Justin TX Community Comes Together to Help Pepe and His Family
The Justin Community Shows What it Means to Help
Sometimes our pets have a way of leading us exactly where we need to be.
For Pepe’s family, that began on June 28, 2026, when Pepe was picked up as a stray. He was in poor condition, suffering from a severe flea infestation, and there were concerns about his health. It would have been easy to make assumptions. Instead, Apollo Support & Rescue for Abandoned Dogs and Justin residents chose to look a little deeper.
When Pepe’s owner came to Apollo to retrieve him, it became clear that this wasn’t a story about someone who didn’t care about his dog. It was a family that was struggling and needed help. And sometimes, people simply need someone to remind them that it’s okay to ask for help. That moment became the beginning of something much bigger.
Sometimes Support Is the Rescue
Apollo’s mission has never been only about rescuing animals. When the organization was started 15 years ago, the goal was to provide rescue and support—and Pepe’s situation became a perfect example of why both matter. Pepe couldn’t simply be sent home without addressing the conditions that could affect his health. So instead of turning the family away, Apollo began looking for ways to help them get back on their feet.
Mara Johnson and Courtney Holsapple (Justin residents) pledged their support, and together with Apollo, they began asking the community to step in. The needs were practical: lawn care, weed removal, brush and tree trimming, pool service, flea treatment and help clearing the property.
And the community answered.
People Chose Compassion
Keith Walter with Marvelous Pest Control stepped up to treat the property for fleas and continues to offer his help.
Owner Victor Banuelos and his two young sons, Edwin and Damian, made several trips to help clear the property. Victor and his team are available for local lawn and property services and can be reached at 940-255-3344.
Apollo Support & Rescue’s employee, Allen Bridges, also deserves a special thank-you. Allen spent an entire week cutting and clearing the property and donated his time rather than accepting payment.
Justin resident Mara Johnson also arranged for her lawn care provider to help and paid for the work herself as well as played a huge part in organizing assistance.
Little by little, what had started as a call for help became a community effort. People weren’t asked to fix everything. They were simply asked to do what they could. And that’s exactly what they did.
A Family Wasn’t Left to Figure It Out Alone
There was a moment early in the effort that captured what this was really about. When Pepe’s owner was reminded that it was okay to ask for help, he became emotional. Because asking for help isn’t always easy. Sometimes pride gets in the way. Sometimes life becomes overwhelming. Sometimes people simply don’t know where to turn.
But what if, instead of judging someone for needing help, we simply showed them that they weren’t alone? That’s what Apollo wanted to do. And that’s what this community did.
Pepe Was Able to go Back Home
After the work began and people came together to support the family, Pepe was back home by July 3. The dog who started the whole story was safe. But by then, the story had become about much more than a missing dog. It was about a family being reminded that they had neighbors willing to help. It was about people choosing compassion over assumptions. And it was about local businesses and residents giving their time, services and resources simply because they could.
This Is What Community Looks Like
We often talk about loving where we live. But sometimes the best proof isn’t a festival, a new business or a beautiful neighborhood.
Sometimes it’s a landscaping company bringing their kids to help.
It’s an employee donating a week of work.
It’s a pest control professional returning to continue helping.
It’s someone paying for lawn care.
It’s a nonprofit saying, “We’re not just going to rescue the dog. We’re going to help the family, too.”
And it’s neighbors saying, “What do you need?”
Pepe may have been the reason everyone came together. But the people who stayed to help are what made this story special.
How You Can Help Apollo
The work of supporting local families and animals doesn’t end with Pepe.
If you’d like to support Apollo Support & Rescue for Abandoned Dogs, consider volunteering, donating supplies or resources, or simply sharing the organization’s work with others in the community.
Because sometimes rescue means saving an animal. And sometimes it means helping the people who love them find their way forward, too.
