Lindsey Talkington’s first experience with a family pet helped shape her future.
“I came from a very poor background,” she explains. “When I was growing up, we did not have money by any means. We got a puppy from a backyard with a sign that said, ‘Puppies for Sale.’ She was beautiful. She was like a lab/retriever mix.”
They named the puppy Delilah, and after just a few weeks, the puppy got very sick.
“We just didn’t have money to go to the vet,” says Lindsey. Her grandma worked at a factory, and even then Lindsey recognized that it was a hardship to pay for a clinic visit.
“We never got shots. I begged and pleaded with my grandma and I’m like, ‘Please, is there any way you could take us to the vet? Something’s really wrong with the dog.’”
Delilah had parvovirus, a disease that spreads quickly in breeding environments. Delilah hadn’t been vaccinated, and they did not catch it early enough to save Lindsey’s puppy.
“We couldn’t save her, and she ended up passing away. I tear up thinking about it because it was very hard. It was very sad and traumatic as a kid. We couldn’t save the dog and she died at home with us. And it was just sad. And I said, ‘I never want another person to go through that ever.’”
Now, as a board member for One Health Organization, Lindsey is involved in helping low-income pet parents afford veterinary bills so more people can experience the companionship of an animal.
Lindsey joined the One Health Organization board in 2024. She has worked in the financial industry since 2008 and holds an MBA in Finance. She is a Certified Wealth Strategist and has spent the last 13 years with Key Private Bank as a Relationship Manager. She also sits on the board for the Lakeland Foundation for Lake Community College.
When she’s not working, her life is defined by animals. She volunteers with Lake Humane Society, where she serves on committees and helps plan local events. She and her husband have five rescue dogs — Champagne, Mimosa, Stello, Frangelico, and Quiero — and they’ve provided a foster home for more than nine dogs.
Lindsey also values how her dogs support her mental health.
“You would never know looking at me, but I have extreme anxiety. And there are days where I get so anxious at work and so worked up that when I’m driving home in the car, I just keep telling myself, ‘Okay, I’m going to get home. I’m going to walk through that door. My dogs are going to be there to greet me and they’re going to make everything better.’ And they do.”
When a coworker first introduced Lindsey to the work of One Health Organization, she jumped at the chance to get involved.
“She was at an event and met Dr. Anna, and got information about the organization,” says Lindsey. “She said, ‘I found the perfect organization for you to get involved with.’ Because she knows I’m a really huge advocate of animals. The mission really resonated with me.”
Growing up with limited resources, she says, helps her understand how critical support can be for low-income pet parents.
“I got involved and I said, if we could help keep animals with their families, I think not only will it help the animal from going to a shelter, but it will also help the family because a lot of people use animals nowadays for mental illness, autism; it’s very therapeutic.”
Lindsey is currently fostering a Shiba Inu who was rescued from a puppy mill. As is often the case with dogs raised in cages, the dog is reluctant to come out of her crate.
“She’s very shut down, never socialized. We are just seeing the progress with her starting to trust me and eat from my hand and come outside with me. She’s still not trying to really come out of her crate, but she pokes her head out. I carry her outside to get her to go to the bathroom.”
The foster dog isn’t ready to socialize with Lindsey’s five other dogs yet, so she’s staying in a separate room partitioned with baby gates. Lindsey hopes the dog will eventually be adopted into a home where she can be an only pet.
Many of the foster dogs Lindsey and her husband have taken in are older, often surrendered from breeding operations and Amish farms in southern Ohio.
“A lot of them are kept in barns, and not treated how we would treat them,” says Lindsey. “What they were doing in southern Ohio is they would either just dump them on the side of the road or they would drop them at the vet and never come back.”
Whenever situations like that come up, Lindsey and other foster parents step in to care for them.
Only once did Lindsey and her husband decide to keep a foster — and that’s how Mimosa, one of their French bulldogs, became part of their family.
French bulldogs are prone to allergies, and Mimosa had allergy symptoms, which meant whoever adopted her could likely face high veterinary costs.
“I told my husband, ‘This dog has allergies and she’s going to go to a home and somebody is going to be sticker shocked at the price of the vet bills,’” she says. “What if they can’t afford her? What if they can’t take care of her? We have the means to do that, and I think she belongs with us.”
The couple has spent at least $10,000 on testing, dermatologist appointments, and special food for Mimosa.
Raising five dogs helps Lindsey understand what pet parents go through when a dog is sick. Their oldest French bulldog is 12 years old and has breast cancer.
“We call her the godmother because she takes all the fosters under her wing and she shows them the ropes: ‘Hey, this is what you do. This is how you go potty outside. This is when you eat. She just kind of takes them under her wing and they flock to her and they just bond with her.”
When Lindsey met Dr. Anna, Melissa Elick, and One Health Organization board members, she felt she had found a place to bring together her lifelong passion for animals and a mission she truly believes in.
“I stand behind that mission tremendously,” says Lindsey.
“In order for me to support an organization and sit on a board for an organization, I have to feel it. I have to be passionate about it and I really have to believe in the mission.”
If you also believe in keeping pets healthy and at home, please consider making a gift today to support families in need.