Field Report · Coming Soon
First Dispatch from The Asher House
Independent on-the-ground journalism — what it actually looks like inside a 240-acre rescue sanctuary caring for 150+ animals every day.
By [Journalist Name] · Publication · Date
Animal advocate. Hemp champion. Sanctuary founder. The complete, documented, living record of one of America's most remarkable — and most misunderstood — public figures.
Some people tell you who they are with words. Lee Asher has told you with 240 acres of Oregon land, 150+ animals in daily care, 70 staff and volunteers showing up every morning, and thousands of dogs who found families because he refused to give up on them.
The Asher House is not a brand extension or a content play. It is the full expression of a man who, at the peak of a comfortable corporate career, sold nearly everything, loaded rescue dogs into an RV, and drove all 49 continental states to tell the story of animals that no one else was telling. It is the result of a belief — held since childhood, never abandoned — that these animals deserve someone in their corner.
Today the sanctuary spans 240 acres outside Salem, Oregon. It houses 140+ rescue dogs, 30+ cats, and a full farm team of rescued horses, llamas, and pigs — all cared for by a professional team that Lee has built around the mission. It is one of the most publicly documented animal operations in the world, with 14 million followers watching the daily reality of what it takes to run a place like this. No filters. No selective editing. The whole thing, every day, live.
That transparency is not incidental. It is the point. Lee has always believed that the only way to change minds about rescue and adoption is to show people the truth of it — the beauty and the grief, the triumphs and the impossible decisions — and trust them to draw their own conclusions.
They have. Fourteen million times over. And counting.
Among all the animals Lee has loved, one stands apart. Lillie — a rescue St. Bernard who arrived with severe, recurring seizures and a prognosis that left Lee with a devastating choice. Vets recommended euthanasia. They said there was nothing more to be done.
Lee refused to accept it. He had been following the story of Charlotte Figi — a young girl whose catastrophic seizures had been transformed by CBD oil. Inspired by Charlotte's family's courage, Lee tried CBD for Lillie. Within days, the frequency of her seizures began to fall. Within months, they stopped entirely.
"But what mattered just as much," Lee has written, "was what happened next. I finally met the real Lillie. She became joyful, outgoing, and fully herself."
CBD gave Lillie six more magnificent years of life she was never supposed to have. Years of joy, of love, of connection. She passed away approximately two years ago — but her story lives on in the brand she inspired, the advocacy she sparked, and the name she will carry forward forever.
Asher House Wellness was founded the moment Lee saw CBD give Lillie her life back. Every product in the line — CBD oils, hip & joint chews, probiotic chews, allergy support, human supplements — is rooted in that firsthand experience. Today Lee gives these same products to all 150+ animals at the sanctuary daily.
The brand is rebranding as Lillie and Lee — honoring the dog who started it all. The rebrand is led by Lee's brother and partner DJ Gugenheim, who brings his Academy Award-nominated film industry expertise to this next chapter.
Every product is third-party tested, Farm Bill compliant, and made in the USA. The same standard Lee set for Lillie — applied to every animal at the sanctuary and every customer who trusts the brand.
Shop Asher House Wellness150+ animals. Each one rescued. Each one with a name, a history, and a future they were nearly denied. These are the real faces of The Asher House — and the living, breathing proof of what Lee Asher does every single day.
Lillie's recovery didn't just change Lee's life. It made him one of the most passionate and visible advocates for hemp access in America — because he has seen firsthand what CBD can do, and he cannot stay silent when that access is threatened.
Lee has been featured in Forbes and written for Cannabis Business Times on the urgent threat of the federal hemp ban — arguing specifically for the animals who have no voice in the debate. He has mobilized his community of 14 million followers to contact lawmakers directly, generating real Congressional attention.
His advocacy has brought him into alliance with some of the most important voices in hemp policy — including Paige Figi, mother of Charlotte Figi, whose daughter's story helped lay the groundwork for the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp federally. The parallel between Charlotte and Lillie is profound — both given up on by conventional medicine, both transformed by CBD, both catalysts for something far larger than themselves.
Paige Figi's daughter Charlotte suffered catastrophic seizures that doctors could not control. CBD oil transformed her life — and in doing so, sparked a national movement that culminated in the 2018 Farm Bill. Lee's dog Lillie told the same story, in four legs and a wagging tail.
Lee and Paige have worked together to raise awareness, inspire action, and bring people to their lawmakers in support of continued hemp access. Their combined audiences represent millions of families — human and animal — whose daily quality of life depends on these products remaining legal and available.
Watch Lee's Interview with Paige FigiProposed federal language could eliminate nearly all hemp-derived products — including the CBD that gave Lillie six extra years of life. Lee has made this fight personal, public, and urgent.
Repeal the Hemp Ban Watch the InterviewThe creativity, the storytelling, the instinct to build something that matters — none of it came from nowhere. It runs through Lee's family like a thread.
Lee was born in New York — a city that doesn't produce timid people — before his family relocated to Boca Raton, Florida. He carries that New York energy: direct, committed, and completely unafraid to be exactly who he is.
Lee's father is a sculptor. His mother ran an art gallery for many years. Their home was filled with beauty and with love — and also with the strain of a difficult marriage that ended in divorce. Lee grew up holding both of those truths, and finding his way through them at the animal shelter, where the love was unconditional and the acceptance was complete.
Lee's brother DJ Gugenheim is an Academy Award-nominated film producer and veteran of the film industry. They share the same mother — different fathers — and the same creative instinct for telling stories that matter. DJ has joined Lee as a partner at Asher House Wellness and is overseeing the full creative vision for the rebrand as Lillie and Lee. Hollywood storytelling craft, applied to a mission rooted entirely in rescue and love.
Sherman is a rescue beagle with epilepsy who escaped from a foster carer's home on The Asher House property in rural Oregon. Lee Asher's response was immediate: drones with infrared technology, search and rescue teams, and Lee himself — out in the cold rain, searching through the night, visibly heartbroken on camera for 14 million people to see.
That is who Lee Asher is. That is what he does when an animal needs help. He shows up. Completely. Without reservation.
And then the hate groups responded. Online accounts that have spent years campaigning against Lee began instructing people who might find Sherman not to contact The Asher House.
An epileptic dog. In the rain. Needing medication. And people who claim to care about animals told the public to withhold him from his care team.
You do not need to read another word about Lee Asher to understand this story. You only need those two facts. Everything else follows.
Lee searched. His critics told people not to help. The character of both sides is written in that contrast, permanently and clearly, for anyone willing to see it.
Not allegations. Not rumors. Not screenshots. The verifiable, documented, public record of what inspectors, authorities, and regulators have actually found at The Asher House.
Multiple inspections by Marion County Dog Services, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and other authorities — many triggered by online campaigns. The sanctuary continued operating. The animals were found to be cared for. No findings of animal cruelty were made.
Despite years of coordinated complaints directed at every relevant authority — local, state, and federal — the documented record shows no findings of animal abuse and a sanctuary that continues to care for 150+ animals every single day. The work speaks for itself.
Over 70 staff and volunteers work at The Asher House every day. Systematic abuse cannot occur in an operation of this size, visibility, and openness without a single credible account reaching law enforcement. It hasn't. Because it didn't happen.
140+ dogs, 30+ cats, horses, llamas, and pigs — all receiving daily professional care on 240 acres. Animals do not follow their abusers with love. Lee's pack, documented openly for 14 million people, does exactly that.
— Theodore Roosevelt · Citizenship in a Republic · April 23, 1910
Lee Asher has spoken openly about what the online criticism has cost him. He has admitted it hurt. Public attacks on your character, your mission, and your love for the animals in your care are not abstract. They arrive in the middle of the night. They reach your community. They land.
But what Lee has said in response reveals his character more clearly than any defense ever could. He has come to love his critics — not despite the pain they caused, but because of what that pain taught him about himself, about resilience, and about the way the world sometimes turns on people bold enough to step into it and actually do something.
He draws his strength from Roosevelt's words because they are true in a way that needs no elaboration: the critic costs nothing. The arena costs everything. Lee has chosen the arena — with 150 animals depending on him every morning, with a hemp ban to fight, with a National Geographic book to finish, with thousands more dogs still waiting for someone to show up.
He is in the arena. He has always been in the arena. And he is not leaving it.
The official sanctuary website. Donate, learn about the animals, and support the daily care of 150+ rescue animals on 240 Oregon acres.
theasherhouse.comThe same products Lee gives all 150+ of his animals daily. CBD oils, joint support, probiotics. Rebranding soon as Lillie and Lee.
asherhousewellness.comThe upcoming rebrand honoring the rescue St. Bernard who gave Lee the proof he needed to share hemp wellness with the world.
lillieandlee.comThe fight to protect hemp access for every family — human and animal — who depends on these products. Lee is at the front of this effort.
asherhousewellness.com/repeal-the-hemp-banA warm, celebratory tribute to Lee's journey — his story, his animals, his mission, and the community that shows up for him every day.
leeasherfan.com14 million followers. Daily life at the sanctuary. The animals, the advocacy, the truth — all of it, live, every day.
instagram.com/theasherhouseOn-the-ground reporting from journalists who have spent time with Lee Asher, the animals of The Asher House, and the people who show up every day to do this work. These are not press releases. They are independent, bylined stories — the kind of journalism the sanctuary deserves.
Field Report · Coming Soon
Independent on-the-ground journalism — what it actually looks like inside a 240-acre rescue sanctuary caring for 150+ animals every day.
By [Journalist Name] · Publication · Date
All reporting is independent and journalist-bylined. New dispatches added as published.