By Heather Graves
Editor
GREEN BAY – Misfit – something that fits badly.
Add mutt to the end, and it may seem like an odd name for a dog rescue organization.
But six Green Bay women said the name – Misfit Mutts – is a perfect fit.
“Six misfits of the animal welfare world, with hearts bigger than our chests and a dream we could only accomplish together,” cofounder Kayla Murphy said.
Murphy, along with Lindsey Szarzynski, Megan Gibeault, Erin Orosco and Margo Court, started Misfit Mutts Dog Rescue in 2018.
She said as an all-breed, all-age rescue – whether it’s a dog that has been misplaced or abandoned for being old, young, disabled or just got off on the wrong foot – Misfit Mutts accept all dogs.
“Whatever walk of life they come from, all the ‘misfits’ have a safe place to land with us,” Murphy said. “We strive to find the perfect forever home in our safe community, where dogs will never be abandoned or go hungry again. We eat, sleep and breathe rescue.”
Misfit Mutts Dog Rescue was started as an organization to relieve southern states of the overwhelming number of dogs on the streets and in shelters by bringing dogs to Wisconsin.
“In the City of Houston, Texas, alone there are more than a million stray animals,” Murphy said. “We have made it our duty to save as many vulnerable, mistreated, unwanted and abandoned dogs from the southern region of our country.”
Relying fully on volunteers, she said Misfit Mutts focuses on education and advocacy.
“We are a completely foster- and volunteer-run nonprofit organization,” Murphy said. “We rely on our relationship with our community to fuel our mission of alleviating overcrowded animal shelters in the southern regions of our country (as much as we can).”
Murphy said the organization believes pet overpopulation in the south affects the country as a whole.
“We see it as our duty to spread awareness and help educate the public about animal welfare, with the dream of one day ending the companion animal epidemic we currently face,” she said.
The organization started primarily working with shelters and rescues in the south, but has expanded some.
“The need for fosters and adopters is still extremely high,” Murphy said. “Sadly, due to no spay and neuter laws, or really any laws protecting dogs in the south, there is no end in sight, and our partners in the south can not keep up with these numbers. We have also taken in several dogs from our community for people who have fallen on hard times, or need to surrender their dogs due to behavioral issues.”
She said Misfit Mutts’ goal is to find quality homes for all the dogs that come through its doors, and empower dog owners through education.
“We take our time through the adoption process to ensure we find each of our dogs their best fit home, while providing adopters with a positive experience and resources to live happy and healthy lives with their four-legged friend,” she said. “All of our dogs live in foster homes, so we can do our best to get accurate temperament and personality analysis.”
Murphy said this also allows volunteers to address any behavioral issues the foster family may identify.
“We focus on properly introducing dogs into society, and giving them the chance to be a loved and respectable family member,” she said. “‘Once a misfit, always a misfit’ is our lifelong guarantee to any dog we adopt out, meaning they always have a home with us if misfortune were to strike.”
In the last four years, Murphy said Misfit Mutts has rescued and rehomed 765 dogs.
“We are simple folk filled to the brim with compassion, doing whatever we can to make up for some of humanity’s shortcomings,” she said. “We know as human beings we can do better, and so we do. With an incredible community of volunteers, love, support and donations, we believe we can be a small change the world needs. And although we are now a team of five board members, our mission remains the same.”
For more information on Misfit Mutts, visit misfitmuttsdogrescue.com/.