Meet Patti Dawson of Dallas DogRRR

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patti Dawson.

Patti, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
12/12/2014 I started after seeing a plea for help on my friend Sarah’s Facebook page. They needed people to come help started feeding dogs in the park where there was quite a few stray dumped dogs. There were about 7 dogs Marina Tarashevska was feeding in the area and her continuous please fore help we went down and started feeding the dogs. We were finally able to rescue most of the dogs their Hero and Mona Left, it was getting colder we kept trying to catch them but Hero continued to protect Mona and she was very scared and not trusting. Ice storms were coming in and it was getting colder and she was getting closer to delivering. That night Marina the founder of Dallas DogRRR posted she was searching for her and we were not able to find her.

As she got closer, Hero began barking and barking bringing Marina closer and closer to the puppies. Once she found them she realized she had them in an old burnt out tree. We were able to rescue the whole family. Hero saved the family the temperatures were in the low 20’s. I saw the plea for help to check the trap for Hero my son and I went down with another volunteer and we were able to rescue Hero. What an amazing feeling from that moment I was committed to helping that family and Hero. My son and I were able to continue to help with Hero and Mona and the puppies. We fostered many of the puppies. I began to volunteer in this organization before it was a 501c3. We continued to network and save more animals. In Nov on the 15 of 2015 we received out 501c3 status…

I started as a volunteer working as the puppy master as they all called me, then moved on to cover all areas foster coordinator, adoption coordinator, treasurer, to the director of operations. It has been amazing the first year we rescue around 75 animals the second year between 350-375 to this year almost 1,000. We have over 200 foster homes and over 200 dogs in our rescue this year. This is my third year and what we have achieved in that short period of time is amazing close to 1,500 dogs are off the streets. We worked effortlessly to decrease the stray population. We started a community outreach program. My son and I work actively running this rescue as well as fostering dogs in need.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The areas of struggle, getting donations and finding fosters; In the beginning, we were all donating for the dog’s medical care we relied solely on donations that would come in from a Facebook post it was difficult and very stressful. The other most challenging thing was finding fosters, this is critical it is how we are able to help. It is how we are able to get a dog off the street. As we grew we realized there was so much needed and that was volunteers. As time went by we continue to grow or intake was never ending we needed more fosters, more funds it was a never-ending battle. Three year later similar struggles, we are still in need of donations, fosters but now the need is the volunteers, we need people to help process applications, to help answer emails, help update the animals in our care. We continue to grow at a rapid rate to keeping up with the rapid growth is difficult.

The challenges then and now are very similar just is greater proportion. we are in need of donations, fosters, and volunteers.

The challenge of time is another obstacle is time; I have a full-time job, run the rescue and have a family rescue is a 24-hour job I do my best to balance but it is hard.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Dallas DogRRR – what should we know?
Here is our motto “Every animal deserves a chance. We never give up. If we have not found them a home then we have not tried everything yet. We take the unwanted, we take the broken, and we do what others call impossible no matter what the cost.” We stand by this every hour of every day, what do we specialize in just that in our quote rescuing the unwanted, the sick we have transitioned into a medical rescue a rescue that will stop at nothing, I mean nothing to give a dog a chance at life. We are known as the rescue that does not say no! We are known for are care from start to finish. We specialize in working with the community and giving back, teaching proving resources. What am I am most proud of is the amazing miracles we have preform against the odds. I am proud of what we do and that our volunteers share our passion. We were a small rescue that is now known nationwide. Our hard work has paid off we will continue to grow and save the unwanted. I am most proud how much this team sacrifices to give these animals a chance; fosters opening up their homes, transporters getting them where they need appointments etc., the volunteers that schedule their medical appointments, enter them on intake, post and network their stories our foster and adoption team that helps place them in our rescue as well as in their forever homes.

What sets up apart we take all those that many rescues leave behind. The cost is pricey and the emotional toll it takes on the team just make us fight harder but I would not change it for anything. We have had dog with firecrackers blown up in their mouth, dogs beat with a baseball bat, dogs attack by others and hit by a car.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are looking at the possibility to continue to grow, our future goals is to get a facility a place where we can help socialize do meet and greets and take care of their medical needs. We also are looking to have a medical staff on board. We are also looking to build the northern partnerships to allow us to transfer other dogs north opening more spot in our rescue to save more…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dallasdogrrr.org/
• Email: hello@dallasdogrrr.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dallasdogrrr/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DallasDogRRR/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dallas_DogRRR

Image Credits:
Dory Ann Cox

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