Ardeth De Vries

Ardeth De Vries’s life has gone to the dogs, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

De Vries is a retired teacher, writer, and animal welfare advocate whose work with dogs includes: over 20 years of volunteering at an animal shelter, 55 years of rescuing homeless senior dogs, and the operation (since 2000) of her own nonprofit organization created to assist people who live on Whidbey Island with veterinary expenses for their companion animals. She has also been featured in A Better World Starts Here: Activists and their Work, (Stacy Russo, Sanctuary Publishers, 2019). De Vries has been involved for the past 19 years with Old Dog Haven, the largest senior dogs rescue in the United States. As part of the Old Dog Haven organization De Vries has served as: permanent foster parent, newsletter editor, blog mistress, counselor to people (not only within the organization but all over the U.S.) about end-of-life decisions, grieving, dementia, and senior dog care, transporter, board member, board president, and executive director (retired). De Vries has also been interviewed on radio and T.V. about her work with senior dogs.

De Vries has written two books about dogs and a metaphysical novel that slipped in there between the two dog books:

Animal Voices in Concert, Publishing Works, 2006

A Space Between: River Sanctuary Publishing, 2010

Old Dog Haven: Every Old Dog Has a Story to Tell, Bennett and Hastings, 2014.

De Vries shares her home on Whidbey Island with her partner and five senior rescue dogs. She is currently working on her next book: Listen to Your Inner Dog: Conversations About Being Human.

All proceeds from book sales will be donated to Old Dog Haven.