COMMUNITY

Saving the Lives of Animals

Pup Culture Rescue is a foster-based rescue that helps dogs find their forever homes

By Haley Beyer

Victoria Shaffer, CEO and founder of Pup Culture Rescue, has been working in animal rescue for 10 years. She previously wrote the book, “Pup Culture: Stories, Tips and the Importance of Adopting a Dog,” which teaches first-time dog owners how to care for their new pet. It also inspired the name for her rescue organization. Shaffer grew up in Manhattan, New York, but decided to make the move to Los Angeles four years ago. Pup Culture Rescue spends lots of time on the Westside because two of the main veterinarians they work with are there. The organization also partners with Morpheus, a boutique on Venice Boulevard, to hold special events. Most recently they participated in Mar Vista’s Venice Lovefest, where they had an adoption booth. All the dogs and puppies they brought to the event were adopted, and Shaffer said it’s one of the best ways to highlight animals who need a home because potential adopters can meet the dogs in person and see the animal’s character. Shaffer started Pup Culture in October 2021. She was working for another rescue located in San Diego, but decided to start her own and created one of the only foster-based rescues. “I’ve been passionate about rescue since I was 12 years old when my family found our first dog in a dumpster,” Shaffer said. “Later when I was in college, I coincidentally found yet another dog in a dumpster and kept it.” Helping these two dogs by giving them a home, loving and rehabilitating them from the trauma they had endured were the first stepping stones to opening Pup Culture Rescue. Shaffer’s organization is a nonprofit animal rescue that is dedicated to saving dogs. She spends a lot of her time educating the community about the importance of adoption specifically through fostering, a unique quality for a rescue. Typically when potential adopters visit a rescue, the animals are in cages and they spend a brief amount of time together in a room before deciding if they want to take them home. Pup Culture works through fostering, where people bring an animal into their home to see how it reacts to the environment, their family members and other animals, then they decide whether it’s a good fit. The organization rescues homeless, mistreated and overlooked animals, both locally and internationally. The Pup Culture team has connections to shelters and rescuers all the way from LA to Mexico, who reach out when they find a dog that has either needed a home for a while, is about to be euthanized, or needs extra help finding its forever owner. Currently they only work with dogs, but could potentially expand to cats once the organization is big enough to manage that many animals. Because Pup Culture is a foster-to-adopt system, an extra step is put into place to guarantee a more successful adoption. Once a dog is taken in by the team, they post its picture along with a description of its characteristics on social media to find someone who can foster it. For someone to foster and eventually adopt a dog through Pup Culture, they must create a profile and apply for the kind of dog they want, which makes it easier for the team members to find perfect matches between dogs and adopters. For example, if someone wants a small dog with low energy, Pup Culture is only going to consider that applicant for dogs who fit those characteristics to increase the chances of them keeping the dog and to minimize the number of fosters a dog must go through before finding its forever home. Applicants must also agree to a virtual home check to make sure it is a safe and healthy environment for a dog to live. “There is a dog for everyone, the application process makes it so much easier for us to find the perfect match,” Shaffer said. While a dog goes through the foster process, Pup Culture provides it with any necessary medical care it may need. A

PHOTOS CREDIT: COURTESY OF PUP CULTURE

Run by an all-female team, the rescue has anywhere from 20 to 30 dogs in the system at a time and is always looking for foster homes. typical dog takes around two weeks to be adopted, but it all depends on the dog, its characteristics, and any other specific issues the dog is dealing with.

Pup Culture averages anywhere from 20 to 30 dogs at a time. Currently, they have close to 30 in the system. The best way for someone to help and get involved would be to foster one of the dogs. Pup Culture is always looking for fosters.

“We never want dogs to live in cages, we want them to have a home,” Shaffer said. “And that helps us learn about them while socializing the dog and teaching it to trust humans again.”

While it would be a dream to be able to take in every dog that came their way, it isn’t possible at this point because Pup Culture doesn’t have enough people and resources to give all dogs the proper care.

“It is really challenging to turn dogs away, but sometimes we just don’t have a place for them to go,” Shaffer said. “Sometimes it comes down to what dogs are in demand within our applicants because we want everyone to get the dog of their dreams.”

Without meaning to, Pup Culture consists of an all-female led team.

“It just happened that we were all women with the same passion, but it will stay this way because we have all bonded from our love for this work,” Shaffer said. “Each member has shown such sacrifice and selflessness. It’s messy and heartbreaking work, but incredibly rewarding.”

Pup Culture’s team includes Shayna Lesser, co-founder and head of International Rescue; Riley O’Day, co-founder and head of outreach; and Lindsay Logan, web and content designer. Together, these women have created a powerful and passionate community to help dogs find the loving homes they deserve. One of the most rewarding parts of this line of work is seeing photos of a dog with its new owner a few months after the adoption. Shaffer makes sure to stay connected to the adopters for this very reason. “Seeing the dog fully bonded to its human and not only how the owner changed the dog’s life, but how the dog changed the owner’s life as well is why we do what we do,” she said. Shaffer has three of her own dogs and is unable to adopt more at the moment, but she still fosters dogs all the time, including a pregnant pit bull she took care of for two months. After spending so much time with her, it was hard not to become close and form a bond, but Shaffer was able to adopt her out to a permanent home. “One of my favorite parts of this job is when adopters and dogs first meet,” Shaffer said. “Seeing a dog go from when they first came into the rescue to being an adoptable dog who has come out of their shell, trusts humans and is confident in themselves again is a magical thing.”

Pup Culture Rescue

pupculturerescue.org Instagram: @pupculturerescue

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