What One Woman Is Doing to Save Lives Of Pets Is Going To Warm Your Heart

Ever since she was a child, Terri Larson was bringing home stray animals, nursing them to health, and finding them homes – even as her mother sighed disapprovingly in the background.

Today, Larson is the founder and leader of Muddy Paws Second Chance Rescue, a non-profit, fully volunteer-driven rescue organization that was created in 2015. The rescue group mainly operates online via a website and social media, and has a network of 200 volunteers and 75 foster homes who help to care for pets as they wait for forever homes. They regularly pull pups off of euthanasia lists and help families who need to give up their pets to ensure that they go to good new houses.

But the group doesn’t just specialize in rehoming dogs – they also do their best to keep a pup in the home that they are already in. If that pup’s parents are having issues with behavioral problems, the group will find free or low-cost trainers to help. If medical bills are what’s wrong, the rescue will provide financial aid so that those fees can be settled. Larson believes that they should do everything they can to keep a pup where they are, because the rehoming process can be stressful for them.

On top of all that, Muddy Paws doesn’t just help dogs – it helps cats, rabbits, birds, and most other pets. It also runs a food pantry with pet food that can be visited by pup parents who are down on their luck and cannot afford to buy proper food for their fur kids.

Hundreds of pups have been rehomed in loving families thanks to this organization, and that number is expected to hit around 350 by the end of 2017. The group is funded entirely by donations, with medical bills being sponsored by funds from the Omaha Gives and Pottawattamie Gives campaigns. What incredible work! You can find out more about Muddy Paws Second Chance Rescue here. Don’t forget to like and share!