Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Robbins.
Crystal, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As a little girl, I found myself always rescuing whatever animal crosses my path needing help. Baby bunnies, birds fell out of their nests, plenty of lizards, and of course, any lost dog or puppy needing assistance getting home. I have had a true love of all animals since as early as I can remember. Later in life, I found myself independently rescuing Code Red dogs and puppies from local shelters, rehoming them myself to loving homes. As I began to do this more frequently, I became more familiar with what a serious problem we have in Texas regarding unwanted pets. I realized that my passion was God-given for a reason and I felt that I was meant to do this on a bigger level in order to make a more significant impact in saving lives.
This all came to fruition on New Year’s Eve 2015. My New Years’ resolution wasn’t the typical workout or eat healthier plan. From that day forward, I was on a mission to create an official rescue – now known as Every Life Matters Animal Rescue. My initial goal was to stay small and help a handful of dogs and puppies as I was able to. One of the first rescues I took in as ELMAR was a neglected stray dog in terrible shape. She was weeks away from giving birth. Her 11 puppies were born in my closet and once old enough, they were all adopted to wonderful families! I fell in love with mom, now named Callie and she was with me to stay! I consider her our Elmar mascot – as she really kicked the rescue into gear. I learned A LOT from Callie and her puppies and before I knew it the rescue soon grew beyond my expectations. We had built a great network of volunteers and fosters to work with and continue our mission of saving lives!
Jump forward to today, we have a great group of volunteers and adopters and do whatever we can to help the population of unwanted dogs and puppies. Our focus is on dogs, but we have been known to save the occasional pig, cat and even hedgehog here and there! As our name says- EVERY life matters. To date, we are working towards almost 400 dogs and puppies saved since we began and we hope to continue building on this number as we grow. Personally, I like to focus on saving the ones no one else will- the puppies left behind when the rest of the litter is saved- the dog hit by a car deemed unsavable – the dog deemed too malnourished and sick to survive. Those are the ones that really pull at my heart to fight for. Essentially, our motto is if we have the funding and foster available – we will not say no!
One of the best parts about starting this rescue is the incredible impact it’s had on my daughter, Reese. She has grown up around this business and has learned so much about compassion for animals and caring for others. She is my right-hand man when it comes to the dogs we save. She’s learned so much about responsibility, love and dedication. She has a heart of gold and I attribute much of that to her experiences saving dogs and puppies in need.
I am so grateful for the amazing volunteers, donors and adopters who make our rescue possible and enable us to continue the work we do. I’ve met some incredible people along the way and none of this would be feasible without their help.
Has it been a smooth road?
Nothing is ever easy in the rescue world. There are many challenges we face almost daily. There are always people who will have an opinion that may be different than mine. I have dealt with negativity at times for saving dogs that others do not think were worth saving. A recent example is our sweet Little Annie- a six-month-old Beagle found in the road hit by a car. We were called by an emergency vet begging for help- they were set to euthanize her due to the extent of her injuries and the financial costs needed to save her. We did not have the funds to take her case at the time, but something about her story and plea from the vet tech telling me she had fight in her to survive made me go against all logical reasoning and agree to fight for her. She had three broken legs, a fractured pelvis and was suffering from rat poisoning on top of it all!
We decided then and there we were going to save her and if she had the will to fight through this, we would do everything possible to make that happen. Three months later, Annie made a miraculous recovery! Extensive and multiple surgeries were required but today she is WALKING, RUNNING, and living like a happy normal puppy. She defied all odds and all of those who said she was not worth it and would not survive. She did, our gut was right and she was worth it.
Other challenges come when there are some that simply can’t survive. We always do everything possible once a dog is with our Elmar family, but we have tragically lost a few – four to be exact. Every loss was out of our hands but it’s never any easier and never will be. I have shed many tears over our hardest cases through the challenging recovery and through those few losses we have endured. Every life is worth saving, and the ones who do pass stay in our hearts forever. I have each fur baby’s paw prints, memory box and photo so they are always remembered like family.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Every Life Matters Animal Rescue story. Tell us more about your organization.
Every life matters animal rescue is a 501c3 nonprofit dog rescue in the DFW area. Our focus is on dogs, but we are known to save the occasional pig, hedgehog and kitten, too! I am most proud of how far we have come in just a few years, and how many cases others passed by were saved by us. I am so proud of the group of volunteers we have that are so dedicated to continue our mission just as I am. It takes a lot of passion, tough skin, and love to do this job the way it’s supposed to be done. We are lucky to have a network of people who share that vision and those beliefs.
The thing that sets us apart is that we do our best to save any and every dog we are able to. Our number one goal is to keep the dog as our primary focus in everything we do. The only reason we work so hard is because we care so so much. I believe the passion and love that represents the people behind ELMAR sets us apart from the rest.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
My hope is that the rescue world continues to grow with more of the community becoming involved. For Elmar specifically, I hope to continue growing so that we can begin community outreach work – spay and neuter, vaccination programs for those in the community who need help with their pets. My goal is that we continue gaining fosters, volunteers and community support to grow our rescue and expand our reach of helping those in need. Whatever we do, I always want to ensure that the main focus for our rescue is the dogs we work to save and that to focus is NEVER shifted elsewhere. After all, that’s why we do what we do!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elmanimalrescue.org
- Phone: 2147934319
- Email: elmanimalrescue@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/elm_animal_rescue?igshid=tjqhshlyhdwg
- Facebook: Facebook.com/elmanimalrescue
Image Credit:
Crystal Robbins
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