up along the way.

But money is only part of the problem. Sometimes what you need most is simply to know who to call.

That is why we are also building a nationwide rescue network of veterinarians, groomers, trainers, fosters, rescues, transporters, boarding facilities, pet businesses, photographers, and others willing to help. The goal is to create a resource people can turn to when they find themselves far from home with a dog who needs help and no idea where to start.

Dogs do not choose where they become lost, abandoned, neglected, or unwanted. Help should not stop at a city limit or state line either. That is what Rescue Beyond Borders means to us.

Different places. Same purpose.

The Bigger Goal

Paws for Pigment is still at the beginning, but the long-term goal is much bigger than coloring books. We want to build a permanent rescue and sanctuary for dogs who are unwanted, abandoned, abused, difficult to place, or facing euthanasia.

A place where dogs can recover, receive the care they need, find families when the right families exist, and still have somewhere safe to belong when traditional adoption is not the right outcome.

The books help us build resources for the dogs we can reach today. The sanctuary is what we are working toward tomorrow.

We may never be able to help every dog, but the goal is to never again have to say, “I want to help, but I have nowhere to turn.”

Roscoe showed me what can happen when the answer is yes. Marley showed me why I needed to find a way to make that answer possible more often.

Paws for Pigment grew from both of them.

Real rescues. Real miles. Real stories.