Muttville is delighted to announce that it has moved its headquarters to 3,000 square feet of leased space at the San Francisco SPCA campus at 255 Alabama Street.
Muttville, a nonprofit dog rescue organization devoted to making the world better for senior (aged 7+) dogs was founded when passionate animal rescuer Sherri Franklin couldn’t stand to see one more older mutt get passed over at the shelter where she was volunteering.
“It was heartbreaking watching the older dogs come in,” she says. “They had spent their entire lives with someone, a family or a special person.” Sherri had seen firsthand that the odds were long for older dogs getting adopted with so many younger dogs and puppies available. “Too many times I saw some wonderful, loving white-muzzled mutt just retreat from the world and give up when no one came to claim him or her.”
Sherri started Muttville in her San Francisco home in 2007. She and a small group of friends rescued 29 senior dogs that first year. Five years later, the secret to Muttville’s success is its network of over 70 foster homes and more than 200 volunteers based throughout the Bay Area, which allow Muttville to rescue and place in foster care 350 senior mutts every year, on average. Muttville rescued its 1,400th older dog in August.
With that kind of explosive growth, Sherri’s house was bursting at the seams with volunteers, canines, and a non-stop office operating seven days a week. So when the SF SPCA offered Muttville 3,000 square feet of office, storage, and dog housing space, Muttville leapt at the chance. There was just one thing – Muttville didn’t want to lose its special home-like feel that the dogs and people so deeply enjoyed.
“Some of these older dogs have been through so much just to get here,” says Muttville board member and volunteer, Patty Stanton. “More often than not, these dogs are a bit stressed from all the transitions. These old guys want what anybody wants after something as traumatic as losing your home and your family, your whole way of life – a quiet and safe place to recover. Just a comfy bed with a kind hand to comfort them.”
Muttville’s new community room offers just that: 900 square feet of sofas and dog beds, with soft music playing. Muttville has created a relaxed, comfortable space where volunteers can snuggle and socialize with the newly arrived rescues, and where adoptable senior dogs can hang out and get to know potential adopters.
The new space also has a large dog holding area, where senior mutts can walk about and lounge out in the open on comfy beds, rather than being in kennels. “We want to make Muttville the best, most humane place any surrendered or lost senior dog could hope for,” says Sherri Franklin, before quickly adding, “and then find them their forever homes.”
Shelter Manager Mo McGarry drives home the point that Muttville will remain a foster-based organization. “The new headquarters won’t be a place where we park dogs; it’ll be a way-station for new arrivals on their way to foster care. Our goal is to have each dog placed in a family’s home within a few days of rescue.”
Mo is excited at all the possibilities the new headquarters offers to senior rescued dogs and the people who love them. “In a few months, we’ll be opening up Muttville to the public. We’ll have drop-in hours for folks who are looking to adopt, or maybe can’t adopt right now for whatever reason. We’d still love to have them come on down and spend time with our dogs – it’s good for them to be handled and socialized before going into foster care or getting adopted.”
Muttville is even planning on streaming live video of its senior mutts onto the Web: senior dog cam!
Muttville can only do what it does thanks to its tireless volunteers, supporters, foster families, and adopters. To get involved, check out our website, muttville.org. There you can learn about events, make a donation, look into volunteering, and meet our magnificent senior dogs.
Bring a little old-dog love into your life – it’s one of the best things you’ll ever do.
Rita Long has a Masters degree in Nonprofit Fundraising from NYU and is a Muttville board member. She is committed to making the world a place where every dog is wanted and lives out its natural life in a loving home.
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Main article photo by: Jane Goldman
