It’s been about four months since Mighty Pawz Special Operations & Humane Society had to close the doors to its facility at 937 Stefko Blvd. in Bethlehem.

Rob Rozak, who co-owns the operation with his husband Jay Martinez, said the doggy day care and animal rescue organization struggled during a gas line replacement near the location, which was set to run from August to September in 2025.

“Well, it actually went all the way into October and November, and it pretty much destroyed our business,” Rozak said.

After months of uncertainty, however, Mighty Pawz is back. It’s set to reopen at its new location, 2022 Main St. in Northampton, on Saturday. Tours are being offered from 1 to 3 p.m., and those interested in adopting can submit applications, at $200 for dogs and $75 for cats. Operations for the day care and boarding facility will begin Monday, Rozak said.

The day care, which previously brought in about $96,000 per month on average, helps keep the nonprofit, volunteer element of the business afloat, with about half of revenues going to the animal rescue, which includes an emergency operations center, a pet ambulance and a volunteer staff of former firemen, animal control officers, EMTS and veterinary technicians.

Not only did the gas line replacement lead to lower customer traffic, Mighty Pawz also experienced building issues, Rozak said.

“Our building actually sunk 4 inches on the outside, and 2 inches on the inside,” Rozak said.

Rozak said his team had to get rid of a used ladder truck due to the expense of upkeep, which helped a bit with the loss of proceeds.

Mighty Pawz found a location to set up shop in Bushkill Township, but issues with the property almost cost them the business, Rozak said.
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Mighty Pawz started in 2021, not long after Buddy’s Pet Resort, where Martinez worked at the time, closed during the pandemic. The couple jumped to purchase the facility, remodel it, and rebrand the operation under their moniker.

“We started out as just a rescue organization, doing search and rescue and recovery. We didn’t really get into the Humane Society thing right away. February of last year, we got into the Humane Society thing when the state said, ‘You guys would make a very good facility for animals like this.’ So we took them up on their offer, and here we are today,” Rozak said.

Since then, the team at Mighty Pawz has not only investigated animal cruelty throughout the Lehigh Valley, they’ve also offered emergency intervention and transportation to vets, to animal rescue and disaster responses both locally and across the country. But at the heart of the whole organization is the drive to help animals and those who care for them locally, above all.

“We really, truly focus on the areas where there’s not so much money to be made, but there’s lives to be saved,” Rozak said.

Maintaining that optimism in the face of such adversity has been a challenge, but it’s one that Rozak and his crew will continue to champion.

“This is a full spectrum of services that we got into, and we just did it, and we were able to do it, and we were very successful. We’re still successful at doing it,” Rozak said.

Mighty Pawz is always looking for a helping hand, Rozak said, and would gladly take financial contributions, in addition to pet foods and supplies, and, of course, volunteers. Rozak has even started a AngeLink account, “Help Save Animals in Crisis,” to help keep things going for now. As of Friday, the fund accrued $4,360 of its $50,000 goal, with 41 total contributions.

“We’re always looking for more volunteers, because the more volunteers we have, the more we can accomplish, and the more we can get done,” Rozak said.

With about double the space that the Bushkill Township facility promised, the new spot will help accommodate even more animals in need, Rozak said.

After all the misfortune, trials, and tribulations, it’s still all worth it in the end, according to Rozak and his crew. And it’s something they intend to keep doing, no matter what.

“Myself and my husband wake up every day, and we enjoy what we do, we care about what we do, we care about our community, and that’s kind of what we focused on. And we never really realized the impact that we had until we potentially faced a closure,” Rozak said.

Brian Myszkowski is a freelance writer.