The holidays are nearly upon us! For many this can be a great time to celebrate gratitude for your family and share the joy with others. Because this is such wonderful time of giving, it is important to make sure we don’t forget about animal rescues who often have a harder time during this period when adoption rates slow and rescue dogs are desperate for their forever home (or even a foster family). That’s why for the first 12 days of December, we will be featuring a different animal rescue each day, sharing how they started, and what they could use most during the holiday season. Eleventh up is Muddy Paws Rescue in New York City, NY.
Their Founding Executive Director, Rachael Ziering, started Muddy Paws Rescue in 2016 – and since then they’ve saved over 6,600 lives! Through her prior volunteer work and experience as a foster, Rachael began to see an opening in the rescue community: more lifesaving opportunities where short-term fostering dovetails with the lifestyle of busy New Yorkers. She sought to create a foster-based rescue utilizing this strategy and the rest is history.
Muddy Paws Rescue is a foster-based organization, which means they have no physical sheltering location and can only save as many dogs as there are available foster homes. Muddy Paws works with partner shelters in Kentucky, Georgia, and North Carolina to place dogs in foster homes, where they can acclimate to city life in a loving, supportive environment. Because of their thriving foster community, Muddy Paws Rescue is able to locally pull hard-to-place dogs, such as larger breeds, dogs with special medical needs that may have extreme difficulty in a shelter environment, and elderly dogs from organizations such as the Animal Care Centers (ACC) of New York City.
The Muddy Paws Pack is comprised of hundreds of volunteers and more than 2,000 fosters who are dedicated to their mission of building and supporting a thriving community of dog-loving humans dedicated to ending unnecessary euthanasia of companion dogs.
Interested in adopting this holiday season?
At any given time, Muddy Paws can have up to 80 pups in their care! The holiday season can be tough, as adoptions and fostering availability tends to decline. If someone is considering adopting, all of their amazing pups can always be found at muddypawsrescue.org/adoptable-dogs. Right now, their longest stay pups are Beth, Abby, Bricee, Verda, Kori, and Pugsley. We know their perfect person is out there and hope they find them in time for the holidays!
Beth: Meet Beth, she is a sweet little pup who is shy at first but blossoms with patience and lots of love in a quiet home outside of the city. In just couple of days she has learnt to ask for belly rubs and is starting to explore her surroundings. With time she will continue to come out of her shell and bloom into a beauty with her big soulful brown eyes. She is very calm and shy and loves to stay in her crate. She knows to keep herself entertained while you do your work and will let you get on with your work with no complaints. She loves her belly rubs and enjoys all sorts of treats and chew toys and bones. She is crate trained and loves being in her crate. Beth takes in the sites and sounds of the outdoors – listening to birds chirping, chaing squirrels, watching planes fly overhead, and she’ll tilt her head up and smell the fresh air. Beth loves gentle pets and just wants to be loved. And she’s an easy doggie to fall for! Beth is approximately 2y 1m 10d old and is fully grown at 48 pounds.
Abby:
Meet Abby! She is so full of love and has been on a brave journey as she waits patiently to find her forever home. She enjoys lots of belly rubs, taking long walks in quiet areas where she can explore her surroundings in peace, licking peanut butter out of her kong, and getting lots of cuddle time on the couch while watching a funny movie. She’s working hard on trying not to get overly excited when she sees other pups, she especially loves it when her human redirects her attention in those moments to a tasty treat of cheese or chicken. Sometimes she can be finicky during eating time, but if you give her something enticing like turkey meat in her bowl with a bit of kibble, she’ll eat her full meal with glee. Abby is a true companion and will love you unconditionally. She gets startled easily when she hears loud noises and would benefit from living in the suburbs where she can play and walk in a quiet area. Abby is approximately 1y 11m 6d old and is fully grown at 50 pounds.
Bricee is the sweetest dog ever. He had a recent leg amputation but he does not let that get in the way of enjoying life! He is able to walk well on 3 legs. He can even go up and down stairs, but this smart pup knows his limits- he will only use the stairs if he has someone nearby to accompany him. He loves going on walks outside and gets very excited. When he returns from his walk, he will flash you a smile, guaranteed! When inside, his favorite thing to do is relax! He loves his doggy bed and lying next to his humans on the couch. If he really likes you, he will ask for a belly rub. He’s a great eater and he loves cheese. He is fully house trained and has had no accidents, even when left alone. He is great with adults, children, and other dogs. He is very gentle and and will melt your heart! Bricee is approximately 7y 4m 3d old and is fully grown at 45 pounds.
If you’re interested in adopting any of Muddy Paws dogs, fill out their registration here to apply!
Other ways to help:
The most important thing that folks can give to Muddy Paws this holiday season are monetary donations – these gifts support their work year-round and enable them to allocate funds where it is needed most at any given time. They are proud to be able to provide their fosters with everything needed to care for the pups, and the crate is the biggest-ticket item that most people don’t already own. Enrichment toys like Kongs are also very helpful! You can see the rest of their wishlist here!
To help the Muddy Paws community help, they have a holiday gift guide that offers a bunch of ways to save lives this season! It has something for everyone on your list: friends, family, colleagues, clients and even something special for yourself to keep.
