Mollie Gorney: Driver, Volunteer Liaison and Cat Foster
Post Date:
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Before I turned 30, I had a goal to find a way to regularly volunteer with dogs. I loved dogs, but I was living in an apartment where I couldn't have them, and I was looking to get my "dog fix."A few months before my 30th birthday, by chance, I was talking to a colleague that I didn't see very often, and we happened upon the subject of volunteering with dogs. He recommended that I look at volunteering with Lucky Dog since he had been doing so for a few years. I went home and applied to start volunteering that day. I started out as a driver, bringing dogs to adoption events on Sundays.
Growing up, and to this day, I feel as though I connect better with animals than I do people. At first, my love for animals was limited to dogs (and monkeys). I grew up alongside my best doggy pal Buddy, and when I stayed local for college at UMD, I was never more than 30 minutes away from him.
That’s how it started. For thirteen years we had sweet Roxy. Sarah met all her promises and responsibilities – but kids go off to college and get jobs. Taking over as Roxy’s person was something I knew would happen and I was now able to really call her “my dog.” Her passing left a terrible void but …
“Daaaad, can you come walk Poppy (AKA Polpeta) while I’m at work?”
Tanya Johnson -- Puppy Adoption Coordinator, Foster and Preapproval Team Lead
Post Date:
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
You can always find hope in a dog's eyes. I--no we--found that hope one March day in 2013, when we met Ally the Great Dane, 2 weeks after our first meeting she'd become part of our family, and have a beagle brother, and change our lives forever. I say "we" because my journey into rescue includes my then boyfriend and now husband. It's become a passion and core part of who we are as a couple, and now, family as we've been joined by our daughter. We are a proud rescue family.
Lynn Forsyth – Cat Adoption Coordinator and Foster
Post Date:
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
My journey into rescue began a few years after my family moved to the United States. As my children grew up, I noticed that I had more and more free time … and I wanted to spend it in a meaningful way. I asked my friends, and one of them told me that she adopted her dog “Batman” from Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. She described the screening process she had to go to, and how impressed she was that the animals were all residing in foster homes.
Megan Davis – Puppy Adoption Coordinator and Foster
Post Date:
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
I first got involved in rescue right after college when I adopted my puppy Scooby, a chow chow/collie mix, from the SPCA in Roxbury, MA and then started volunteering there. One soon became two when Angus (the cocker) joined our little pack. Angus was severely abused and not on the adoption floor. It was either come home with me or be euthanized due to overcrowding...so we know what happened. I wasn't able to touch Angus for the first 2 months I had him and I relied heavily on his brother to help me show him that not all humans are horrible.
After I graduated from college, I knew I was ready to adopt a dog. After a few months of searching, I finally ended up on Lucky Dog's website and decided to submit an application. Little did I know that decision three years ago would change my life, in more than just one way!
Growing up in Northern VA, my family always had a dog. But to be honest, animal rescue was never foremost in my mind. My parents taught me to love, respect and care for animals - to treat them like family - but the discussion of rescue was not one that was prevalent in our house. I fell into my passion for rescue quite by accident during college at James Madison University. JMU is in quite a rural area and I would see puppies in boxes and dog chained outside of homes and I just couldn’t understand how people could treat their pets like this.
Every life we save -- every dog and cat we are able to rescue -- is thanks to a Lucky Dog foster. In gratitude for everything our Lucky Dog fosters do on a daily basis to help us save lives, our team has compiled a list of tips and tricks from current Lucky Dog fosters that we hope helps our new fosters as they get started. We hope you find them helpful!