A Soap Lake woman is making a difference through rescuing animals in Grant County, and they are making a difference in her life as well.

“This is what keeps me sober,” said Shawna Kluge. “Quite frankly, it keeps me sober and it keeps me alive.”

Kluge runs a rescue called the Rock Bottom Rocker Pet Pantry. She takes in all sorts of animals from all sorts of situations. Back in September, Kluge became aware that a homeless woman in Soap Lake had been severely injured and was in the hospital with no one taking care of her dog, Shelby. Kluge stepped in to take in Shelby, who was heavily pregnant, and even went as far as to raise money for the woman’s end-of-life expenses. Since then, Kluge has been able to rehome Shelby as well as all nine of her puppies. On the other side of things, she recently unexpectedly took in a young chinchilla.

Kluge said she has always had a soft spot for animals and those, rather it be animals or humans, who don’t have a voice.

“This time around with sobriety, I knew that if I didn’t shape up that I was going to be dead. I knew that. So for me, I promised God that if he gave me a second chance that I would live my life of service. And this is my little niche. This is what I excel in,” said Kluge.

Kluge said she has been involved in animal rescue for over 25 years but formally started her rescue only two and a half years ago. She is working to solidify non-profit status for her rescue but it is hard to do when she is so busy with all the animals in her care and others that still need help, she said.

Kluge works hard to keep pets with their owners if possible. If, for example, a person reaches out because they are unable to care for their pet due to financial reasons, Kluge tries to support them by supplying them with food, or whatever else they may need that is within her power.

Kluge said in a 2020 interview with the Herald that she used part of her stimulus check to buy 200 pounds of pet food, which she gave to pet owners who were struggling.

Kluge has built a reputation for taking in or helping with any animals in need to the degree that she, or her rescue’s Facebook page, is frequently tagged in posts about stray animals around Soap Lake and Grant County.

“The Rock Bottom Rocker Pet Pantry serves the Grant County community,” the rescue’s Facebook page states. “We provide pet supplies, animal education and rescue services for community members in need. Helping Families care for their pets while networking help to keep families and pets together!”

Through her work over the years, Kluge has built relationships with many shelters, pet stores and vet clinics in the area as well as volunteers around the state, Kluge said. For example, she was able to get the chinchilla moved to Petco, where they have better resources to take care of an exotic animal, to be put up for adoption according to posts on her rescue’s Facebook page.

Many of the animals Kluge takes in also have health concerns due to not being properly taken care of while on the street. This creates a lot of vet bills for Kluge to cover. She works hard to secure funding to cover the vet costs, food, cages, and other costs associated with transporting and taking care of the animals. The funding comes from her own pocket, donations from community members and local businesses.

Kluge does her best but said she needs the public’s help to continue helping animals, she said. All the rescues and animal services in the county are drowning, she added, and while donations are appreciated, what they really need is for the public to step up and fix their animals and take in fosters.

Kluge said one of the hardest parts of rescuing is keeping up with the large amounts of animals.

“Honestly, in this area, the hardest part is that more people are not proactive when it comes to spaying and neutering. We will not be able to adopt ourselves out of this problem,” she said.