Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Boyle.
Kathy , we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
For 20 years I have been an independent rescuer, helping other rescues gain visibility for their dogs using my skills and network as a connector. I’ve also helped adopters who are frustrated with the lack of response from so many rescues, find the dog of their dream by connecting them directly with a rescue.
In December 2022, a good friend who is a careful Golden Breeder reached out for help. He sold a dog to a woman who died. He went to reclaim the pup and found out the woman had a psychotic son who had physically abused the dog. This poor dog was now an 85 lbs, 4-year old gorgeous cream Golden with major PTSD. Could not brush him, bathe him without a muzzle. He was on Prozac.
I created and shared a post for Beau and it went viral. 1800 shares! My phone was buzzing and beeping all day with folks who wanted to adopt Beau.
I did the initial interviews and had a # of folks who would be a great home for a typical Golden but not right for Beau. I ended up with an excel of 30 homes for Golden Retrievers. I operate multiple businesses, so I looked at this list as any business owner might and said “I have homes for dogs. Let me find dogs in need of a home”.
There are very few Golden Retrievers ever available in NY where I live. So, through a business deal I was doing with a fellow in Fort Worth, I met a guy in Grapevine, TX (Dallas) who was rescuing Golden Retrievers off Craig’s list. I started out simply thinking I was doing what I’d done for years….find dogs for wonderful homes.
I really did not think I was starting a rescue. I just wanted to fill the homes I had with Goldens in need.
But things got crazy busy almost immediately. We saved 32 mostly Goldens in the first 4-months of operation. We then formalized to create The Golden Project Rescue, Inc.
We built a private group on Facebook to keep all our adopters, fosters and supporters updated. We added fosters all over Dallas. To date, we now have 76 foster families from Fort Worth through Grapevine, Keller, Coppell, Flower Mound, Lewisville, Richardson, Wylie, all the way up to Celina and Prosper.
We have saved 420 dogs in 28 months of operation with a focus on Golden Retrievers. However, our tag line is deliberate…..”saving those with hearts of gold” so if we believe we can get a dog adopted, we will save it.
We started saving doodles in August 2024 with a gorgeous 6-month old Goldendoodle and had demand so we went looking for doodles. They are a “designer mutt” IMHO but in demand. So, we save all kinds of doodles, largely from owners who are surrendering. Many do not do research and do not realize how big they can get, their regular grooming needs (expensive) and how hyper many are plus they are not all hypoallergenic.
We also save lab mixes, Great Pry/Golden mixes and some littles. Year-to-date we have saved 109 dogs and have 7 more incoming next week.
We have some wonderful foster families, a fabulous board of directors and amazing adopters. We are very careful with our vetting process. We maintain a pre-approved adopter list and then we match dogs by temperament once adoption process is complete. 55% of our dogs have gone to the east coast with Facetime as their meet and greet and we have a 94% success rate on dogs remaining in adopter’s home.
We have some big goals and want to make a systemic change to the dog crisis in TX (and much of the south). There is a disposable attitude towards dogs in many parts of TX. There are so many dogs living on the streets. Dallas is estimated to have 28,000 dogs living on the streets. The shelters are full and turn away dogs so if someone is losing their home, getting evicted, ill, etc. and the shelter will not take, they give it to the first person who offers (which could be a backyard breeder or a dog fighter) or they simply dump them out in the rural areas.
We, along with our fellow rescue organizations, can rescue as many as possible but we can never save them all. Every day we have to say “no” to taking dogs in. We are working on some bigger picture strategies like mobile neuter spay clinics and an education program as well as a directory of all rescues with financial credibility and rating system.
We treat DFW as our hub and all our dogs live with families, all of whom have dogs and most who have children. We get vet care right away. Dogs are vaccinated, microchipped, tested for heartworm, treated if positive, spayed or neutered. Our foster families give us feedback on behavior which is how we get to know our dogs to make the right match. We love transforming dogs’ lives and bringing joy to families.
Alright, 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?
so many struggles!!
Finding veterinarians who can handle our volume. We can do 20 neuter/spays in a month. We use clinics and those can be booked and far from fosters. Dallas vets are expensive and most are equipped only to handle families with their precious pet. Not work with scale.
Finding foster families. Although we have 73 families on our list, we lose folks all the time for vacations, children’s sports, business travel, family issues, etc. So we always need more foster families who can help us save a life.
Funding is always an issue. We have our 501(c)(3) but finding funds is a challenge. We often lose money on a dog with heartworm, upper respiratory infections, tickborne illnesses, urinary tract infections and more.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Not sure how to answer this question!
In my professional career, my main firm offers succession planning for family owned businesses. We work with clients all over the country.
but for the organization, we operate like a business. All rescues (other than the really big ones like Best Friends Sanctuary) are volunteer. We respond to everyone (a common complaint we hear from adopters is they never received a response). We process our applications quickly. I have a fabulous adoption team who does all our reference checks and then send me a synopsis. I do a phone interview to understand more about the adopter, their hours, the cadence of their home, etc.
We also have an amazing intake committee comprised of 2 board members who along with me, find dogs in need for us to accept into our rescue.
We have grown quickly and now have a fabric of veterinary clinics, a good sized group of fosters. Our private group really engenders a sense of community. I can post a need in there and folks will private message me to help with driving, foster, donations, etc.
We have a huge network all across the vast state of Texas. We have many parts like RGV, Austin, San Antonio, Midland/Odessa, Lubbock and east TX covered with transports, volunteer drivers, etc.
We have built a wonderful community with caring people who extend themselves to help dogs in need.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
My board tells everyone I “run a tight ship”. I think my business background in planning and consulting with entrepreneurs gave me the background and knowledge to think strategically. We have processes and procedures in place. We have foster and adopter manuals to provide in-depth information to both. We are holistic in our approach to care for our dogs and we educate our community about alternative ways to treat their dogs. We have a process in place for adoption and foster reviews.
As we grow, we will add a website with AI bot to answer the many questions we get on a daily basis. and drop down menus to help folks with better choices for food, health care and spay/neuter options.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegoldenprojecthearts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093089448547
Image Credits
NA all photos were taken by fosters or adopters.
