Summits Sanctuary

Summit's Sanctuary is a nonprofit dog rescue based in Leesburg, Alabama, serving northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia. The organization is named after Summit, a certified therapy dog and AKC Canine Good Citizen who spent nearly 12 years working alongside his owner, Lisa Chandler, at Cave Spring Elementary School, helping students with emotional needs before he passed away in 2017. Wanting to carry on Summit's legacy of helping others, Chandler started the rescue with the help of her godson, Jeremiah Wheeler, and close friend Jeanne Hatmaker. Today, Summit's Sanctuary rescues dogs of all breeds and works to place them in loving homes, offering a formal adoption process along with an adoption application. The adoption fee for adult dogs is $200. The organization also supports a sanctuary program for dogs considered unadoptable, where supporters can sponsor a sanctuary dog for about the cost of basic flea and heartworm prevention, and it provides guidance for people looking to rehome their own dog rather than surrender it to a shelter. Summit's Sanctuary relies on donations, supply drives, and community fundraising to support its rescue work.