Jasmine: KCK's August 2026 Shining Star of the Pack

Some people stumble into rescue work. Others seem to have been heading toward it their whole lives — shaped by every stray they stopped for, every shelter shift they showed up for, every animal that looked to them and found safety.

Jasmine is the second kind.

This month, Karl's Canine Krew is proud to celebrate Jasmine as our August 2026 Shining Star of the Pack. She joined KCK earlier this year, but her story with animals began nearly two decades ago. She brings with her a depth of experience, a tenderness earned through real loss, and a commitment to rescue that runs straight through to her core. Getting to know Jasmine is getting to know exactly why this work matters.

How Jasmine Found Her Way to KCK

Jasmine has been part of the KCK family since February or March 2026 — just a few months, in the grand scheme of things. But anyone who has encountered her already knows she's not someone who eases in slowly. She shows up with care, with knowledge, and with the kind of quiet steadiness that rescue dogs recognize and lean into.

That quality didn't appear overnight. It was built over years of choosing, again and again, to show up for animals who needed someone in their corner.

A Lifelong Calling: Why She Volunteers

Jasmine's connection to rescue work traces all the way back to 2008, when she first got involved in shelter and rescue efforts in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That's nearly two decades of giving her time, her energy, and her heart to animals who had none of those things on their own.

When asked what drove her to volunteer, Jasmine's answer reflects something that goes far beyond circumstance. This wasn't a phase or a passing interest. It was a calling — one she recognized early and has continued to answer, through every move, every chapter of her life, every new city she's called home.

That kind of longevity in rescue is rare. And it speaks volumes.

Who Is Jasmine?

From Oklahoma to Colorado Springs

Jasmine grew up in northeastern Oklahoma, between Muskogee and Tulsa. It was there that her relationship with animals — and with rescue — first took root. She spent years embedded in the Tulsa shelter community before her path took her far beyond Oklahoma's borders.

One of the most formative chapters of her life came when she moved to New Zealand for three years, where she earned a National Certificate in Veterinary Nursing. That credential isn't just a line on a resume. It represents a level of care and professional commitment to animals that shapes everything she does in rescue — the way she reads a dog's body language, the way she assesses what an animal needs, the way she can stay calm when the situation calls for it.

From New Zealand, her journey continued. She moved to Fort Collins, Colorado in 2019, then to Colorado Springs in 2021 — where she found Karl's Canine Krew, and where KCK found her.

The Animals Who Shaped Her

Ask Jasmine about herself and she'll tell you about her animals. That's the kind of person she is.

She recently lost two beloved companions: Louie, her 9-year-old pit bull, and Otis, her 14-year-old orange tabby. Both were found as strays on rural Oklahoma highways — two animals who had been left to chance, and who Jasmine chose to bring home. Louie and Otis weren't just pets. They were proof of what happens when someone stops, reaches out a hand, and says you're coming with me.

Otis's littermate, Rudy, is still by Jasmine's side. Rudy turned 15 in May. Fifteen years of life, shared with someone who understood from the very beginning that this cat deserved every one of them.

Beyond Rescue: The Full Picture of Jasmine

Jasmine is someone who throws herself into the world with real curiosity. Her hobbies span traveling, arts and crafts, yoga, swimming, cave adventures, martial arts, film, and live music. She loves trying new things — with one exception. Heights. Some lines are drawn.

That breadth of experience — the wanderlust, the physical discipline, the creative practice — is part of what makes her such a natural fit with KCK's community. She brings her whole self to everything she does.

The Hardest Part of This Work

Fostering and volunteering in rescue is not without its weight. Anyone who has done it honestly will tell you that. There are hard days, hard goodbyes, and dogs who stay with you long after they've moved on.

Jasmine knows this. She carries it with the same grace she brings to the joyful parts — not pushing it away, not letting it stop her, but holding it as part of the truth of what this work is.

"Knowing that someone let these pups down at some point, even though they're innocent creatures who depend on us for love and support. The flip side of that is the joy of seeing so many people come together to try to give them a great life."

Her answer here is something every prospective volunteer or foster should read. Because the hard parts don't disappear — but they don't win, either.

The Best Part of This Work

And then there are the moments that make it all make sense.

For someone like Jasmine — with nearly twenty years in rescue, a professional background in veterinary nursing, and a deep personal history with animals who needed a second chance — the rewards of this work aren't abstract. They're specific. They're real. They're felt.

"Falling in love with each pet, in a different way every time. They have so much in common with each other and with us, but every one is a unique individual. It's such a privilege to learn so much from every single dog, no matter how short or long their stay with me, and within the larger KCK family."

That answer is why she keeps coming back. It's why she started in Tulsa in 2008 and why she's still here, showing up for KCK's dogs in Colorado Springs in 2026.

A Memory That Has Never Left Her: The Story of Goldie

Every person who has spent real time in rescue carries a story. One moment, one animal, one exchange that crystallizes why this work matters in a way that no speech or statistic ever quite can.

For Jasmine, that moment belongs to Goldie.

Goldie was a 6-month-old puppy who had been seized from a cruelty situation and brought to the Tulsa SPCA. She was a young dog who had already learned that the world could be unkind — and she carried that knowledge in her body the way animals do, in her posture, in her hesitation, in the way she watched people approach.

During a dog walk orientation, Jasmine worked with Goldie. And Goldie trusted her.

That moment — that choice a frightened young dog made to reach toward a person rather than away — is the kind of thing that stays with you. It stayed with Jasmine. It's part of what has kept her connected to this work for nearly two decades. Because what Goldie offered wasn't just a wagging tail at the end of a leash. It was evidence that trust, once broken, can be rebuilt. That safety can be taught. That the right person, at the right moment, can change everything for an animal who has only known the wrong ones.

"I have many favorite moments over the years, so the best way to answer this is probably by telling the story of the first shelter animal I ever met. Her name was Goldie. She was a six-month-old pup with a Farrah Fawcett-style feather in her coat. On her paperwork, in the breed field, it said '??' She looked a bit like a Golden Retriever but also a fair bit not, and even though still a puppy, she was too small to have been a purebred one. Every new volunteer at the Tulsa SPCA dog walker orientation ran to pick out a dog to walk. I didn't run toward anyone, because I didn't have a preference of whom to walk, but I guess everyone else did. That left me and Goldie. I don't think it was so much that no one wanted to walk her, as that she wanted nothing to do with anyone. She had been seized from her previous owner due to a cruelty charge. She expressed her extreme hesitance in the most gentle way possible: simply by running to hide behind the nearest object or person when someone approached her. It took a staff member's reassurance to convince her to let me hold her leash. But once she was with me, she just softened. She radiated joy. A couple times on our walk, someone else approached us, and she hid behind me. I was floored and humbled by her trust. A couple other times, she decided, apropos of nothing, to sit down in the grass and sunbathe, and when she did this, she looked up at me sweetly, as if to say, isn't this the best? I'll remember her all my life."

How This Work Has Changed Her

Volunteering and fostering in animal rescue doesn't just help the animals. It changes the people who do it, too — professionally, personally, in ways that can be difficult to fully articulate.

For Jasmine, the intersection is particularly clear. Her professional training as a veterinary nurse and her years of hands-on rescue experience aren't separate tracks — they've fed and deepened each other over time. The clinical knowledge makes her a more effective advocate for the animals in her care. The emotional grounding of rescue work makes her a more compassionate practitioner. Each one sharpens the other.

But beyond the professional dimension, there's the personal one. Nearly twenty years of showing up for animals who needed someone has shaped how Jasmine moves through the world — with attention, with steadiness, with the confidence that comes from knowing you've made a difference in the most direct, tangible way a person can.

"I have met so many wonderful humans, dogs, cats, and other critters. After spending my formative years as an excellent student, but still somehow not thinking of myself as a 'science person,' I discovered that once I had the urge to understand how these creatures work, learning science concepts came very naturally to me. I can't imagine what my life would be like without volunteering, but I know it would have far less love and wonder in it."

Jasmine's Message to the Community

Jasmine has seen rescue from every angle: as a shelter volunteer, as someone with professional veterinary training, as a foster, as a person who has loved and lost her own animals found on the sides of rural roads. When she speaks about what it means for a community to support rescue efforts, she speaks from all of those places at once.

"I wish that people understood the enormity of the problems we are addressing. We live alongside sentient creatures whose species exist because our ancestors wanted their skill, their labor, their protection, and their companionship. Now we owe it to them to make sure they have quality lives. And the degree to which that attitude is part of the culture and the community can vary drastically among different regions. That's why we work to save animals who had the misfortune of being born in, or found in, areas with high rates of animal abuse and overpopulation. Our dogs did nothing wrong except come into the world on the wrong side of the tracks."

Her words here carry real weight. They come from someone who has never needed convincing — who understood from the beginning what was at stake, and chose to act.

You Can Be Part of This Story

Jasmine is August's Shining Star, but her story belongs to something larger. It belongs to the KCK community — the fosters, the volunteers, the donors, the adopters — everyone who has ever decided that a dog's past doesn't have to define its future.

Karl's Canine Krew was built on that belief, in honor of Karl Knapp, a proud Marine Corps Veteran who believed no dog should ever be left behind. That mission stays alive because people like Jasmine keep breathing life into it — month after month, dog after dog, moment after moment.

There is room for you in this work. Here's where to start:

• Become a Foster: Open your home to a dog who needs a safe place to land. KCK provides all the food, supplies, and veterinary care — you provide the love. Learn more about fostering →

• Volunteer: Help at adoption events, assist with transport, or lend a hand wherever it's needed. Every hour counts. Sign up to volunteer →

• Adopt: Ready to make it permanent? Browse KCK's adoptable dogs and start the process today. Meet our dogs →

• Donate: Your contribution goes directly toward food, medical care, and the support every dog in KCK's care deserves. Give today →

A dog's future can change because you said yes. Together, we make that happen.

Read more Shining Star spotlights and meet the volunteers behind KCK's mission →