Exploring The World of Animal Shelters: An Inside Look At Waldo’s Rescue Pen

/ Interviews, Jersey City, New Jersey / By Wondrous Drifter

An interview with Waldo’s Rescue Pen from Jersey City, New Jersey.

Table Of Content

Introducing Waldo’s Rescue Pen
How did Waldo’s Rescue Pen Start? What Are The Challenges Encountered Along The Way?
Tell Us About The Most “Unusual” Animal That Waldo’s Rescue Pen Has Ever Taken
Tell Us More About The Most Unique And Creative Fundraising Campaigns Waldo’s Rescue Pen Has Done
Tell Us More About The Most Rewarding Part Of Running An Animal Shelter
What Do You Think Might Be The Greatest Challenge Of Running Waldo’s Rescue Pen?
Tell Us More About The Volunteers In Waldo’s Rescue Pen
Where Do Most Of The Animals In Waldo’s Rescue Pen Come From, And What Is The Process For Rescuing And Rehabilitating Them?
What Are The Busiest Periods And How Does Waldo’s Rescue Pen Cope?
What Animals Does Waldo’s Rescue Pen Focus On?
Working With The Local Community
Tell Us More About Your Events
What Is Done Differently at Waldo’s Rescue Pen?
How Has Waldo’s Rescue Pen Adapted To The Challenges Presented By The Pandemic?
Share With Us Some Of The Heartwarming Stories Of Animals Rehabilitated And Rehomed By Waldo’s Rescue Pen.
What Are The Help Needed From The Local Community?
Connect With Waldo’s Rescue Pen here:

Introducing Waldo’s Rescue Pen

Hi! Emily & Jenny here. Emily is the founder of Waldos Rescue Pen, and Jenny is the Director of Operations for the rescue. We are involved because we are extremely passionate about saving animals all over the US and working with people to find these babies’ homes to live their best life in!

How did Waldo’s Rescue Pen Start? What Are The Challenges Encountered Along The Way?

Waldo’s Rescue was founded in September 2020 by Emily Dyson as she saw the need for animals during the pandemic and was eager to help. Emily was an active volunteer with several animal organizations prior to the formation of Waldo’s, where she learned the ins and outs of rescue. Every day and hour in rescue brings a new challenge, no dog is identical. Learning to be adaptable and providing guidance and vision to Waldo’s community has helped keep volunteers motivated and to see how crucial their role is in helping to save each animal.

We are actually a foster based 501c3 non-profit organization rescue, we have no shelter location!

Tell Us About The Most “Unusual” Animal That Waldo’s Rescue Pen Has Ever Taken

Definitely a ferret! She was found as a stray by our rescue partners who thought she was very cute and they wanted her to have the best home, so they sent her on one of our transports and completely surprised Emily with her! Waldo’s found an avid ferret lover, and she was adopted into a home with 3 other ferrets!

Tell Us More About The Most Unique And Creative Fundraising Campaigns Waldo’s Rescue Pen Has Done

We recently had our first WRP Holiday Benefit back in December which included a night full of music, drinks & appetizers, swag bags, and a silent auction with an extensive amount of prizes that were all donated to us for the occasion.

Tell Us More About The Most Rewarding Part Of Running An Animal Shelter

We always agree that our transport days are the absolute best days for the rescue and are definitely the most rewarding. It is usually an early Sunday morning in NYC, the pups are taken out of the van they travelled 17 hours on from GA to NYC and greeted by their new foster parents. Everyone is so excited, and you can just see the pups are ready for their new life.

What Do You Think Might Be The Greatest Challenge Of Running Waldo’s Rescue Pen?

Every day is a new challenge while running a rescue and sometimes it is easy to get defeated by the challenges that we face, especially when you have to accept you cannot help every pup.

Tell Us More About The Volunteers In Waldo’s Rescue Pen

We have a group of amazing volunteers who are just as passionate about rescue as we are. Many are past adopters or fosters who wanted to get more involved in the rescue and administrative needs.

Where Do Most Of The Animals In Waldo’s Rescue Pen Come From, And What Is The Process For Rescuing And Rehabilitating Them?

Most of our animals come from a high-kill shelter in GA that we frequently work with. Every 2-3 weeks, the pups are transported to NYC and put into foster care until adopted. We have also recently expanded our efforts to the west coast and are now rescuing pups in California that are fostered out there as well.

What Are The Busiest Periods And How Does Waldo’s Rescue Pen Cope?

Honestly, animal rescue is 365 days a year, 24/7. Our Waldo team of volunteers is busy all the time. We take our mission to save and re-give hope to as many pups as we can. We haven’t really found a time that has been “slow” for us. Every day is a new challenge, and that’s what we love about rescue so much.

What Animals Does Waldo’s Rescue Pen Focus On?

We do not focus on rescuing any specific breed or age of the dog, we actually want to make sure that the stereotypes against mixed or bully breeds are null & void, as 90% of the pups we rescue fall into this category. We do not choose the dogs we rescue, we rescue those that are in the most as many as are needing homes.

Working With The Local Community

We are extremely supportive of other rescue organizations in NYC and also pet communities such as pet cafes, small businesses, groomers, pet shops, etc. We are all on the same mission, so why not collaborate to the best of our ability?

Tell Us More About Your Events

Always! We are constantly updating our events in order to get the word out about WRP and our adoptable pups. In the next few months, our calendar is packed! You can find us raising money at Harlem KettleBell Workout Class on 3/10, at the Grand Opening of Bond Vet Hoboken on 3/12, an adoption event with North Shore Animal League at the Wollman Rink in Central Park on 3/25, and so much more!

What Is Done Differently at Waldo’s Rescue Pen?

I would say our foster community is our biggest win! We have gotten tons of compliments from our fosters who love how we have built the community to support them. We have an incredible team of master fosters that guides our first-time foster through the challenges and wins of fostering. Everyone is extremely supportive along the way. We like to think of it as a huge friend group chat of 750 members. Always someone to give you a high five or a helping hand when you need it the most.

How Has Waldo’s Rescue Pen Adapted To The Challenges Presented By The Pandemic?

WRP began in September of 2020 and brought up its first transport in October 2020. We have always been in the new normal! We believe that this community and the ability to help dogs really helped people’s mental health throughout the pandemic, especially in NYC where it was completely shut down. In NYC many people continue to work from home or are hybrid and continue to foster and volunteer with us. We have seen that people who can no longer foster have taken on other volunteer roles whether it be application screening, event planning, or mentoring. One challenge we have faced is when someone does not work from home, we have had to ensure we have paired them with an older dog that will do better at home alone. An easy challenge for saving another dog!

Share With Us Some Of The Heartwarming Stories Of Animals Rehabilitated And Rehomed By Waldo’s Rescue Pen.

We have had several! Many times these dogs come to us basically scared of their shadow as they are arriving in busy NYC from the open fields of Southern Georgia. It is the best gift to see these dogs come out of their shell with love, nurturing spirits and, most importantly, patience from their foster family.

What Are The Help Needed From The Local Community?

Fosters!! We are always looking for more fosters, we do not have a facility to house animals so the generosity of our foster families is how Waldo’s continues their mission! Waldo’s is not funded by the government so are also always appreciative of monetary donations to help us prepare our foster families, and for unexpected medical bills that will arise.