Exploring Life & Business with Sara Mills of Legacy Pet Taxi & Services

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Mills.

Hi Sara, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Lee’s Summit, MO, and a few years after I graduated from college, moved to Lawrence, KS. I had a few odd jobs here and there and then saw a job opening for a dispatcher so I applied.

I got that job working for the KU Public Safety Office. After a few years, I applied to be a police officer with KUPSO and got that. I worked there until May 2012 when I started working for the Lawrence KS Police Department. I loved being able to serve and protect my community. It was a job that wasn’t the same thing every day and always had something interesting happening.

I was the first responder for 18 years. I got in an off-duty car accident in February 2019 and broke both ankles and crushed one heel. As a result of the accident, I had to take a medical retirement from my job because I could no longer do the work of a police officer safely. I felt a little loss of my sense of self. I had been serving my community for a long time and I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do. I was working with Yoga for First Responders but with the pandemic, much of our work had been put on hold.

Just prior to the accident, in November of 2018, I had found a rescue in Spring Hill, KS that was pulling senior and sick dogs out of kill shelters and giving them a home in a little red barn until they found a FURever home. It’s called Always & Furever Midwest Animal Sanctuary.

We adopted our first dog from there that November. She lived with us for seven months before passing away unexpectedly. We continued to adopt and foster dogs that needed us. We started taking in hospice dogs as well. Once I had to take my retirement, I was able to be home with more hospice dogs. I also started helping with vet runs, driving dogs from the barn or boarding them to the vet, staying with them, and then taking them back.

In July of 2021, our friend David Hosch, the owner of Sunflower Pet Transport, was killed in an accident while transporting a dog, Annabelle, from her foster to the vet. They never made it. I knew there was nothing I could do about David or Annabelle but I could help keep his legacy alive while helping to fill the big hole he left in the transport business.

So I bought a van and started Legacy Pet Taxi. I began just doing local vet runs for A&F and have now done a couple of long-distance transports as well. I am also beginning to reach out to local vet offices to post flyers so I can help other pet owners get their animals anywhere they need to be.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road! I still have mobility issues related to the accident that pop up, especially when the weather gets colder. So that’s one thing I have to deal with personally.

Being in the pet transport business was never anything I planned on doing so I’m learning things as they come up. Everything has been slower than I thought it would be. I had no idea how to start a business at all but friends and other local business owners have been very helpful.

I’ve had to do a lot of research on my own. I’ve had to figure out the best way to transport animals in the van–like where to tether them and what to do if they’re not wearing a collar, what to do when they slip the collar and try to get in a fight with another dog, or how to transport two dogs that are both dogs aggressive and keep them both safe.

All my rescue friends have been very helpful as well! I’ve also had to figure out how to finance a business and how to keep the books. It’s definitely a big learning experience!

I’m still trying to get the business fully up and running and trying to figure out how to balance my time on the road with the needs of my dogs at home.

We’ve been impressed with Legacy Pet Taxi & Services, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I provide a safe, affordable way to get your pet where they need to go when the owner can’t do it.

There may be several reasons why someone can’t get their pet the care they need–they work during hours the vet or groomer or doggie daycare is open, they aren’t able to drive their pet where they need to go, or maybe they are moving and need help getting their pet to the new location. Maybe they’ve adopted a pet but live out of state and need help getting the animal to them.

I provide personalized service and can either wait with the pet at the vet and return them home when they’re done or I can provide pick-up and drop-off services for things that take a little longer, like grooming, spay/neuter, or doggie daycare. I transport one pet at a time unless an owner has multiple animals and they ride tethered with a comfy dog bed to sit on.

Other transport services pack as many animals into a vehicle as they can in order to maximize profits. I will never transport that way because it is very hard on the animals and causes a lot of anxiety for them. I promise to treat my customers’ animals like they were my own.

The “& Services” is kind of wide open as far as what I can do to help pet owners. I can pick up and deliver food, medications, or other supplies as needed. I can check on pets while their owners are away. I can provide dog walks or scoop poop if that’s what someone needs. Right now, I’m focusing on Douglas and Johnson counties as areas to serve.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I mean, the course of my life right now looks like the result of some bad luck but it all could have been worse. My accident could have been way worse but it has led me on a new path with a job that I love.

Bad luck, being David’s accident, gave me a reason to start my business. I don’t necessarily see it as luck really. I believe we’re presented with opportunities and sometimes those start from a “bad” place but if we can see them and take advantage of the opportunity, we’ll find where we’re supposed to be and what we’re supposed to be doing in the world. It’s making something good out of something bad.

Some people ask me how I can be a hospice foster for dogs but I see it as something similar to being a police officer. Except now it’s dogs instead of people–I see them on their worse days. I go into situations that others don’t want to deal with and provide the best care I can.

To me, it’s still service, just to a different audience. I’m still being of service to my community, just in a different way.

Pricing:

• Local Transport Services start at $20
• Long Distance Transport, $225 + .40/mile round trip
• Home visits start at $7

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.legacypettaxi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LegacyPetTaxi