“I had no idea how we were going to do this,” says Sherri Franklin, founder and CEO of Muttville Senior Dog Rescue. “I just knew that we had to.”
Muttville finds homes for over 1,000 senior dogs a year, many in shelters across California slated for euthanasia. They have over 80 seniors available for adoption at any one time, many in foster homes. But there are always at least 30 dogs at HQ awaiting medical exams or recuperating after the traumatic changes in their lives.
After the stay-at-home order, they knew they had to close the facility and get all their dogs into foster homes. “We sprang into action,” says Sherri. “In just 48 hours we had all 86 dogs in foster homes!”
They had a tougher challenge: without real-life meetings, how could they find forever homes for the dogs? “We knew we had to figure out how to make this happen even under quarantine, because there are so many dogs that need us. If we don’t have adoptions, we can’t save more lives!”
They consulted with health officials and huddled together to create safe protocols for how to make this happen. It’s a complicated process they’ve now shared with other shelters and rescue organizations, but in short, it means a lot of emails, video calls, and frequent follow-ups.
Adoptions haven’t slowed down at all since sheltering in place. “Adopters have been excited by our new process, too!” says Franklin. In fact, Muttville will soon reach a milestone – rescuing their 8,000th dog!
For all available rescues, click here. Check out the various ways you can help save lives by donating to Muttville.
Muttville set to rescue their 8,000th dog!

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