Belly Rubs: a new nonprofit gets approval to open senior dog sanctuary on Taunton Lake Road in Marlton.

When Gregory Fox was growing up in the Woodcrest neighborhood of Cherry Hill he was not allowed to have a dog.

His mother feared dogs, but Fox wanted a dog "in the worst way."

The 1994 Cherry Hill East graduate went to college, established a career selling medical devices and began raising a family with his wife Stephanie Fox in Voorhees.

In his late 20s, he finally did it — Fox adopted a pit bull mix. Early days of dog ownership were rough, and Fox almost returned the dog, but he stuck by him.

"That dog changed my life...the most loving animal on the planet," Fox told 70and73.com. The dog died in 2016 and there have been two since.

And now there will be more.

Many, many more.

Fox is moving to Taunton Lake Road in Marlton and opening Belly Rubs Senior Dog Sanctuary Inc., a nonprofit senior dog home for about 50 "active adult" dogs 7 years and older who may otherwise have a difficult time getting adopted at shelters. Most of the dogs are expected to be pit bulls.

The 10-acre property, vacant for four years, had existing dog breeder kennels on the property but Fox needed a use variance from the Evesham Zoning Board of Adjustment to open Belly Rubs in the rural-development zone. 

He was granted the use variance in June and on Monday night he received unanimous approval from the board for minor site plan approval with bulk variances and waivers to convert the existing kennels into a dog sanctuary.

"Our mission is to provide a calm, restful retreat for older dogs that have been lingering in local animal shelters," Fox said in his zoning application.

"Removing these dogs from overcrowded shelters accomplishes two things: senior dogs will be placed in a quieter, more serene location while they await their forever homes. Relocating these older dogs to Belly Rubs from area shelters opens more space in their kennels for more adoptable, younger dogs."

Fox told 70and73.com that an abundance of senior dogs in many shelters is "preventing other dogs from being rescued."

An estimated 5.8 million dogs and cats were taken in by shelters and rescues across the nation last year, according to a report by the ASPCA. 

"The length of time dogs, especially large dogs, are staying in shelters before being adopted has increased in the last five years, adding strain to an already overburdened shelter system," according to the ASPCA.

Fox loved dogs so much he began volunteering at the Voorhees Animal Orphanage on Cooper Road and noticed how senior dogs became a bottleneck.

"How can I help this growing problem of overcrowding at shelters?" he asked himself and came up with Belly Rubs.

"It takes a long time to adopt a 12-year-old pit bull," Fox told the board, adding that an adoption could take a year to a year and a half in a shelter.

The Belly Rubs sanctuary will take in active dogs, those that volunteers can walk three times a day on the property. 

"I don't want to be a nursing home," said Fox. A veterinarian will make weekly rounds at Belly Rubs to check on the dogs' health.

Fox paid $710,000 for the property, which includes a 66-year-old single-family home and kennels that were built in 1966. A stream runs the length of the property in the back.

The Pinelands Commission reviewed the application and objected to plans to install fencing for dog runs, Belly Rubs lawyer Alan P. Fox of the Capehart Scatchard firm in Mount Laurel told the board on Monday night. Instead, volunteers will walk each dog on a leash.

"The community has been amazing so far," Fox told the zoning board. Even without opening, 113 people have reached out to volunteer to walk the dogs, he said, adding that many shelters do not walk their dogs.

Each dog will be in an indoor-outdoor kennel when not being walked, he said. A split-rail fence will be installed on the property, with mesh, to prevent a runaway dog from escaping.

"Our mission is to give these dogs their happy endings," according to Fox's application to the board.