Meet Christina Arriaga of Rockwall Pets

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Arriaga.

Christina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Back in 2011, my son needed community service hours. Rob Thomas had also recently released his album, Cradlesong. I went to Rob’s website to look for tour dates and came across his foundation Sidewalk Angels. Reading about the work they were doing to help animals inspired me to grab my son and get those community service hours at our local shelter. I’ve always loved animals and volunteering at a shelter was one of those things I always said I would do “when I had some free time”. There was a group of volunteers there called Rockwall Pets who were bringing big changes to the Rockwall animal shelter. We were getting the dogs out of their kennels and bringing them to off-site adoption events. We were marketing the dogs through social media. We got the community involved and fought city hall to make the shelter no-kill. We won and then the shelter privatized and is currently run by another organization. Since then the Rockwall shelter has remained no kill. We moved on to helping the dogs and cats at Dallas Animal Services, where there is a much bigger need. Our founders left Rockwall Pets in 2014 and left me in charge. We built an amazing team of fosters and volunteers who are passionate about saving the lives of dogs and cats who otherwise would not make it out. Rockwall Pets has rescued more animals from the Dallas shelter than any other rescue group. We do this with no shelter facility or paid employees…just a group of dedicated animal lovers who open up their homes to foster. In 2016, we were awarded a grant that allowed us to purchase a transport van so now on top of our weekly adoption events, we spend at least two weekends a month driving dogs to other states where there are empty kennels and a demand for dogs. In 2013, we rescued 490 animals. In 2014, it was 760. In 2015 that number grew to 1,022 and in 2016 we saved 1,406 lives, almost exclusively from Dallas Animal Services. Our numbers are growing every year thanks to our adopters, donors, fosters and volunteers.

Has it been a smooth road?
I’m not going to lie, when our founders and entire Board of Directors left and I took over, I was working the role of foster coordinator. It was my job to go evaluate the dogs, find fosters for them, etc. I went to every adoption event and was involved with vetting and fundraising, but I also had a full-time job and family. I wasn’t prepared to run the organization, but I couldn’t let it shut down. We were making a difference and saving so many lives. I was the Board of Director’s only consideration for a new Executive Director and if I said no, Rockwall Pets would not be what it is today. I stepped up and because of our incredible volunteers, we made it work; and it’s so much stronger and better than we ever expected. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you have a supportive and dedicated team.

Another struggle is our name. Even though we’ve worked hard to get the Rockwall Pets brand out there, our adoption events and foster homes are primarily in Rockwall County. It’s hard to look for support from the Dallas Community when they don’t understand the connection. We’re not going to change our name though. We’re proud of our roots! If a little group of volunteers from Rockwall county can make a difference, imagine what change we can all bring working together!

We are always in need of more fosters and donors! Those are what it really takes to save more lives. Anyone interested in helping can follow the links at www.rockwallpets.com to complete our simple foster application or to donate!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Rockwall Pets – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Rockwall Pets is proud to say that we are an all foster-based rescue. Even without having a shelter facility, paid employees, on-site vet or big funding, we still make it work. We’re also super proud of the relationships that we’ve built with Dallas Animal Services and other rescue groups around the country. Groups in Delaware, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania all know that they can rely on us to get them dogs they need and we are easy to work with. We take pride in avoiding drama, which can be difficult in rescue work.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
In keeping with the rescue theme, I like that the Dallas shelter is making changes. Many more need to come, but since I go there at least three-four times a week, I personally see the efforts being made to bring about positive change.

What’s frustrating is the community does not seem to understand or maybe they don’t care about the animals in the over-crowded shelter. Every day you can see Dallas citizens pulling up to the shelter with litters of puppies that they need to surrender to the shelter because their dog “accidentally” got pregnant. There are a lot of programs in place now offering low cost or free spay/neuter. There is no reason all of these dogs have to keep having litter after litter. The shelter takes in over 100 animals a day in the summer. Even with every local rescue doing all we could, the shelter still has to euthanize for space. We all need to work together, stop blaming the shelter and start helping the community to become responsible pet owners. The animals need us.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rockwallpets.com
• Phone: 972-696-9738
• Email: info@rockwallpets.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/rockwallpets
• Facebook: facebook.com/rockwallpets
• Twitter: @rockwallpets

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