Rescue Spotlight

BestBullySticks.com loves hearing a good dog rescue story and Rescuzilla out of NYC has a lot of good ones. We spoke to Katherine Good, one of the coordinators at this passionate animal rescue about the successes and needs of Rescuzilla.

When & Why did you start?  
Rescuzilla was founded in 2009 in the hopes of responsibly saving dogs and cats from being part of the millions of animals that are killed each year in the United States. After years of volunteering and caring for animals at the shelter we wanted to be able to make sure that animals we met got the chance to be wonderful family members. Starting a rescue was the next logical step in doing so.

What's different about your rescue? 
We are very much a grassroots and hand on rescue. As active volunteers at the Animal Care & Control of New York City and partners in their New Hope program, we are able to help animals from the beginning of their second life until their new forever home. Our program is small, with usually around 8 animals at a time, but every animal is in loving foster home and receives all the attention it needs whether it be medical or behavioral. 

What is the greatest success story or "win" that your rescue has had? 
This is a tough one! One of the few ways to measure it is by how far an animal has come since we first met him. One that always keeps us smiling is Benjamin Buttons. He was found with what we thought was a sweater that turned out to be a sweatpants leg that someone had fashioned into a shirt for him. A little, emaciated, chronically illsenior rat terrier.  He had to be saved but we knew it would take a one-of-a-kind family to see all his potential! He was fostered by an amazing family that embodies the definition of love. His mama fed him special meals, carried him all over the house in a pouch and let him sleep safely in bed, making sure he had his space right between her and her husband. It wasn't long before Benjamin started putting on weight and his ailments dissipated. The foster family saw how special he is and knew he was meant to be with them forever. He is like a whole new dog; truly a Benjamin (Belly) Buttons.   Read more

In Mississippi, one dog became the face of anti-animal cruelty and was a significant factor in getting bills passed in his state. And one animal organization stood behind him, Community Animal Rescue & Adoption in Jackson, Mississippi. This central Mississippi no-kill shelter and rescue is truly a force of change in their city and state. Read more about this rescue in the BestBullySticks.com Rescue Spotlight on Community Animal Rescue & Adoption. 

When & Why did you start?
CARA was started in 2001 by four animal lovers who kept running into each other rescuing dogs and cats in the Jackson, MS metro area. CARA has grown from a backyard operation to become Mississippi’s largest no-kill animal rescue organization. Since 2001, CARA has placed over 6000 animals into loving homes. CARA currently cares for 280 dogs, 130 cats, 4 guinea pigs and 2 rabbits.

CARA is a 501(c)3 non-profit, charitable, and educational corporation organized to rescue and provide care, shelter, food, and treatment for abused, unwanted, and stray animals in central Mississippi. The objectives of CARA are to rescue animals in need, restore them to health through nutrition and veterinary care, when necessary, and facilitate their adoption to qualified individuals. CARA works to reduce overpopulation of stray and unwanted animals by supporting spay/neuter programs (including a low cost spay/neuter program for low income and disadvantaged persons), by ensuring that all animals in its care are spayed or neutered prior to adoption, and by educating the public on responsible pet ownership.

What's different about your rescue?
The staff and the volunteers do so much with so little to make sure our animals receive exceptional care and unconditional love while they wait for their fur-ever homes. Read more

Anarchy Animal Rescue out of Staten Island, NY doesn’t necessarily take the pretty dogs. They simply take the dogs that need a helping hand, rehabilitate and then find responsible owners who will love these wonderful pups. But they also educate the public on the need for pet population control. BestBullySticks.com spoke with co-founder Fran Grimaldi about her passionate, dedicated and connect dog rescue.

When & Why did you start?
Anarchy Animal Rescue was founded in Dec of 2010 out of need and desires to help address two major animal crises in this country - unwanted adoptable pets and the mistreatment and abuse of animals due to puppy mills.  Our goal is to find good, loving homes for as many pets as we can take in, care for medically and place in responsible homes. After years of working in various animal shelters and fostering and volunteering with local rescue groups, we decided the time has come to do on our own what we do best—save lives! Every year millions of homeless adoptable pets are surrendered to kill shelters across the country. The majority of those animals are put to death due to overcrowding of these shelters. Overcrowding is caused by people purchasing animals from pet stores or breeders, and by not spaying or neutering their pets. Every time a person buys a pet or allows their pet to breed, perfectly adoptable dogs and cats are killed in a shelter. It is a vicious cycle and can only be stopped with education, outreach and adoption. If everyone adopted their pets from shelters or rescue groups, there would be less euthanasia in our city pounds. When shelters are overcrowded we are called in to help. By us taking shelter pets into our rescue, we open up cages so the shelters have room for other animals that are coming in resulting is fewer animals being put to sleep. Read more

If you really want to love someone, you get to know them. You learn their habits, their strange tendencies, their likes and dislikes and you share the same with them. The same is true for loving a dog and Cushing Animal Rescue Team in Oklahoma applies these same simple theories to rescue, rehabilitate and home animals in need. Kathy, founder of CART shared more about their mission, experiences and success stories with BestBullySticks.com. Read on to learn more about Cushing Animal Rescue Team.

Cushing Animal Rescue Team was formed from a childhood dream. Always an animal lover, I swore several times when I was old enough and had property to keep them on I would help animals in need. After volunteering for other organizations, learning about how they run, and familiarizing myself with laws I filed for non profit status in April and Cushing Animal Rescue Team, Inc was granted a certificate by the state of Oklahoma to operate on May 8th, 2012.

When I formed the rescue my intentions were that I would not simply recycle dogs. When we bring an animal in, we spend a tremendous amount of time with them socializing, training and finding out what makes them tick. When they go on the adoption list we tell all we know about the animal with complete honesty to get the best match on a forever home for the family and animal. We review adopters via application, conversation, and if necessary a few visits prior to approving the adoption. We feel that by being thorough in the beginning process gives the family time to really consider the commitment we expect them to make to the lifetime of the animal, and more likely for the animal to stay in a forever home. Read more

Every dog is special. In fact, one rescue thinks they’re more… posh. Posh Pets Rescue in New York City has the dogs of their city and region tied to their heartstrings and they’re always being tugged. They’re bent on saving every dog they can, no matter their background or needs and many times are very literally pulling dogs of euthanization tables and eventually placing them in loving homes. Read more about Posh Pets, their work, struggles and success stories in this edition of the BestBulySticks.com Rescue Spotlight!

When & Why did you start?
In March 2000, our founder Linda Vetrano walked into the NYC shelter and offered to take care of a little dog needing medical care. The shelter gave her a ten-year-old, female Chihuahua, and Linda took the little dog straight to her vet and then to her home. So began Posh Pets Rescue and the reason for our motto, “You don’t have to be perfect to be Posh.” For a decade, Linda ran Posh Pets on her own, with the help of several dedicated volunteers and foster parents. After starting out as foster parents, Melissa McClellan joined the board in 2010 and Viktoria Somorjai joined the team in 2011. All of us started rescuing for the same reason: we saw how many healthy or treatable dogs and cats were dying every day in NYC's shelters. Instead of waiting for someone else to do something about it, we decided to become a part of the solution. Read more