MY STORY AND VISION
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Pawsitive Rescuers of El Paso, officially became a 501c3 in February, 2019. However, I have been rescuing animals in the El Paso area for the past 15 years. I grew up in El Paso and was raised around all sorts of animals to include dogs, cats and horses. I started my rescuing journey simply by securing loose/stray animals in my neighborhood and connecting with Animal Services of El Paso to scan the secured animals for a microchip. (Pets inside our city limits are required to be microchipped per our city ordinance). I also had local veterinarians scan animals for chips as well. It didn't take long for many friends, neighbors, and school officials where my children attended school to call me whenever an animal was found. Being a stay at home mom gave me the flexibility to help in situations like these, and this is where my passion for rescuing grew. When you begin to rescue animals and reunite families with their pets, two distinct things happen. The first and foremost is the joy you feel when you have the ability to put the family at ease and see their relief through smiles and tears of joy and see the pet's relief through a wiggly butt and wagging tail! Secondly, you really start seeing loose animals EVERYWHERE! You become consumed with carrying leashes, water, food, bowls and even traps and you stay VERY busy, putting it all to good use. While there have been plenty of those "feel good" experiences in my memory, there has also been unexpected heartache, grief, frustration and GROWTH from all of my experiences. As my rescue has evolved from the "Neighborhood Dog Lady" to now "Pawsitive Rescuers of El Paso", I have rescued countless dumped dogs in the desert, surrounding El Paso, saved injured dogs that have been loose and hit by vehicles, nursed very sick dogs with distemper and parvo back to life, pulled dogs at our city Animal Services that have been scheduled for euthanasia and taken in abused, neglected and bait dogs for medical care, fostering and eventual adoption. I currently have 8 furry family members of my own and continue to foster at my own home. I have a husband and three wonderful children that have been involved in my crazy journey and growth, along the way! As I continue my journey as a rescuer, looking forward I would like to have a facility where I can house animals when there aren't available foster homes for them to go to. I dream of more people stepping up, opening their hearts and homes to fostering. It is a temporary solution that keeps unwanted animals from most certain death. It allows unwanted animals to decompress in a setting where they receive love, medical care if necessary and much needed socialization. But without enough people fostering, it becomes crucial to have another option to care for these animals. While there are many rescuers in El Paso, most are foster based, just like Pawsitive Rescuers and we desperately need more fosters. A facility would be an answer to at least some of the problems we face in our animal community. But what I truly want, above all else, is for our animal companions to be free from suffering and neglect, at the hands of humans. I pray for this every day. ~Karen Washington - President of Pawsitive Rescuers of El Paso |
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Please take a moment and watch this video, "Hidden in Plain Sight" written, produced, edited and posted by Zoe Vandermeulen, of El Paso, TX. Many of the images in this video are rescues that Pawsitive Rescuers of El Paso were responsible for. 12 year old Zoe, is a personal family friend and a "Rescuer in Training!"
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