Rescuing critters has always been part of my DNA. In college, I took in 2 kittens that a mama cat had left in our woodpile in CA. Shortly after that, still in college, a little black poodle showed up at my apartment complex. That’s when I learned about “dumped dogs.” He quickly became part of my little furry family. After college, a friend brought me another “dumped dog” from a parking lot in a bustling part of the Galleria area in Houston. He became my 4th furry family member.

When I got married in the mid 90’s, we started coming across dogs that people had found, tried to return to owners, only to have the owners say they didn’t want them. We took them in and found homes for them. As my kids were growing and it was fairly apparent that my daughter was following in her mom’s footsteps with a love for all furry critters, we continued to take in the animals that had nowhere else to go other than animal control – which in my mind was a death sentence due to overcrowding. We all made sacrifices to help the pups (& cats) that came to us in one way or another. Family vacations were few and far between, or my husband and I would divide and conquer – he’d take the kids to his family’s house for a weekend, I’d stay home to take care of dogs and vice versa. We spent all of our extra money on kids and dogs, honestly. It’s just how we did things and did the best we could for many years.

Fast forward to 2024. My son is out of college, working at a great job in commercial real estate and also the CEO of RTTRS. He has helped me stay focused on the business aspect of the rescue & getting it going “officially.” My daughter and husband have stepped up to help with the care of the dogs when they aren’t working, to give me a break, especially at night! The dogs wake up early which means I have to go to bed early making the last “go-out” of the day tough when I am literally dead dog tired! Each day is a day that I could choose to be overwhelmed with the tasks of caring for 16 medium to large sized dogs or I could choose to see the joy they have in simple things like jumping in the pool for a ball or playing “find it” with the treats hidden around their space. I choose to embrace their joy to stay focused on the mission of helping as many dogs as possible.

As a mom, I am eternally grateful to my family that has stepped up to help with starting this rescue/sanctuary that I’ve talked about for so many years. Everyone is using their strengths to create something meaningful and it completely overwhelms me with pride! We are working diligently to establish an amazing sanctuary for all of the current dogs in our care, and many more dogs coming our way in the future. We hope to provide a place for some to live out their lives in an enriching, loving environment while others wait for their forever family. Some dogs may stay for a day, a week, or months until they are adopted. Others may stay for a lifetime. I hope our sanctuary will provide a place to help with the overflow of some inundated Houston area rescues. Every dog deserves shelter & a second chance at a new life with a new family or, if need be, a forever home with us!