RARE has connected me with two of my very best friends - Maggie & Bonnie (formerly Estellita & Joni). In 2023, I was searching for a pup companion for my senior pup, Roosevelt. I came across RARE and told Trisha I was looking for a dog that would match Roosevelt’s chill energy and would be good with kids. We did a meet and greet with Maggie and it was an instant yes. Maggie, her mom and siblings came all the way from Texas! Maggie is my best companion and the sweetest friend to all of my kids. Since then, I’ve had the chance to foster some amazing pups and kittens which has been such an enriching experience for my kids. This past year, we fostered Bonnie (previously Joni) from the Rock n roll litter. Bonnie is the best mix of spunky and affectionate- her and my husband instantly clicked, and so she too joined the crew 💜

I didn’t find RARE so much as RARE found me, I was volunteering at a county shelter and there was a dog who had landed on the euthanasia list. I offered to foster if the shelter could find a rescue willing to take him in and lo and behold, RARE and Trisha were there. Since then I’ve fostered 7 animals and adopted 2, and become a member of the volunteer team. I couldn’t be more grateful for everything RARE has given me and their willingness to step up when others look away.

I first found RARE in 2018 when we were looking for a rescue pup to add to our family. After searching online for weeks I saw our dog Chewie and fell in love! He had been rescued from a hoarding situation and they believe he spent most of his life chained to a tree. I contacted Trisha and could tell right away how caring she was and wanted to make sure Chewie (then Teddy Bear) found the right home. She brought him over for a trial and the rest is history! Chewie brought so much joy into our life for the years he was with us until he passed in 2022. A few years later I was so happy to reconnect with RARE and become a volunteer and foster. Now part of the RARE family for life!

My first time fostering with RARE was in the fall of 2020. I saw a plea for help on social media, and I couldn’t resist! Since then, I have fostered lots of cats and kittens and RARE has supported me every step of the way. She has always answered every question with such patience and kindness! She goes above and beyond not only for her fosters, but also her adopters. I began fostering with RARE before I had any RARE alumni of my own, but I have since adopted two of my fosters! Trisha and RARE don’t stop being there for you when you make the adoption official. She genuinely cares for each and every animal that she saves and she continues to support her adopters and adoptees for the rest of their lives.

Trisha from R.A.R.E., Rural Animal Rescue Effort, and Margaret, one of the “Foster Mom’s” are lifesavers. My 82 year old mother (Ann Adams) who suffers from Chronic Leukemia and fatigue, and also an incurable love for animals, those in need of rescue in particular, has 17 cats and 2 dogs. All rescues. She loves them like they are her children. When a pregnant stray feral cat started coming around, my mom began leaving food out for her, gained her trust, and it soon became apparent, she had delivered her babies - where, she didn’t know. We live in the country so she must have given birth to them in the woods. My mom began feeding her extra, giving her canned food knowing she had nursing kittens somewhere. On May 19, 2026, the mama cat brought 5 remarkably healthy babies to our house, placing them in the wheel-well of my mom’s car. We brought them all inside, mama cat too, of course. My mom saw no other alternative but for her to taken in this family of 6, which would bring her total cats to 22. In a small, 2 bedroom apartment. The very idea was extremely overwhelming. With my mom’s age and medical challenges, I was VERY concerned (and stressed!) about my mom taking on this Herculean task of caring for this mama cat and kittens, in addition to caring for her other 17 cats and 2 dogs. Out of desperation, I reached out to R.A.R.E., not having any hope really that they would be able and willing to help us. I had already reached out to several shelters as well as the local humane society and the response was the same. We would like to help, but we can’t. We already have more kittens than we have the facilities or foster parents to care for them. When Trisha with R.A.R.E. called me after getting my email pleading for help, saying her organization could help and had a foster mom (Margaret! She’s wonderful!) ready and willing to not only take the 5 kittens, but the mama cat, too, to say I was overjoyed is an understatement. I had hardly slept the night before, worrying about my mom having 22 cats in her small space, at her age, and with her health issues. I had been told by our humane society that if my mom could manage to keep the mama cat, we might have a better chance finding a rescue to take the kittens. My mom was prepared to do that, increasing her rescue cat population to 18 and also ripping her away from her babies. This was absolutely NOT the case with R.A.R.E. They PREFERRED to take in the mama, too. I can’t even put into words the RELIEF my mom and I felt knowing Trisha and R.A.R.E. and Margaret to foster, were going to be relieving us of the burden and responsibility for these 6 cats. We literally cried. I did not think there was anyway any rescue organization would be able and willing to help us. And I know it was not from a lack of animals they are currently helping. It was very apparent they had compassion for my mom’s situation and a genuine concern for the welfare of the cats. I cannot speak more highly of R.A.R.E. or express how vital these animal rescue organizations are. There are way more animals needing help than all the rescue organizations combined can handle. They are vitally important and absolutely deserve all the support they can receive to continue to do their life saving work. Their important work is not cheap and costs only continue to rise. I am forever indebted to Trisha and the Rural Animal Rescue Effort, R.A.R.E. organization for their help.