Rescue Gang Dog Shelter Opens Its Doors to the Public

The season of giving is upon us and when word got out that the Rescue Gang dog shelter was having a holiday open house, dozens of people filed into the shelter with donations.

The shelter, which is usually closed to public, opened its doors to invite the public to bring in the holiday season with food, drinks, and donations. Rescue Gang dog shelter collects donations of pet supplies that the volunteers and foster families use while keeping the dogs. Visitors walked in the door with towels, leashes, collars and other doggy essentials, placing them under the Rescue Gang holiday tree. 

Rescue Gang is a non-profit organization in Milwaukee that rescues dogs from high-kill shelters. Rescue Gang is different from other shelters in that they choose to foster the dogs in homes, rather than having them live in kennels until they’re adopted.  

“We want the dogs to be fostered in homes before they’re adopted. It’s an easier transition for them, plus they don’t have to be cooped up in cages before they’re adopted,” said Rescue Gang President and Executive Director Ryan Olson. 

Olson started Rescue Gang when he was 22-years old out of his two-bedroom apartment looking to rescue a few dogs. Now, the Gang has saved over 500 pups and they’ve been driving all the way to Texas to do it.

Olson said that Texas has quite a few high-kill shelters, shelters that are overpopulated and kill adoptable animals in order to make space for newly incoming animals. 

“We load up big white vans with kennels, drive all the way to Texas and bring as many as we can back. We take in the dogs before they’re euthanized to give them a second chance,” said Olson.

After the dogs are rescued, the Rescue Gang volunteers give the dogs thorough exams before they can get fostered and adopted.

“All pups get evaluated, their ears cleaned, nails trimmed and a bath before being fostered and put up for adoption,” said volunteer Julie Gall.  

Along with health exams, the dogs go through behavioral ones before being released into foster homes. Ryan said that one of the main goals is safety. If he feels that a dog is a little too aggressive or doesn’t socialize well, he works with the dog until he sees the behavior is acceptable to be around people and other animals. 

A dog that Olson is working close with now since February is Thomas. Thomas use to be very “alpha male and aggressive” and didn’t get along with other dogs. Now, you would think that Thomas is an entirely different dog based on his behavior, said Olson.

Although Thomas’ behavior has improved drastically, Olson said he’s not ready to release him just yet. Thomas has someone who’s ready to adopt him, but Olson wants to be 100% sure Thomas will be a well-behaved boy before he leaves the shelter. 

Prolonged stays of pups and intensive behavior and health care changes are thanks to Rescue Gang’s 300 plus volunteers. Most volunteers hear about Rescue Gang through word of mouth and media. Gall, who was in charge of the volunteers at the event, first heard about Rescue Gang years ago on Facebook. 

“I really liked how they [Rescue Gang volunteers] were all so different,” said Gall. “I wanted my children to see what people of different cultures and backgrounds could accomplish together when they had a specific goal in mind.” 

She said that she’d foster dogs before they were adopted and even had a ‘foster fail’. A foster fail is when the foster family ends up adopting the dog they house, instead of releasing it to another family. Olson said when her sweet rat terrier mix got along with her other dog so well, she just had to keep it. 

It’s quite common that foster families have foster fails once they become attached to the dog. Shelter visitor Michelle Campbell says she now has two rescue dogs (and one cat) as a result.

Campbell and her sister came to support the shelter by bringing pet supplies and entering to win the many prizes from the raffle donation.  

“Oh, I brought a bag full of dog food, treats and blankets,” said Campbell. “I brought a lot of stuff and bought raffle tickets to win more stuff for my dogs. It’s not about the money; this shelter does so much good and I want to support as much as I can.”