A Message from Our New Executive Director

It is said that when trouble hits, you know who your friends are, and Rescue Village is fortunate to
be reminded of this on many levels as our community supports us in countless ways.

Our foster families helped take every animal from the shelter when the pandemic forced us to close our doors. This was a dark time. Many of the staff were furloughed, and no animals were in our 19,000 square foot facility. The lessons learned during this trying time have helped us improve the way that we care for our animals. For example, the foster program will increasingly be a part of our animal care strategy moving forward. And, who would have guessed that the pandemic has helped people better understand how Rescue Village prevents disease outbreaks in the shelter? Our staff has been donning PPE (personal protective equipment) for years, not so much to protect themselves, but to prevent the spread of disease among our shelter animals. We serve as a way station for vulnerable animals – from a 5 oz. Sugar Glider (a nocturnal gliding possum) to a 1,500 lb., twenty-three-year-old Clydesdale named Alex, who came to us a little underweight.

On average, every animal at Rescue Village is seen in our veterinary clinic three times. And if 3,000 animals come through the shelter in a year, the veterinary clinic will handle upwards of 9,000 visits for general checkups, spay/neuter surgeries, vaccines, and other necessary medical treatment before they go home. We are doing a lot of work. We have a lot of work to do, and we cannot do this work without you, our friends. Thank you for being there for us in the past and for when we call on you in the future!