Black Forest woman, known for saving dogs, gets house back

She founded an organization that finds homes for abused dogs and now she has returned to her own home after a 15-month absence.

On Saturday, Theresa Strader of the National Mill Dog Rescue moved into her rebuilt home on Herring Road that was destroyed in last year’s Black Forest fire.

Also coming back are her husband, two children and ten dogs.

“Well, it’s surreal, truth be known,” Strader said. “It’s so weird. In some ways, it feels like it’s been years, and in some ways it seems like it was just a week. But we have such a different home now, and it’s such a different landscape.”

Strader said while she’s glad to be home again, the new surroundings will take some getting used to.

“It was really hard when they first clear-cut. I came out here and I got to the top of the driveway, I just saw it for a half-hour, and I called (my husband), and I said I can’t live here,” she said. “He told me we could move into the trees and maybe go through another fire. I never want to do that again.”

Strader said her new home is more dog friendly, with plenty of doors for her pets to go in and out, and built-in tools to make cleaning messes easier.

“I call it my big doghouse,” she said.