 Are you ready for our busiest month yet? It was our first month with Frank (the van, named after St. Francis of Assisi - patron Saint of Animals) and he showed up for all the rescue rides! Our first riders were headed from Michigan and Indiana to Wisconsin rescue partners Our Pack Animal Rescue! Say hi to LT, Stella, and Miriam (we all know my weakness for senior chihuahuas and she was almost snuck into my car). They hitched a ride with Alexis, our volunteer driver, who has helped (SO much) to ensure we can do multiple rides the same day and I get a day off sometimes (yay to self care). Added bonus, all three are already in forever homes!   Our next trip was one that had been in the works for months! We had the honor of visiting SARA Sanctuary in Seguin, Texas. At their animal sanctuary, we got to say hello to cows, horses, donkeys, chickens, pigs, roosters, dogs, and cats. Their facility is a farm sanctuary and also a safe place for dogs that may just need space and to live their years out with love on lots of land. When a dog needs that space, Sara’s takes them with a promise from the rescue that they will rescue 14 pups or cats from Texas, which faces one of the highest risk rates for rescue animals of any state. That’s where we came in, we brought back 2 pups, Otis for Heartland Animal Shelter and Timmy for Alive Rescue as well as 3 cats. Our rescue partners have also formed a relationship with Abiliene, Texas intake facilities and we had 2 adult pups (a chihuahua and a sweet pittie) and 24 puppies (let’s just say it was a loud ride). We are so thankful for our copilot Cassie who drove so many of the 2,500 miles.     We got to rest a day and was back at it, scooping up 10 pups from Chicago Animal Care and Control for One Tail at a Time, because there were 13 total (another transporter took the others), they were named the Baker’s Dozen group. When we started dreaming about the van, we envisioned partnering with 5-6 rescues and really impacting at risk intake facilities that have very limited space and resources. Well that dream became a reality of many to come with a van filled thanks partnering 5 animal controls in Indiana and Michigan with Fetch Wisconsin Rescue, One Tail at a Time, Heartland, and St. Sophia’s! 29 animals total were able to experience being safe that night because of all these agencies and their hard work! We also had a special copilot Andrea, from Adventure Satos, whom took all these amazing pictures. Speaking of hard work, we have a FAVORITE volunteer. Kayla coordinates ALL our out of state transports for us from NYC alongside her full time job. We truly couldn’t do it without her and she is SO on board for our goal of 1000+ riders in 2020!     For animals to have the best care, their humans need taken care of too! We are proud to be able to use our van for food pantries throughout Chicagoland serving those needing basic necessities. Thank you One Tail at a Time for partnering with agencies such as MASK Chicago and Our City Our Block to ensure we care for all people in our city. We are also working with a couple of organizations to provide transportation of supplies as well! Mid month, we headed back to Wisconsin for more Our Pack Animal Rescue riders! Because of some changes, they had two transports at the same time! Alexis and I got to hang with all the cuteness along the road and 11 pups headed up north for some comfy beds and lots of cuddles!     We were missing our Chicago riders and Paulie from Second City Canine Rescue filled our need with a ride from his foster home to the vet! Major bonus to the van is while we wait for the vet, there’s lots of space to hang out with single riders!  We love teamwork and when Real Dog Moms of Chicago founder Jes wanted to tag team a transport for One Tail at a Time we were all about it! We happily drove all the neutered friends back to OTAT that afternoon including these two studs! Rescueber has a phrase, "We only wake up early for spay and neuters," well we sure did that for Beso (former rider with Mutts of the Midway) and Damen with Second City Canine Rescue. We also got a call from Lulu’s Locker Rescue that a very cute tiny panther (aka black kitten) needed a ride to foster and we happily obliged.    Next up, Indiana for more friends, 10 riders to be exact. Headed to One Tail at a Time, Second City Canine Rescue, and St. Sophia's.    Finishing up that week, Rosalita from K94 Keeps hitched a ride to the vet for some medical care from her foster home and helped me do our first Tik Tok (go check her out there since I forgot to take a picture too)! We also want to give a huge shout out to those that supported our two fundraisers this month. The first Cookies and Coffee helped raise over $400 and we donated $50 of that to BellaRu Catering for their efforts to feed those facing homelessness during the pandemic. We also want to thank Dark Matter Coffee and Grounds and Hounds for donating coffee to this fundraiser! We had so many laughs at virtual trivia with Pittie Clothing Co. and Wish Upon a Rescue and raised $250 for both us and Wish! Thank you to everyone that joined the fun! We will be having a virtual garage sale/raffle event and some virtual kids yoga in July!   We closed out June with two more big transports. The first 34 future best friends from Indiana and Michigan intake partners headed to Fetch Wisconsin Rescue, Heartland, Catnap, and St. Sophia's. We missed the Wisconsin air, so headed up for a ride with 6 new fur friends for Our Pack Animal Rescue!   Last up this month, a ride to Champaign, IL to meet transport for Alive Rescue and 6 new riders! We are so thankful for Blooming Culture's donations of CBD treats that help make transports as stress free for our riders as possible. For those keeping stats! June had 155 riders with 13 rescue partners for a whopping total of over 5,500 miles! Let’s keep it rolling! With the bigger lifesaving van, we have BIGGER expenses (hello insurance, car payment, and maintenance in addition to our previous costs). If you are able to become a monthly donor head on over to our donate button and check the monthly box to get access to a limited donor gift and a monthly postcard from a rider! One time donors of $10 or more also get a postcard and those of $75 or more can get their pup drawn into our Paw of Fame magnet coming soon!
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