The Heart of Fort Lauderdale: Abandoned Pet Rescue’s No-Kill Mission

Abandoned Pet Rescue is a leading example of a no-kill animal shelter in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, embodying both compassion and innovation. The shelter’s unique programs include therapeutic approaches for pets with behavioral and medical special needs. Do you know a child with special needs? Abandoned Pet Rescue also offers a certification program that trains individuals with disabilities for careers in animal care. These initiatives set Abandoned Pet Rescue apart, and Social The Lifestyle Magazine is honored to feature this exclusive interview.

Meghan Forte: Are there any educational programs or workshops offered by Abandoned Pet Rescue and how do volunteers contribute to these initiatives or other daily operations?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: Abandoned Pet Rescue has two volunteer orientations – dog walking and cat care – to teach new volunteers about the shelter’s safety protocols. The orientations also teach basic training tips for dogs and cat enrichment activities like how to train a cat to give a high-five and how to socialize shy animals.

Abandoned Pet Rescue is a job training site for students of Arc Broward’s Animal Welfare Certificate Program. This program provides students with special needs and life challenges with an opportunity to learn job skills in animal-related fields. Abandoned Pet Rescue has hired two employees who graduated from this program.

Meghan Forte: How does the shelter engage with the community to promote responsible pet ownership?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: Abandoned Pet Rescue participates in more than 100 community events a year, during which the organization promotes the importance of spaying/neutering, vaccinating, and microchipping pets. APR is a no-kill animal shelter and advocates for responsible pet ownership to help reduce pet overpopulation and abandonment. Resources on affordable veterinary care and information on what to do if a pet is lost or found are provided as handouts at the shelter, in addition to this information being posted on APR’s website and social media outlets.

Meghan Forte: How does Abandoned Pet Rescue ensure the animals’ physical and mental well-being while in the shelter’s care?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: In addition to a small, dedicated team of staff, Abandoned Pet Rescue has 500 active volunteers. Many of them participate in enrichment activities to ensure the well-being of the animals at the shelter. Dog walking, cat brushing, puzzle games, and chew toys are just some of the activities that help keep pets happy while they wait to be adopted. Abandoned Pet Rescue also has an onsite veterinary clinic with veterinarians and trained technicians to oversee each shelter pet’s health and perform general surgeries and examinations. All pets are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and tested for common illnesses before being adopted.

Meghan Forte: How does the shelter manage animals with special needs or behavioral issues?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: Abandoned Pet Rescue has a unique program called the Medical Adoption Program that helps senior pets and pets with special needs get adopted by providing life-long veterinary care at our shelter for these qualifying pets. For pets like Zai, a senior cat with Diabetes, a compassionate adopter welcomed him home while Abandoned Pet Rescue continues to cover the cost of his insulin and prescription food. For behavioral challenges, Abandoned Pet Rescue has a knowledgeable staff who understands cat and dog behaviors, and a professional dog trainer who works with shelter dogs as well as Abandoned Pet Rescue adopters who need extra guidance to make an adoption a success.

Meghan Forte: What is the shelter’s process for matching animals with potential families?

Abandoned Pet Rescue:Potential adopters complete an adoption application on the website, and then an appointment is set to visit the pets with an adoption counselor who helps match families and pets. Abandoned Pet Rescue call references and checks with landlords on restrictions to help minimize the possibility of the pet being returned. If the adoption is not a success, APR will always take the pet back and find it the right home.

Meghan Forte: Can you explain the Abandoned Pet Rescue’s intake process and criteria for accepting animals?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: Abandoned Pet Rescue houses 150 cats and 35 dogs, and as soon as a pet is adopted, sadly, another pet needs to come into the shelter. Abandoned Pet Rescue can only take pets in when space is available, and there is often a waitlist for pets that are being surrendered. Abandoned Pet Rescue has pets of all ages, sizes, breeds, and temperaments.

Meghan Forte: What are the common challenges or misconceptions potential adopters have about adopting from a no-kill shelter?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: People often think that a pet did something wrong to be in a shelter, but in most cases, the reason is the pet owner’s life situation or choice. The high cost of living is forcing people to move or decrease expenses, which is leading people to make the difficult choice of giving up their companion. Friendly, healthy pets of all breeds, sizes, and ages are currently in shelters around the country.

Meghan Forte: What was the motivator behind Abandoned Pet Rescue adopting a no-kill policy?

Abandoned Pet Rescue believes that every life is precious and there is a home for every pet. Having been in operation for 28 years, Abandoned Pet Rescue has seen many pets like Bessie that got overlooked for years because she was a senior black Pitbull Terrier.Still, one day, the right family fell in love and spoiled her throughout her golden years. Abandoned Pet Rescue is always trying to increase our volunteers, supporters, and social media followers in order to reach more adopters so we can continue saving more lives.

Meghan Forte: What are the biggest challenges the shelter faces in enforcing its no-kill status?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: The biggest challenges are the lack of affordable veterinary care and free or low-cost spaying/neutering programs in the South Florida community as well as the lack of laws protecting animals from abuse and abandonment. Improving these areas would help decrease the number of pets entering shelters and help achieve the goal of every animal shelter becoming no-kill.

Meghan Forte: What goals does the Abandoned Pet Rescue have for the future, and how does the organization plan to achieve them?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: Abandoned Pet Rescue strives to increase adoptions each year and help reduce the number of pets entering the shelter. To achieve these goals, Abandoned Pet Rescue partners with other rescues and shelters and works with local first responders and other non-profit organizations to promote pet adoption within our community. We help families receive the resources they need to keep their pets or find other options to rehome them before they end up in a shelter. Abandoned Pet Rescue also works with its volunteers to trap, neuter, and release community cats to help reduce their population.

Meghan Forte: What guidance would you offer to other shelters looking to adopt a no-kill approach?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: It takes a village to save even one pet, and with every committed adopter, volunteer, follower, and donor, Abandoned Pet Rescue grows stronger as an organization and can help more animals in need. Therefore, steadily building a community’s trust and support would be the best recommendation to help a shelter become no-kill.

Meghan Forte: How does Abandoned Pet Rescue maintain its financial sustainability while honoring a no-kill policy?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: Caring for 200 shelter pets daily requires constant fundraising efforts, and Abandoned Pet Rescue , a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is solely funded by kind donors, community partnerships, and grants. APR’s board of directors leads the organization in a conservative manner to ensure its sustainability. Being a no-kill shelter is a core value of the organization. All who support Abandoned Pet Rescue believe in its mission: to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome abandoned and neglected cats and dogs while promoting responsible pet ownership and advocating for animal welfare in our community.

Meghan Forte: Can you share some success stories of animals previously at Abandoned Pet Rescue that have been rehabilitated and adopted?

Abandoned Pet Rescue: Earlier this year, we taught a deaf dog sign language and got her adopted into her forever home.

Cocoa, a 3-year-old Dalmatian-pointer mix, spent most of her life in shelters across Florida. Still, it wasn’t until she arrived at Abandoned Pet Rescue, that her deafness was confirmed. Being in a shelter is a stressful situation for any animal, but this is magnified when you have a disability like this, and it leads to increased anxiety for Cocoa. This made it very hard for her to connect with potential adopters visiting the shelter looking for a pet.

Determined to match her with the right family, Abandoned Pet Rescue’s on-staff pet trainer, along with Cocoa’s medical fosters, went above and beyond to teach her sign language to allow her to interact and connect with people better, allowing her to adapt to a normal life.

Once Cocoa learned how to communicate and interact, it wasn’t long before her saviors walked in and met her, and the rest is history! Cocoa has been living her best life with her new parents since April of this year and couldn’t be happier!

Abandoned Pet Rescue’s inspiring commitment to saving animals in need, fostering compassion, and creating opportunities for both animals and people truly sets it apart. It stands as a symbol of hope for animals and promotes inclusion for volunteers from all walks of life. Social The Lifestyle Magazine is proud to highlight this incredible organization and encourages readers to support Abandoned Pet Rescue’s mission, whether through volunteering, donating, or simply spreading the word about their life saving work.