Watching them snuggle up with their potential new families, it’s difficult to believe that the dogs and cats up for adoption at Petsense in Chehalis on Saturday were rescued from atrocious living situations as recently as last year.
Thanks to the work of Red Rose Animal Rescue in Rochester, the animals are on the mend and going to loving homes.
Rochester resident Marcie Dingerson and her son founded Red Rose Animal Rescue in 2021 with the goal of promoting animal welfare and saving the lives of homeless animals.
“From domesticated cats, to kittens, to puppies, to dogs, we advocate for the most vulnerable animal populations,” the animal rescue states on its website. “We believe that each and every life is precious, deserving to be treated humanely with a chance to live happily and cruelty-free.”
While Red Rose is based in Thurston County, Dingerson said 90% of the animal rescue’s work occurs in Lewis County.
As of Saturday, Red Rose Animal Rescue had more than 50 dogs and more than 100 cats in its care.
About 30 of those, including several of the dogs and cats up for adoption in Chehalis on Saturday, were rescued from a hoarding situation in Onalaska in December.
One of the cats adopted on Saturday, a 1-year-old diluted calico named Viv, was pregnant when she went into Red Rose’s care in June.
Her kittens were among the 82 Red Rose bottle-fed last year, Dingerson said.
Red Rose currently has about 40 volunteers fostering rescue animals, but the animal rescue is always in need of more people willing to foster an animal, Dingerson said.
Anyone interested in fostering a rescue animal is encouraged to apply online at http://www.redroseanimalrescue.org/.
Animals up for adoption can also be viewed on the website.
In addition to its animal rescue work, Red Rose does “trap-neuter-release” work with stray and feral cats in Lewis and Thurston counties, which involves fixing, vaccinating and ear-tipping the cats before returning them to their territory.
The work helps prevent male cats from fighting over females and stops the “never-ending cycle of moms having kittens,” according to Red Rose. “It makes them healthier and it helps them live longer.”
Red Rose currently holds adoption events once a week and intends to have an adoption event in Chehalis once a month. For more information, visit Red Rose’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RedRoseAnimalRescue.
