Community honors volunteer who worked to rescue dogs

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — To nearly all who knew or met her, Dunwoody resident Rosemary Rutland was an unrelenting force of selflessness, generosity and positivity.

Friends and family said Rutland dedicated herself to supporting and caring for animals in the community for decades, helping countless dogs find forever whomes with loving families in the process.

Rutland died Jan. 23 at the age of 64 after a protracted battle with pancreatic cancer, but those who knew her best said her legacy will live on through the lives of people and animals her work affected.

“She is going to be a tremendous loss,” Rutland’s longtime friend Lisa Johnson said.

Johnson, who founded Ruff Dog Rescue in Milton, said Rutland was a master at seeing, “the extraordinary out of the ordinary” and loved helping the most difficult dogs, no matter what type of care they needed.

Rutland made a habit of rescuing dogs who had truly been left behind, Johnson said.

“She never went for the easy dogs,” she said. “She didn't go for the little cute little fluffy dog that everyone ponders over, she would literally go and look at the longest residents there.”

But throughout her years working at animal shelters and rescue programs in the community, Rutland’s husband Tracy said his wife’s greatest gift was her ability to engage with people and help them find the right dog.

“So many people in dog rescue are more focused on getting the dogs treated and healthy and everything else, but they don't necessarily know how to do the people part of it,” Tracy Rutland said. And she was really good at that.”

Rosemary would often continue checking in with families for years after they adopted a dog, he said, sometimes getting them to adopt another animal years later.

In some cases, like with Johnson, those check-ins turned into a lifelong friendship.

“Our first encounter was at one of the local county animal shelters, and I was looking at dogs to rescue,” Johnson said. “She could obviously tell what I was doing and she goes, ‘take that one’ and that’s just kind of how she was, she always put herself out there to engage and get to know people.”

In time, Rutland even became one of Johnson’s best volunteers at Ruff Dog Rescue.

“Having a pet rescue, a lot of volunteers come and go throughout the years,” she

Friends

JODY JOYCE