No Name Dog Foundation seeks community’s support

Jen Cowart
Posted 10/8/15

When Alisha Kutzler thinks back on her childhood, she remembers bringing home any animals she could, even fostering a dog while in college for a local organization.

It was what occurred during …

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No Name Dog Foundation seeks community’s support

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When Alisha Kutzler thinks back on her childhood, she remembers bringing home any animals she could, even fostering a dog while in college for a local organization.

It was what occurred during that experience that led Kutzler to start her own fostering organization, and she describes what happened inside the pamphlet for the group she went on to start, the No Name Dog Foundation (NNDF).

“This was about 10 years ago when regulations of rescues and importation of animals were slowly being introduced. My first foster was a six-month-old hound mix named Lucky. She was bald and suffered from Demodex mange and was clearly in pain and suffering,” Kutzler said. “After many failed attempts to reach the rescue, I took responsibility for Lucky and took her to the vet. It frustrated me that no one responded to her needs. Why did the very rescue that promised her a better life just let her continue to suffer?”

It was then that Kutzler decided to do things her own way and start a rescue foundation herself.

“I saw her picture on social media. She was stuck in a filthy North Carolina gassing shelter. Just like Lucky, she was bald. Her pictures showed her scared and cowering in the back of a dark kennel, and on her ID card it said ‘no name.’ They didn’t even bother to give her a name,” Kutzler said. “They threw her on the kill list to die without her ever having the chance to know love and without knowing that she was deserving of a name. It was at that moment that I knew I had to change her fate and I started my trail down the road of a rescuer. The dog without a name, ‘No Name,’ was rescued the next day, and because of her and other unwanted pets, the No Name Dog Foundation was born.”

With a motto of “Adopt don’t shop,” Kutzler didn’t want a brand-specific foundation that only catered to purebreds, but rather a rescue that would take anything that anyone else left behind. Because of that very first fostering experience all those years ago, Kutzler made sure that the foundation is accessible to those who are fostering its dogs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Licensed for three years now, the foundation recently held a fundraising and adoption event at Sundaes on Oaklawn Avenue in the hopes of raising some money to help support the foundation while letting visitors meet some of the friendly furry adoption hopefuls. The proceeds raised help to support the fostering needs of the rescued dogs, including food, preventative care, and any unexpected medical needs that may occur before a dog is adopted. Adoption fees only cover the cost of the transportation and vetting of the rescued animals.

Recently the foundation incurred a large medical bill for one dog, Gus, who had developed a severe bacterial infection and had to be put down despite the best efforts to treat him. Those bills have put the foundation in a precarious situation, as they look to pay off the expenses incurred for Gus’s treatment. It makes the fundraising being done, as well as private donations, all the more important at this time, and the foundation needs all the help and support that it can get in order to continue its mission.

“This is a great local connection and we really appreciate all of the wonderful community support,” Kutzler said of the partnership with Sundaes, noting that the NNDF also partners with Pet Supplies Plus in Garden City every other week.

“We work with shelters all around the United States, and we have anywhere between 10 and 30 dogs being fostered in homes at any given time. Whenever we have a litter we make sure that all the families have contact with each other so that they can have sibling puppy play dates and reunions,” Kutzler said.

“My favorite part is the fact that we involve children in our events, many of our volunteers are kids,” she continued. “Many of them can explore future careers while earning their community service hours for school. Hopefully one day, one of our volunteers will take over for us.”

Mayor Allan Fung was at the Sundaes event and was pleased to see so many stopping by for ice cream and adoption possibilities.

“I’m so glad the No Name Dog Foundation was here at Sundaes today and had the chance to showcase so many of their dogs to the families here,” he said. “I hope that some of these dogs will go home with some of today’s families.”

On Oct. 9, Sundaes will again hold a fundraiser for the No Name Dog Foundation. From 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., 20 percent of all proceeds raised at all three Sundaes locations will go to NNDF, and on Sunday, Oct. 11, representatives from the foundation will be at the Cranston location with their furry friends for an additional fundraiser and adoption event, with 20 percent of all proceeds being donated to the foundation.

For more information about the No Name Dog Foundation or to make a private donation to help with the current medical bills for Gus’s treatment, visit the group’s Facebook page or website, nndf.org.

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