Zach Skow

Founder and Director of Outreach and Programs, Marley’s Mutts

Zach was dying of liver disease at 28 years old. He had abused his body with alcohol and drugs since he was a teenager. He was given 90 days to live without a liver transplant and would have to remain sober for six months to receive it. Weakened, and broken, one fate-filled day, Zach looked at himself in the mirror and noticed his rescue dogs, Tug, Marley, and Buddy wagging their tails expectantly in unison. Zach’s dogs became his teachers and his inspiration.  They didn’t let Zach wallow in the house; their needs became the vision Zach would need to see his way out of his darkness. Zach began to save more dogs organically as his passion for this work deepened, and soon, the idea of founding a rescue organization was born.  Zach founded Marley’s Mutts in the spring of 2009. Marley’s Mutts’ focus on community outreach sets a gold standard in addressing the needs of individuals and populations with the gifts rescue dogs bring. Prison inmates gain life- affirming and recidivism ending skills as dog trainers through the Pawsitive Change program. Marley’s Miracle Mutts utilizes rescue therapy dogs to assist those in need of comfort, social enrichment, and those in addiction recovery programs. Serendipitously, on the anniversary of the day he was first admitted into the hospital with his fatal disease, a scan revealed his liver was no longer cirrhotic. Zach now feels like a passenger in a greater life plan.