Today we’d like to introduce you to Regan Fowler.
Regan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I volunteered with a local rescue group for several years and unexpectedly ended up fostering a senior dog, Emma, who had cancer and wasn’t expected to live more than six months. Emma and I immediately had a special bond and adored each other. My family and I were blessed with almost 3 1/2 wonderful years with her before she passed.
Unfortunately, there are many amazing senior dogs just like Emma in the shelters and not many rescues who specialize in saving this specific age group. I wanted to do what I could to help the seniors so I started Emma’s Wish Senior Dog Rescue in honor of Emma after she passed in 2018.
As with most new rescues, things started slowly but with hard work and determination, it began to grow. I look forward to the coming years as we continue our growth process, enabling more senior lives to be saved!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Rescuing dogs is never a smooth road! Whether it’s an unexpected health issue or medical expense, personality issue, uncommitted foster, lack of funds, failed adoption…you name it, it can go wrong. These things make it all the more rewarding, though, and you have to be prepared for anything to happen.
Finding foster homes and raising funds are always the hardest, in my opinion. Unfortunately, there are plenty of senior dogs to rescue, but they need foster homes where they can stay until adopted and their medical issues need to be taken care of, which can get expensive. Some dogs are heartworm positive and require treatment, others need dental work, bloodwork, medications, and even to be spayed or neutered.
When I said you have to be prepared for anything, I meant it! The rescue had only been open about nine months when I experienced something that was not only shocking and scary but expensive as well. Early Mother’s Day morning 2019, I went to check on one of my foster dogs who had just arrived the night before. She had been spayed several days earlier at the shelter but had not been bothered by it and was leaving her incision alone. The shelter did not have a medical cone on her so I did not use one, either. This was the biggest mistake and a lesson learned the hard way! The dog had proceeded to rip open her spay site (I won’t go into details but it was fairly traumatic to see) so I quickly bandaged her the best I could and rushed her to the ER. Luckily they were able to repair the damage and she made a full recovery. I was hit with a $3,000 medical bill which is huge for any rescue, let alone a new one. Thanks to the help of my amazing fundraising friend and the donations of many generous people, the majority of the bill was covered. This was a real eye-opener on several levels and hopefully by far the worst thing that will ever happen. So friends, always use a cone on your dog after a medical procedure!
Please tell us about Emma’s Wish Senior Dog Rescue.
When I started the rescue, I wanted a name that would honor my special girl and also let people know it’s an age specific rescue, so I settled on Emma’s Wish Senior Dog Rescue. I feel that if she can no longer be with me, Emma’s wish would be that I help other deserving senior dogs.
Over 50 dogs have been rescued in the year and half since starting and I find that amazing! I never dreamed things would pick up so quickly; if only ten dogs had been rescued at this point, I would have been happy.
There are many people who would like to adopt an older, calmer dog but don’t know where to find one. Now that people are becoming familiar with Emma’s Wish Senior Dog Rescue, we are able to help match more families with their perfect furry senior companion. Senior dogs are generally considered to be age six and up, so we have some on the younger senior side all the way up. We occasionally get in a younger dog who was either misaged at the shelter or just really needed to be rescued.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My family has definitely played a huge role in making the rescue successful! My husband, Mark, is just a big a dog lover as I am and has a mountain of patience to put up with the craziness! Certain times we have more dogs at our house than others and he never complains, just enjoys loving on them. We have two children, ages 15 and 12, who are wonderful with our foster dogs also, they help walk them, brush them, etc.
My friend, Elena, runs her own nonprofit called Crafts for Paws that helps raise money for animal rescues and she was an immense help getting me started. In order to start a 501c3 there are many steps to take and paperwork to be submitted. Not only did she walk me through this, she raised funds to get the rescue off the ground. I couldn’t have done it without her!
Last, but not least, are the fosters! Without all the amazing fosters who allow the dogs to live with them as long as needed, there wouldn’t be much of a rescue! Some of the dogs take longer to get adopted than others and the fosters love and take care of them through it all. We’ve even had two fosters take in hospice cases, knowing the dogs wouldn’t be adopted. It’s an amazing group of people and I’m so grateful for them and all the others who can’t foster but help financially.
Contact Info:
- Website: Emmaswishsdr.org
- Phone: 972-948-4054
- Email: EmmasWishSDR@gmail.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/Emmas_Wish_Senior_Dog_Rescue
- Facebook: Facebook.com/emmaswishsdr
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