The Woman Behind It
Dogs have been saving my life since I was a kid.
Growing up on Long Island, life at home wasn't safe. I learned very young what it felt like to live on edge, never knowing what version of someone you were going to come home to. The one constant was always a dog.
Sometimes they were curled up beside me so I felt safe enough to sleep. Sometimes they stood between me and someone who wanted to hurt me. Sometimes they didn't do anything except stay.
If you've ever had a dog like that, you know that sometimes staying is everything.
"Every single piece of it came from a wound that became a gift."
— Domenica Robbins, Founder & Executive Director
WHERE I CAME FROM
A Lifetime of showing up.
Through every chapter of my life — every move, every career, every starting over — there was always a rescued animal beside me. Always a dog no one needed somewhere to land.
I served in the Air Force as an EMT and later a Registered Nurse. I volunteered as a CASA advocate for children in the court system. I mentored military youth. I did mission work in Mexico. No matter where life took me, the animals came too.
WHY THIS, WHY NOW
When grief and crisis showed up.
When grief and crisis showed up in my own life — and it did, repeatedly and without mercy — I responded the way I always had: by building something that could help.
I covered my Jeep in chalkboard vinyl and drove it to towns so people could write the names of those they had lost to suicide. I opened my home to thirty grieving teenagers after a friend's suicide. That instinct never left.
WHAT I LEARNED THE HARD WAY
What I thought this would look like
When I started Legacy Paws, I had a picture in my head. Dogs running free across five acres, all getting along, living their best lives together. A sanctuary that looked like harmony.
Reality had other plans. I've been through dog fights. I've watched a rescue dog kill one of my cats. I've been injured — more than once. I'm 50 years old. I carry a traumatic brain injury and a body in pain every single day from an accident that changed the course of my life.
But here's what I've come to believe: none of that was a mistake. It was information. It was direction.
It taught me that I can save far more dogs through a strong foster network than I ever could by bringing them all here. It taught me that the sanctuary needs to be a place of genuine peace — for the dogs who live here, and for me. It taught me to say no with more clarity and less guilt.
The dogs who stay on this property are the ones nobody else will take. The seniors. The ones with needs too complex for a traditional rescue. They get the most amazing rest of their lives here — and they deserve that peace as much as I do.
HOW THE RESCUE WORKS
Three parts. One mission.
Rescue is where we begin. Understanding is where we're trying to go.
01
The Sanctuary
Five acres in Catawba, NC. A real home for senior and special needs dogs who have nowhere else to go. Not a kennel. A life.
02
The Foster Network
A growing network of foster families who give dogs a real home while they heal and wait for their forever person. This is how we scale.
03
The Products
Magical Mutts kits and the Journaling is for the Dogs series fund the rescue.
Mission-aligned revenue so we're not wholly dependent on donations.
THE PROPERTY
5 acres built for healing.
Woodland Trails
Creek Access
Sensory Garden
Rainbow Bridge Island
Join the mission.
The dogs we pull into rescue flinch. They stop eating. They can't settle enough to sleep — even after they're finally safe. People call that broken. I don't. I think they were reacting to what happened to them. I understood that — not because someone taught me, but because I lived it.
Help us build a community where people and dogs don't just save each other once. They spend a lifetime teaching each other how to heal.
JOIN OUR EXECUTIVE BOARD
We're building a team.
An honest ask: I belong in the mud with the dogs — not behind a laptop at midnight. Every role below is genuinely needed. If you have skills and heart, we need you. -Domenica
Board Chair
Leadership, governance, strategy
Marketing Director
Social media, ads, brand, content
Nonprofit Attorney
Legal, trademark, compliance
Veterinary Advisor
Medical guidance, vet partnerships
Grant Writer ⚡ URGENT
Petco Love, Maddie's Fund, wellness grants
Fundraising Chair
Campaigns, events, major donors
Event Coordinator
Trail, haunted events, fundraisers
Social Media Manager
2–3 hrs/week · posting + engagement
Also looking for skilled volunteers:
Dog Care
Photography
Web/Tech
Transport
Garden Crew
Trail Guides
Scare Actors
Set Design
Trail & Fence Work
Event Setup
Admin Support
Island Care