The Detroit Dog Rescue, an organization devoted to Detroit’s estimated 50,000 stray dogs got a huge boost to start the New Year.
Detroit Dog Rescue received more than $1.5 million from an anonymous donor.
Early this year, Detroit officials quashed an effort to make a TV documentary about the city’s stray dog population.
But out of that effort, the Detroit Dog Rescue was born. The group rescues abandoned dogs from the streets, then works to place them in permanent homes.
They don’t yet have a place to house the dogs they rescue, relying instead on a network of foster homes. So the group has been trying to raise money to build the city’s first no-kill shelter.
In a statement, Detroit Dog Rescue co-founder Monica Martino calls Detroit’s stray dog problem “an epidemic” and its Animal Control system “broken.”
Martino says building a no-kill shelter is the first step toward fixing those systemic problems.
Fellow co-founder Daniel “Hush” Carlisle, a Detroit hip-hop artist, adds that the DDR is “profoundly grateful” for the donation. The DDR also holds free vaccination clinics, dog food giveaways, and other outreach and education events.
The gift was first announced on NBC Nightly news—watch it here.
