“It’s amazing what love can do. We’ll take in a dog that looks completely defeated, but when he realizes he can trust again, his whole demeanor changes.” Aimee Dearsley, Director of Development for Stray Rescue of St. Louis, has the privilege of seeing spirits restored on a regular basis; the fact that they’re of the canine or feline kind doesn’t make it less special, she says. “I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.”
The largest no-kill animal organization in the St. Louis area, Stray Rescue saves about 3,000 dogs and cats each year from abuse, neglect, abandonment and euthanasia. Most animals are rescued from city streets, but the shelter on Pine Street, which houses between 150 and 160, will also receive animals from rural counties, even other countries. With full veterinary services on site, the team goes to great lengths to restore each rescued animal to health – both mentally and physically – before helping them find a forever home or placing them with one of currently 400 foster families.
Stray Rescue is an endowment fund client of YouthBridge Community Foundation. Learn more at youthbridge.org/stray-rescue-of-st-louis