Meet our founder, Jackie! She was raised on the beautiful island of Hawai’i. Jackie always had passion for helping dogs in need as a young island girl. She is a big softie for big dogs with big blocky heads— mutts included! Being from Hawai’i, many local islander’s own mutts or as they call it in Hawai’i “poi dogs” which translates into mixed dogs (mutts). Many of these poi dogs are a blend of bully/pit bull type dogs. To Jackie, these were the “dogs of paradise”, so she knew to specialize her rescue around helping these special overlooked dogs.

Although Hawai’i may be paradise to many, living on the Big Island really opened Jackie’s eyes to step into the dog rescue world. Throughout the 8 years of Jackie living on the Big Island, she would see countless of dogs chained on short leashes in the backyards with no dog/human interaction day in and day out, countless of abandoned hunting dogs left to “fend for themselves”, many “puppies and dogs for sale” signs (backyard breeders), and the local animal shelters always overflowed with unwanted dogs and litters. Jackie knew she needed to take action and spread awareness on a small island, so she began her journey rescuing dogs in 2014. Fast forward to 2024, Jackie’s pack all consists of all rescue dogs that her and her family and her saved from the islands.

Nice to meet you!

Meet Cody who is the co-founder and plays a vital role in the rescue. Cody was raised in Texas and is also a big dog lover as well! Him and Jackie met in 2021 and bonded between their love for dogs amongst other things but dogs being the main bond, so it was meant to be! With Cody being from Texas, he was exposed to the terrible pet overpopulation crisis with seeing the countless of homeless and abandoned dogs being dumped throughout the big Lonestar state. With both Cody’s and Jackie’s passion for saving dogs, they combined forces to create a dynamic duo rescue to help save at-risk dogs. Cody plays a huge role in the rescue. He takes care of all of the foster dogs that come into the rescue. This includes spending 1 on 1 individualized time with the foster dogs— exercise, enrichment and training time. He also spends a great deal of time reviewing and processing adoption applications.

Meet Mahina!

Mahina was the name of Jackie’s first rescue dog that she saved in 2014 on the beautiful Big Island of Hawai’i. Mahina is described to be the cutest, sweetest, happiest, shortest, all-tan pitty mixed girl with a tail and body that won’t stop shaking! The night Mahina was discovered, she was found in an abandoned home and appeared to very scared, alone, and with bad skin condition due to prior neglect.

Jackie and her family quickly brought Mahina into their family and rehabilitated her to safety. Not long after the night Mahina was rescued, Jackie made Mahina a part of the rest of Jackie’s dog pack. Mahina is named after the Hawaiian word “moonlight”. The night Mahina was saved, there was a bright beautiful full moon in the sky so it was only right to name Jackie’s first rescue dog after the beautiful Hawaiian moon.

Mahina’s rescue story is a legacy that Jackie and her team will continue to pursue into their rescue work. We will continue to save more sweet, abandoned pit bull dogs just like sweet Mahina and give them a second fighting chance at life!