COVER STORY

Giving Dogs a Second Chance

A Purposeful Rescue saves pups from highkill shelters and finds them forever homes

By Haley Beyer

APurposeful Rescue was founded in 2013 by Hillary Rosen after she visited a shelter and saw just how many dogs needed help. “I was shell-shocked from the amount of dogs,” Rosen said. “I had never been to a shelter, but I randomly got this email and decided to go. After that day, I started going daily.” The first dog she adopted was a Rottweiler Pitbull mix. From that point on, Rosen took every opportunity to save dogs and the rescue was born. A Purposeful Rescue pulls from the surrounding six city shelters and seven county shelters. Right now they focus on LA because there are thousands of dogs in the area that need care, love and a home. The rescue does their best to pull dogs from shelters that need the most help. “We do not pick dogs just because they are old, sick or a specific breed,” Rosen said. “We rescue dogs that need us.” If a dog has been at the shelter for a while and has still not been adopted because of its age, they will pull it and find a foster. If a dog needs medical attention, it can be pulled, given the treatment needed and then placed in a home. Often at shelters, dogs’ true personalities don’t shine because of their environment. The rescue helps the dogs by giving them safe and loving foster homes where they are able to come out of their shells and learn to trust people again. “The worst part of my job is having to witness the failures of humans,” Rosen said. “Humans fail dogs. They do not put in the effort to understand what their dog needs. Dogs are also expected to be perfect. They are not given second chances or provided the opportunity to fix things. Dogs need love, care and help just like humans.” These dogs are what A Purposeful Rescue calls a “magical unicorn.” Rosen came up with the term one day when she was talking about a young sweet German Shepherd with a medical issue and it caught on. A magical unicorn dog is an overlooked underdog that has the potential to be great and just needs help blossoming into something beautiful. “It is remarkable to see the dogs start out one way when we first take them in, and then watch them become the dog they really are,” Rosen said. “They love life again.” A Purposeful Rescue currently has enough resources and people on their team to have about 30 dogs in foster homes waiting to be adopted. They also have 10 dogs that are forever fosters. Forever fosters are dogs that were once waiting to be adopted, but are now permanently in their foster homes. The faster the dogs get adopted, more dogs can be rescued from the shelters and be put into the foster homes. A Purposeful Rescue is not a shelter and they don’t have a facility where the dogs stay. In order to be able to remove a dog from a shelter, they must have an available foster home. The rescue is always looking for people to join their team and open their homes to foster dogs in need. Potential volunteers must fill out the foster application, a mandatory home check is necessary for the safety of the dog, and then they will be matched to a dog. The matching of the foster to the dog is based on their personality, and what the foster can manage in terms of care from exercise to medical attention and so forth. Fostering is a big job and not for everyone, but it is a beautiful experience to be able to help an animal in need. Adopting a dog from a foster home is a similar process. Those interested in adopting must fill out an adoption application, then they will meet the dog and interact with it. If all goes well, they can take their new friend home after conducting a home check to guarantee the dog’s safety. There is an adoption donation to cover the costs associated with rescue, including medical care, microchip, spay/neutering and boarding. The rescue has recently started a new foster support program, Foster for Life, in partnership with Blue Man Dog, I Stand with My Pack, and The Real Bark. This pilot program is in response to the capacity crisis happening in shelters as every location is at or over-capacity. This will help those interested in fostering be supported by providing supplies, training, guidance and adoption promotion using the teams’ resources, trainers and networks. For now, A Purposeful Rescue is focusing on dogs, but they have helped other animals in need including two pigs, several cats and kittens. “We have a really supportive team,” Rosen said. “I love working with everyone and our teamwork to make things happen is amazing. It’s hard work, but it’s fun and rewarding too.” For those that want to help but can’t foster or adopt at the moment, there are other ways to get involved. Volunteering time is always appreciated, as well as helping to fund the rescue by purchasing merchandise, supplies, or making a donation. People are also invited to attend the organization’s various public events, including the weekend adoptions they offer in partnership with Platform in Culver City. Betty attends A Purposeful Adoption’s recent event in Culver City.

Patrick and Laura Schlickman meet Panty, who they were lucky enough to start the adoption process with at the event.

Charlie Matthews plays with Goldfish during the meet-and-greet event. Sarah, Ben and Sterling Smith made the trip from Las Vegas to adopt Jelly Donut at the event. Mitchell Wayne and his foster dog, Varla.