About Us

Our Mission: Trust Us

Our Mission at TrustRescue is to unite dog lovers in a shared pursuit of ending unnecessary euthanasia. Through education, direct lifesaving, relationships, and innovation, we act with integrity, faithfulness, and love to ensure a brighter future for adoptable dogs.

Our Goals:

Saving Lives: Through proactive planning, bold data-driven decision making, and transparent collaboration, we maximize our life-saving impact, providing responsible support to rescue and aid as many dogs as possible.

Building Community Relationships: We nurture a culture of inclusivity, open communication, and positivity, fostering strong relationships and partnerships that prioritize diversity, equality, and transparency in all we do.

Educate and Innovate: We empower dog lovers and advance animal rescue through education, innovation, and continuous improvement. Our resources, guidance, and educational materials support responsible pet ownership and improve lives for rescue dogs and their humans.

Love and Trust: Guided by compassion, empathy, and unconditional love, we build trust with our community, partners, and the dogs in our care. We operate with integrity, transparency, and accountability, ensuring that every decision and action reflects our unwavering commitment to the well-being of dogs and those who love them.

Our Core Values: The Big 5

Trustworthiness

We build trust through transparency, reliability, and honesty, fostering strong relationships with our community, partners, and adopters. We uphold the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and ethics in all our actions.

Positivity

We cultivate a culture of positivity, assuming good intentions, and promoting trust, collaboration, and open communication. We maintain an uplifting and optimistic tone in all our interactions.

Responsiveness

We prioritize timely and effective responses to the needs of our dogs, community, and partners. We listen actively, adapt quickly, and continually improve our processes to better serve those we support.

Inclusiveness

We embrace diversity, inclusivity, and individuality, welcoming new community members, ideas, feedback, and perspectives with open arms. We foster a sense of belonging and connection among our community.

Supportiveness

We're committed to providing exceptional support to our staff, adopters, fosters, parents, and volunteers throughout their journey with us. We offer guidance, resources, and compassion to ensure their success and well-being.

Position Statements

Our Commitment to Core Values :

We acknowledge, embrace, and value humanity and human fallibility. We understand that there's always more to learn and new challenges to overcome. We're committed to keeping an open mind, embracing change, and growing proactively.

Transparency and Professionalism:

As part of our commitment to organizational professionalism and core values, we prioritize transparency in every aspect of our operations. This means we gather and share accurate data, engage in open discussions about our policies and procedures, and acknowledge and correct mistakes in a timely manner.

Our dedication to transparency ensures accountability, informs data-driven decision-making, and fosters a culture of trust and excellence within our organization.

Waived or Trust Rescue Sponsored Adoptions:

Trust Rescue typically charges a full adoption fee to cover the medical care and transportation costs of each dog in our care. We understand that some dogs need extra resources to address complex medical needs, and reducing or waiving fees can boost life-saving efforts.

While many dogs have a standard adoption fee, we often have dogs with reduced or waived fees. We strive to make exceptions when possible, and also offer significantly reduced fees for seniors to promote their adoption and ensure they receive the love and care they deserve.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:

We believe that everyone should have equitable and unbiased access to our programs, services, employment opportunities, and leadership opportunities. To achieve our mission, we maintain an authentic commitment to social responsibility, social justice, and inclusivity throughout all facets of our operations.

Through open and continuous dialogue, we engage with our diverse community, approach gaps with humility, and strive to learn, understand, and adapt. By doing so, we commit to driving positive change and fostering an inclusive environment that promotes equal opportunities for all.

Open Adoptions and Minimizing Barriers in the Adoption Process:

At Trust Rescue, we believe that successful fits and maximum life-saving are achieved through an open adoption process. This approach facilitates conversation-based interactions between our organization and adopters, cultivating trusting, long-lasting relationships.

By removing barriers, we welcome adopters from all backgrounds, encouraging open discussions throughout the adoption journey. Our commitment to open adoptions enables us to better understand the needs of both adopters and animals, ultimately leading to more successful placements and a higher quality of life for the animals in our care.

Dog Training Methodology:

Trust Rescue acknowledges training as vital to achieving our vision of making dog adoption a positive, accessible option. Training modifies behavior, helping dogs thrive in foster homes, increasing adoptability, and preparing them for success in their forever homes. It also enables owners to better communicate with their dogs, boosting successful placement rates.

We recognize diverse training methodologies and philosophical approaches. The chosen approach should be tailored to the individual dog, considering their history and current circumstances. Trust Rescue commits to using the least intrusive, minimally aversive method to resolve behavior issues whenever possible.

In collaboration with certified, professional dog trainers and behaviorists, we don't exclusively practice or endorse one methodology. Instead, we engage trainers utilizing various methods to achieve positive results. Our primary objectives are to ensure dogs' safety, facilitate adoption, and maintain lifelong loving homes.

Animal Intake and Placement:

As a foster-based rescue, Trust Rescue is dedicated to responsible sourcing of dogs, ensuring we have the necessary resources to meet their needs. We seek partners who share our standards for care and can fulfill medical and behavioral requirements.

Our capacity for care fluctuates as dogs enter and exit our program, but we strive to increase our overall capacity long-term. We prioritize intaking dogs that are behaviorally and medically suitable for our program, enabling them to thrive in family homes.

Trust Rescue is committed to providing objective behavioral and medical histories for dogs in our care to potential adopters. We actively support adopters and their dogs, offering resources, information, and guidance throughout the dog's life, particularly during the transition period.

Dogs Who Pose a Danger to Other Animals or Humans:

Trust Rescue recognizes each dog's individuality, deserving tailored treatment while maintaining public and animal safety. If a dog poses a safety risk, management strategies will protect humans and animals, potentially including confinement to a qualified foster home, shelter, boarding facility, or veterinary office.

When rehabilitation is attempted, public protection is paramount. Placement options for such dogs require careful consideration of factors like:

- History of aggressive/dangerous behavior
- Medical concerns contributing to this behavior
- Circumstances surrounding displayed behavior
- Previous behavioral rehabilitation/training investments
- Alignment with Trust Rescue's Dog Training Position Statement
- Available resources and current demands

If a dog causes serious injury or a behavioral professional deems an attack likely without intervention, compromising the animal's quality of life, Trust Rescue may consider euthanasia. This decision would follow behavioral and veterinary consultations, involving animal care management, a veterinarian, and the animal's caregiver.

What Responsible Pet Ownership Means to Us:

Trust Rescue believes that pets are family, and when a dog joins a family, it's the caregiver's responsibility to ensure their pet's 5 Freedoms are met:

- Freedom from hunger and thirst
- Freedom from discomfort
- Freedom from pain, injury, or disease
- Freedom to express normal behavior
- Freedom from fear and distress

While we strive for forever placements, life's unforeseen circumstances may prevent this. In such cases, responsible rehoming should always be the priority, ensuring the dog's well-being and safety remain paramount.

Veterinary Standards of Care:

Trust Rescue adheres to rigorous veterinary standards, providing comprehensive medical care for all rescue dogs in our care, with exceptions made for medical waivers, age limitations, or pregnancy status.

Our standard medical care includes:

- Up-to-date vaccines, including DAPP or equivalent, and Bordetella
- Up-to-date Rabies vaccine
- Broad-spectrum deworming treatments
- Microchip implantation and registration
- Spay/neuter surgery completed or voucher provided
- Heartworm test within the past four months (for dogs over four months old)
- Monthly heartworm prevention
- Monthly flea and tick prevention

In addition to physical health, we prioritize mental well-being, following guidelines set by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians and the ASPCA for standards of care in shelters.

Pregnant Spays:

At Trust Rescue, we advocate for pregnant spays to address overpopulation and animal homelessness, prioritizing care and resources for those already born. When a pregnant dog enters our care, we consult with a veterinarian to determine the pregnancy stage.

If the pregnancy is in its early stages, we will perform a pregnant spay. However, if the dog is further along and fetal skeletons are visible on X-ray, the spay becomes a higher-risk surgery. In such cases, we assess our capacity for care and identify a suitable foster home to provide care for the mother and puppies until they're ready for adoption.

Spay and Neuter in Companion Dogs:

Trust Rescue advocates for spay/neuter procedures, wherever medically possible, to combat pet overpopulation and animal homelessness. As part of our adoption process, all dogs placed through Trust Rescue are spayed or neutered, provided they are medically cleared and of age.

We engage our community in open discussions about the importance of spay/neuter, addressing questions, concerns, and differing viewpoints in a welcoming and non-judgmental manner. By encouraging dialogue and education, we foster trust, unity, and a shared commitment to responsible pet ownership within our community.

Medical Euthanasia:

At Trust Rescue, we prioritize quality of life in all medical decision-making for our dogs, providing veterinarian-recommended care. While the dog's well-being is paramount, we also consider secondary factors such as capacity for care, external resources, and placement options as necessary.

If a dog is afflicted with a debilitating medical condition and veterinarians predict a poor prognosis and diminished quality of life, we consider medical euthanasia a humane and compassionate option. Should medical euthanasia become necessary, Trust Rescue strictly adheres to FDA-approved euthanasia solutions, administered with prescribed sedatives, as the sole acceptable method.