TIJERAS, N.M. – A Tijeras woman is working toward her mission of no pug left behind. She’s rescued nearly 50 of them in three months. 

Tracy and Mike Weeks share a passion for pugs. It’s how their love story began in 2010.

“I met my husband through pugs. Him and his girlfriend adopted a pug from me. A year later we were still friends, and he still had the pug, and 15 years later we are still together 10 years married. So pugs are our life,” said Tracy.

They’ve rescued more than a thousand pugs since 2012, getting them from overcrowded shelters all over the Southwest and helping them find foster and forever families.

“There’s a serious situation right now that the shelters are full and good dogs are being put down because of lack of space. People bring their pug, think they’re cute, they’ll find a home, that’s not always the case,” Tracy said.

The ones who don’t get placed right away still have a home and a family at The Pug Ranch. That’s what Tracy and Mike call their Tijeras home. 

“We have 18 and eight of them are ours. 10 of them are special needs or seniors. We have several that are 18, one that is in a wheelchair,” said Tracy.

Polly Schmidt got her pug “Pooey” from The Pug Ranch, three years ago, after her sister died. 

“She had a pug named T-bone, and he lived 16.5 years. When she died, I said I’m going to get a pug to remember her by,” said Schmidt.

When Polly got sick and couldn’t take care of Pooey, Tracy helped.

“She’s vivacious and giving, she has 1,001 things to do. You ask for 13 more, and she finds room, she’s so giving and loving,” said Schmidt.

So it was time to Pay It 4ward. 

Watch the video above for more.