The Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation helped Yuki find her furever home, and now she has returned the favor, helping the Arlington-based organization win a $100,000 grant.
LDCRF took Yuki in from a rural Virginia shelter when she was pregnant. Shortly after arriving at its Rescue Care Center in Falls Church, she gave birth to nine puppies, who quickly got adopted. But Yuki remained there for seven months until Anna Ridge and her husband chose to take her home.
“We thought we were rescuing Yuki; turns out she rescued our routine, our mood and our social calendar,” says Ridge, who decided to share what pet adoption means to her with Petco Love’s Petco Love Stories. It’s an annual campaign in which people nationwide can share their stories in hopes of winning a grant from the nonprofit, which works with the Petco pet supply company to find animals homes.
On Feb. 4, LDCRF was one of 10 nationwide to win a $100,000 grant from Petco Love—money that Dawn Wallace, executive director of the local rescue, calls “truly lifesaving.”
‘We Are Going to Save Lives’
Arlington residents Pam McAlwee and Ross Underwood founded LDCRF in 2001 to save homeless animals in the community. They purchased 63 acres in Sumerduck, Virginia—about an hour away—and established the Lost Dog Ranch. It’s a space where dogs can play outdoors and has a cage-free building for cats. In 2018, they opened the Rescue Care Center in Falls Church to provide housing and daily care for dogs and cats awaiting adoption.
McAlwee and Underwood also started the Lost Dog Café franchise, which donates a portion of its profits to pet rescue efforts. The first one opened in Westover in 1985 as a wine, beer and cheese shop. The second opened on Columbia Pike in 2011, with others following in McLean, Dunn Loring and Alexandria in 2011, 2013 and 2015, respectively.
Most days, LDCRF operates with just five or six paid staffers, most of whom are kennel attendants caring for the dogs at its Rescue Care Center in Falls Church. Each year, they and a team of 800 volunteers rescue and place 1,700-2,000 dogs and cats into loving homes. Since its founding, the foundation has saved more than 50,000 animals.
That’s not an inexpensive endeavor: “Our average cost per adoption is about $950,” Wallace says. “That cost reflects the full scope of rescue and care, from veterinary treatment and spay and neuter services to shelter operations, payroll, transportation, adoption expenses, and the insurance and liabilities required to responsibly operate a nonprofit organization.”
The Petco Love grant money will support long-distance rescue transports from over-capacity shelters, medical care, spaying and neutering, and care for every dog and cat that enters the center.
“We are going to save lives, save lives, save lives,” Wallace says.
Puppy Love
Ridge decided to participate in Petco Love Stories because it “reminds us that adoption doesn’t just save dogs—it upgrades lives,” she says.
As part of her submission, she wrote, “adopting Yuki has changed everything. She’s made our home louder, funnier, and infinitely warmer. She’s taught us to slow down and laugh more, to find joy in the little things, and to let love take center stage in the everyday.”
That story led to Lost Dog & Cat’s win because it exemplifies how adopting pets can change lives and bring unconditional love, a Petco Love representative says. To date, the organization has received 25,000 stories and awarded $8 million to animal welfare organizations throughout the country. Each entry of a pet adopted from an animal welfare group gives that organization a chance at winning a grant.
Although other Lost Dog & Cat adopters have applied to the campaign before, this is the foundation’s first win.
“Knowing that Yuki’s adopters took the time to share their love story and nominate us for Petco Love Stories truly touches our hearts,” Wallace says. “This grant represents hope—for our team, for our community, and most importantly, for the pets who are still waiting for loving homes.”