Concert for Canines

Posted on: Sunday January 15

Join us for a Concert for Canines

with Vance Gilbert

Happy New Year!

Posted on: Saturday December 31

When the ball drops on 2011, Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation celebrates the completion of 10 years of animal rescue. We are so proud of all that we have accomplished in our first 10 years and can’t wait for the next decade to begin!

Thank you to everyone who fosters, volunteers, adopts and donates to help LDCRF bring homeless and abandoned animals home.

Click Here to See our Two Celebration Videos. 

Trick or Treat!

Posted on: Wednesday October 26

Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation’s in 3rd Annual Trick or Treat for the Animals is underway.

Our volunteers and supporters are busy Trick or Treating by asking for donations to fund critical care for our animals and they are making great progress. Our goal is $10,000 and we are headed in the right direction with the help of our amazing supporters.

Check out our Trick or Treat page to find out how you can participate and to check the donation progress.

Transporting for the Rescue

Posted on: Wednesday August 17

Most people know that our dogs and cats come from overcrowded, high-kill shelters and that our mission at Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation is to rescue these animals from the threat of euthanasia and place them for adoption into loving homes.  And most people know our dogs and cats come from as close as Fairfax County and as far away as Afghanistan. But not everyone knows about the complicated logistical maneuvers that come together to bring the dogs and cats from death row at  public shelters or other at risk situations, to safe and loving care at LDCRF. 

Part balancing act, part art form and sometimes part magic show, it is known in the rescue world simply as Transport. Read below to get a personalized account of a transport from longtime LDCRF volunteer Lisa Marie Czop who spends most weekends on the road, bringing dogs and cats to safety. 

Transporting dogs and cats to our organization is an essential part of our work.  We know these animals deserve a fabulous home, and we want to help them find that home! I’ve been transporting dogs and cats for almost four years, and while no trip goes off without a few hiccups, it’s always worth the hard work and effort when you get to meet an animal whose life you personally helped  save.

We work with a number of shelter partners in various states surrounding Virginia, and together, we identify animals that will be a good fit for our organization.  Volunteers at the shelter will help get the animals ready for their big trip.  That’s where we come in!

Transporters like myself will typically meet up with a team from the shelter at the halfway point between our locations.  The shelters that I work with are about 5 hours away Washington, D.C., so having the volunteers meet me halfway really cuts down on some of that driving!

It gets really busy when we all arrive at the meet-up spot; dogs are unloaded from the shelter vehicle, given a quick walk, some water, some love and attention, and then loaded back up into the Lost Dog vehicle to begin their trip to the DC area. Cats and kittens are moved from one cage to the next, all while preventing any escape artists from hitting the road!

Once we’re loaded, we’re fast on our way back to our home region, dropping off puppies and kittens at their foster homes and the adult cats and dogs at the Lost Dog Ranch.  All in all, a typical trip is about 8-10 hours, and we run a transport almost every weekend.  On really busy weekends, we might even have two or more!

Running transports is my favorite way to contribute to the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation, because there is nothing more personally gratifying than meeting an animal and knowing that I played a small part in saving that animal’s life.

Help our transport team keep making their weekend transports.  Your contributions keep our resources strong so that even more abandoned and displaced dogs and cats have a chance at a new home.  Click here to see how you can help.  

Click to follow Lisa Marie on a typical Saturday transport!

10 Years of Running to the Rescue!

Posted on: Friday August 5

Ten years ago, Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation began with a focused mission- to rescue dogs and cats from euthanasia in overcrowded shelters and place them for adoption into loving homes.

It has been ten years of transporting dogs and cats, ten years of vet visits, ten years of providing daily care, ten years of adoption events….

Ten years of running to the rescue for over 17,000 pets.

With every squirmy little puppy, every playful kitten, every wide-eyed dog, and with every homeless cat with no where to turn, we live our mission.

This August, we’re sharing our stories and our journeys over the past 10 years with you–The transports, the vet visits, the ranch, the adoption events, and everything else that makes our rescue tick (or bark… or purr…).  At the same time, our friends at Pacers are sponsoring the “Lost Dog 5K Series” throughout August, where supporters and athletes are taking to the pavement and literally running to help raise dollars for our rescue.

This combination has only one possible outcome- an action-packed, rescue-focused August! Check in with us each week as we highlight an aspect of our work, commend our runners and share how we’re preparing for our next decade of lifesaving work!

And join us on Friday August 26th as we celebrate 10 Years of Running to the Rescue at the Stray Cat Cafe.

Click here to read about the Pacers/ Lost Dog 5k Series

Click here to see this week’s video clip. 

Living Legacy

Posted on: Tuesday July 12

Jan Eaton of FAMA arrives at the Lost Dog Ranch with the "Lucky Dozen"

The Pespi, Sprite, Griffen Legacy Gift has already saved many dogs with generous funding for their vet expenses, but the Gift has begun to give in other, unexpected ways as well.

Recently, a partnership sparked from publicity on the Pepsi Sprite Griffen Legacy Gift brought together the efforts of two rescue groups and culminated in the saving of 12 canine lives.

Jan Eaton saw the Pepsi Sprite Griffen Legacy Gift advertised on Mark Levin’s Facebook page and was intrigued. A devoted animal rescuer in Georgia, Jan wondered if Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation might be able to help her save the lives of some dogs who had little chance at adoption or rescue in her rural area.  On a whim, she reached out to LDCRF, not expecting a response, but daring to hope. Within 24 hours, an email response from LDCRF founder, Pam McAlwee, arrived in her inbox with an offer of help.

Nine days later, Jan arrived at the Lost Dog & Cat Ranch with her mother as her co-pilot and twelve lucky dogs traveling in air-conditioned comfort in the back of her transport truck.  The dogs were rescued courtesy of the group Jan and her husband founded in 2005, Fannin Animal Medical Account (FAMA), which has transported over 3,500 animals to safety since 2007 and aided in the care and welfare of many more in its community. The “lucky dozen” came from shelters which allow dogs only three days to be reclaimed or adopted before they are euthanized and where the kennels are always full.

Twelve dogs don’t fix a problem, but twelve dogs gave a rescuer hope, cemented a partnership and are already moving on to make twelve families very, very happy.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE “LUCKY DOZEN” ARRIVING AT THE  LOST DOG RANCH.

Flying to Rescue!

Posted on: Wednesday July 6

July brought LDRF’s first rescue through the Pilots N Paws program. Ruthie, a Catahoula / Lab mix from Tennessee arrived on her own private plane just in time to celebrate Independence Day with the LDCRF family. Escorted by pilot David Kenney, Ruthie flew into Manassas Regional Airport and  went straight to see the volunteers at an adoption event. Lost Dog is thrilled to have Ruthie in our family and thrilled to be working with the wonderful folks atPilots for Paws who save so many animals in need.

Ruthie and her pilot, Dave Kenny boarding the plane.

This Just In: West Virginia Railroad Crew Makes its Way to Virginia

Posted on: Wednesday June 8

Mississippi Flood Dogs come to Lost Dog

Posted on: Saturday May 28

Recent storms in Mississippi and other parts of the U.S have left humans and animals homeless and in need of help. Animal shelters in the most devastated areas are overflowing with strays, owner surrenders and temporarily displaced animals. As the floodwaters recede, the flood of animals in need is just cresting.

This week, The Humane Society of the United States stepped in to help by bringing some eighty dogs from flood-ravaged ares of Mississippi to rescues and shelters in the Washington DC area. Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation took in eleven of the dogs on Friday, May 27th, and is currently tending to medical needs and preparing them for adoption.

Keep your eye on the website for five dachshund mix puppies, two collie / australian shepherd mix brothers, two hound boxer pups, a rat terrier and an airedale mix puppy. All are enjoying the good life in foster homes this weekend!

Midnight Train from Georgia… and other Points South.

Posted on: Thursday May 12

Winifred is a new addition to Griffen's Gift. She is an adorable, older schnauzer with some allergies. She has tons of energy and is as sweet as she can be!

Just about every week, LDCRF gets a few new family members from our shelter partners down South. They typically make a 10-12 hour journey to get to us, often arriving in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning. Volunteers and potential adopters sometimes wonder what the story is behind these midnight travelers and how they ended up in a PetSMart in Fairfax or a PetCo in Rockville.

The story begins with the fact that the stray  and unwanted animal problem in rural areas of NC, SC, TN, and GA is astounding, with as many as 100 new animals (or more) surrendered or captured in a typical week. Rescue groups like Lost Dog are pretty much the only option these animals have, as the number of adoptions out of the shelters themselves is insignificant compared to the amount of intake. Shelter workers and volunteers are overwhelmed, to say the least. To make matters worse, some of the southern shelters are still euthanizing via gas chamber which has been outlawed in VA and many other states as an inhumane practice.

The driving force behind getting the animals out of the shelters and to safety is volunteers. These concerned folks get pictures of the animals in the shelter each week and email them far and wide begging for their rescue. The Lost Dog email box is constantly stuffed with these urgent pleas to save animals- many more than we can ever respond to, unfortunately.

Each week, however, we do what we can. That means becoming  a participant in a complicated dance of logistics aimed at getting as many dogs and cats out as possible and figuring out how to get them all where they need to go. It means getting a call at 10 pm that a transport is due to arrive in our area at at 2 am. It means meeting a transport of what turned out to be 28 cats and kittens at the vet’s office in the middle of the night.  It means lost sleep, headaches and confusion.

But it also means looking into eyes like these below and knowing that because of LDCRF their fate is drastically altered and their futures are bright.

Laurence is a typical hound except for those long-haired ears and that beard! He was obviously a loved-pet once. He climbed right into his foster's bed.

Marlene arrived with a belly full of puppies and is due to give birth in a week or so.

Heloise arrived with her sisters in the middle of the night.