Twin Cities Pet Rescue was the first-place winner of the 2016 1-800-PetMeds Cares™ DOGust Birthday Contest. You can learn more about the contest here.

Twin Cities Pet Rescue prides itself on rescuing often-overlooked pets in need and adopting them out to the best possible homes. Founded in March 2009 in the St. Paul area of Minnesota, the rescue pulls animals from high-kill pounds, shelters, puppy mills and neglect/abuse cases and places them in local foster homes. The foster families care for the pets until they get adopted, regardless of how long that takes.

Foster-based rescues help pets get acclimated to a home environment before adoption, and fosters often help pets with training, medical rehabilitation and socialization. Many fosters have other pets, which can also help the rescue evaluate how the foster pet is with other types of animals. Foster homes are crucial for rescues like TCPR and for the pets they rescue who often are not used to living in a home and getting love.

When people apply to adopt a pet, TCPR employs a “matchmaking” process to help pets find the best families possible and vice versa. While TCPR mainly rescues cats and dogs, it also has smaller companion animals available for adoption, including guinea pigs and rabbits.

One of its long-term residents looking for a home is Hans, whose story was shared in the rescue’s DOGust Birthday Contest entry.

Hans was rescued from a puppy mill and has been with the rescue for more than 2 years. He’s a small, 5-year-old dog who loves food, ice chips and following his foster family around. As a former puppy mill dog, he can be shy until he gets to know a person, and he needs to find a home with a dog resident (this will help his confidence in his new home). He has seizures but is on medication to help control them.

Hans is one of ten TCPR pets with sponsored adoption fees through the DOGust Birthday Contest first-place grant.

Like any foster-based organization, TCPR depends on its volunteer foster families to be able to rescue more pets. Without available foster homes, the rescue is not able to pull pets from shelters or high-kill environments. To express interest in fostering, please visit TCPR’s website and complete the foster application.

Twin Cities Pet Rescue is a foster-based rescue based in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about the rescue and its adoptable pets, visit its website or email info(at)tcpetrescue.org.