Adopted Animals
Average Adoption TIme
Since 2019
Saving Dogs &
Enriching Lives
The why
We rescue animals that need help. Whether it is domestic U.S. or overseas, we focus on helping the animals that have no voice of their own.
We have worked with a lot of wonderful people in the USA as well as in a large array of countries in the Middle East. Many of those countries do not have animal rescue and our team stepped in to help. As times have changed, due to the pandemic and the CDC ban on the importation of dogs from 113 countries, the TTDR team is still fighting for the voiceless animals that need our help. At this time we are focusing on finding loving homes for abused, abandoned, and neglected dogs here in the USA. We are not losing hope that the CDC ban will still be lifted.
Saving Animals
Frequently Asked Questions
We run fecal testing/deworming. We spay/neuter and microchip
Traveling Tails Dog Rescue has an account with Petlink.net. When we take possession of our dogs, we register the dog’s microchip to us. Once the adoption is official, for a fee of $10, TTDR will transfer the microchip registration to the adopter.
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What Drives Us
Our Mission
Traveling Tails Dog Rescue is dedicated to helping abandoned, abused and neglected dogs find loving, forever homes.
Team
Our Board of Directors
Jennifer Fischer, President
Jennifer Fischer (President) I have always been a big believer in rescuing dogs. All of the dogs my husband and I have ever had, have been rescue dogs. In 2016, we adopted Danika, a German Shepherd Dog/Saluki mix from Qatar through a local rescue. She absolutely stole our hearts! Because of Danika and her story, I started helping with dog rescue. A few months later, we fostered Nigel, our second Saluki mix from Qatar. After a week, we decided to adopt him. . Since then I have been involved in helping other dogs find loving forever homes. In 2019, I helped co-found Traveling Tails Dog Rescue. In 2020, my family helped foster a TTDR dog, Rocky, from Qatar who was returned from one of our adopters. He was a bit of a challenging case and we ended up adopting him, too. We love our three Saluki mixes from Qatar! As far as my TTDR rescue work goes, I play a key role in maintaining our rescue partner relationships and coordinating intake. I also help with puppy parties in Chicago, fundraising and adoption events, coordinating spay/neuter and vetting of dogs, coordinating foster placement, listing and posting dogs, adoption screenings and record keeping. I especially love to stay in touch with adopters and help coach them through challenges as their pups settle in. Seeing the progress is so amazing! It is very rewarding when you know the oftentimes, harsh and devastating circumstances these dogs come from can be transformed into wonderful, happy endings. We are blessed to have so many animal lovers here in our country who welcome rescue dogs with open arms. It is truly an amazing symphony of teamwork and heartfelt love that gets these dogs to their happy endings in their forever homes. I have met some absolutely amazing people during my rescue journey. We all share a common goal and I am honored to be a part of it.
Kristi Howard
My family members have always been huge animal advocates and often volunteer with local shelters. In 2018, I began fostering dogs from overseas.
I fell in love with the mission to help give dogs from overseas a better life. Without the chance to come to the United States, most of the dogs would struggle to survive. Some of these dogs would never know what love is, which is extremely heartbreaking! Living on the streets as strays can be dangerous as these animals are often poisoned, tortured, and killed even though they are very sweet and affectionate. My husband and two young children have loved the experience of fostering so much that we adopted Lucy, a young German Shepherd from Qatar in early 2019 after I helped co-found Traveling Tails Dog Rescue. I play a key role in maintaining our overseas rescue partner relationships, assisting with the airport arrival and transport of dogs, and airport volunteer coordination, listing and posting dogs, adoption screening and home visits, and keeping us connected with the larger rescue community. Co-founding the rescue has been a family affair, we are all involved and my kids love meeting the various dogs and transporting them to their forever homes too!
Casey Kuntz
I have had the opportunity to see first-hand, the hardships these beautiful creatures face in Qatar on a daily basis. It is not an easy life! Ours is a cause I totally believe in and am 100% committed to! I absolutely love all of these crazy, goofy, energetic and beautiful dogs!! But for myself, I have a tendency to gravitate towards the really hard case dogs! The ones that have experienced some sort of serious trauma (either psychological or physical). We have rescued two Salukis from Qatar ourselves. Both hard cases, Cisco-Balou (“My Giant” as I call him) was one of a litter of nine, born as strays on the streets of Doha, Qatar. He was found by one of our amazing rescue partners over there. He was cowering under a dumpster after watching seven of his siblings brutally killed in the streets of Doha! These amazing dogs are the most resilient creatures ever… after all he went through, he was so sweet, gentle and fun-loving that it took us all of 2 minutes to fall madly in love with him and decide to adopt him!
When, some months later, we decided it was time for him to have a playmate, the very same lady that rescued Cisco-Balou, had just found another tiny pup, born on the streets, who would not have lived much longer, had she not intervened. She took her in and named her Marie, (the very Marie described in our “Mission Statement”). The second I saw her sad, scared face and bare flesh of her neck, my heart was lost to her and I knew I had to have her! She needed a safe and loving home off the streets and in the U.S. It took another four months before she was well enough and old enough for the long flight.
Thus began my spiral into what would become my passion… our passion! My family and I simply cannot get enough of these beautiful, loving animals! Whether fostering, pup sitting or raising money to bring yet another dog to the states, we do it! Eagerly and without reservation!
Lorraine Pollak Gruca
I’m an animal lover. My first dog was when I was young. I loved that dog. I taught her to retrieve shoes, carry the mail to the mailbox, as well as regular dog tricks. I was with her when she gave birth to 9 puppies. I wanted to be a veterinarian; however, college wasn’t an option, so I went to secretarial school and worked & retired for/from the Federal Government where, like Casey, got to see firsthand how poorly dogs & cats were treated and seeing them roam the streets just looking for their next morsel of food was heartbreaking. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position to rescue all of them but when living in Europe, I was given a kitten. Then I adopted another. Knowing animals needed to be part of my life, I worked part-time, evenings, at a veterinary clinic.
I unknowingly became involved with Traveling Tails Dog Rescue in August 2019 when they posted their need to fill the first leg of a transport. I picked up Sassy & Daisy, two dogs who had just arrived the night before from overseas. They were beautiful. Remembering what I witnessed living/traveling overseas, I was so intrigued with TTDR. I carried on chats with the TTDR team about how the two dogs arrived, the rescue, the dogs’ story and became very interested in helping TTDR. I was so impressed with TTDR, the work they did, the professionalism, and the caring, I became a full-time volunteer. I fell in love with the Saluki breed with the introduction from TTDR. I offered to assist with airport arrivals, to foster, to help find fosters/adopters in my area of the East Coast, and to transport. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, as a member of the Board, my added duties include assisting with contracts, vetting of applicants, and promoting TTDR. Looking back, I should have kept a log of all the dogs from TTDR we’ve fostered. There will always be that special dog or two who has captured your heart. One is Bambino who needed major surgery when he arrived and thankfully was adopted & living only 2 miles from me, so I’m able to visit. The next one was Erwin (now Charlie), who was a domestic rescue during Covid. It broke my heart to say goodbye to Erwin (that’s him in my picture). Even though you know you have to say goodbye, it brings me so much joy to help these dogs, knowing the life they left and the love that awaits. I’m so appreciative to be a part of this team.
Pam Cosgrove
I have always loved animals for as long as I can remember, especially dogs.
When I rescued my dog Tina, I always wanted a friend for her, however my husband just wanted one dog at a time, so I began fostering for TTDR. In January of 2020 I got my first foster, Ashley (Nala) who came from Turkey. She was very shy and nervous when it came to people, but was great when it came to my dog Tina. We had Ashley until March of 2020 when everything shut down. It was very difficult to give her up, but TTDR found an amazing family for her which made it so much easier and eased the heartbreak of giving her up. After that it was a little slow due to Covid restrictions, but I had a few more fosters. In August of 2020, TTDR needed an emergency foster for an owner surrender who was recently adopted but it wasn’t working out so I agreed to take in Riley from Jordan. In the beginning Riley definitely had some trauma. Her first night was spent in our garage and she totally needed to decompress. The next day she saw a squirrel in our yard and ran out of our garage to never go back in again. We worked with her fears and issues but knew deep down that she belonged with us, so in October 2020 we officially adopted her. After that, I took time off from fostering because we needed to let Riley settle in. While Riley was settling in, I started making custom dog bandanas. I still wanted to help TTDR, so I started selling these bandanas and donated1/3 of the sale to TTDR. I am still making bandanas today.
I wanted to get involved even more with TTDR, so I started helping with airport pickup. I eventually started fostering again and have fostered several dogs since. Then, in July of 2021 the CDC banned the importation of dogs from the areas we rescued from so TTDR got more involved in rescuing from US shelters. I started fostering puppies a few at a time or whatever was needed. I also started helping with reference checks and virtual home visits. Earlier this year, I was asked to be part of their Board of Directors and was very honored by that. TTDR is more than a rescue, it’s a family consisting of the board, the fosters, the adopters, and our rescue partners.
I love the fact that we are a family and not a corporation. We genuinely care about everyone in the TTDR family.
Lisa kivler
My husband and I are huge animal lovers. We have fostered, transported and volunteered for years. I became connected with Traveling Tails Dog Rescue by volunteering to do some transporting for dogs going to foster families or their forever homes. Once I started interacting with Traveling Tails Dog Rescue, I knew this was the organization I wanted to be a part of. I have fostered for several agencies over the years; but TTDR is more than a dog rescue, they are truly a family who is passionate about their mission and the dogs they rescue.
I started fostering for TTDR in January 2020, and have fostered over 25 dogs. I am very proud to have recently joined the Board of Directors in October 2022. It is so rewarding to be a part of the process to ensure that every dog gets the best forever home possible.
My husband and I currently have 4 rescue dogs; Mack, Charley, Thelma and Michelle. Our dogs play a huge part in the fostering we do. They are such a welcoming pack and teach the fosters the ropes, and put them at ease. Though I have not had the privilege of adopting any of the dogs from overseas, I have fostered several, and it has been an amazing experience.
I look forward to many years as part of this amazing rescue family and continuing in the work they do to save so many dogs in need.
People always ask how we are able to let the dogs go…because of the work of Traveling Tails Dog Rescue and knowing that every dog is going to the best home possible, we are able to let go and open our hearts and home to the next dog in need.
Our Founders
Jennifer Fischer
Shannon Goodman
Kristi Howard
James Haist
Sheryl Banach
Casey Kuntz
Traveling Tails Dog Rescue is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization.
We, the Founders of Traveling Tails Dog Rescue are all like-minded individuals dedicated to one cause, saving as many lives as we can, and giving a voice to the voiceless! We are in it for the long haul, as are our incredible host of volunteers! Without who, we could not continue our mission! It is a mission we wholeheartedly believe in and enthusiastically strive to carry out to the very best of our ability.
Saving Animals
Our Partners
US Partners
- The Animal Shelter of Sullivan County, TN
- Whiting Animal Control, IN
- Humane Indiana Munster, IN
- County Line Pet Hospital, IL
- Echo Dogs White Shepherd Rescue, IL
- Smyth County Animal Shelter, VA
- Granville County Animal Control Shelter Oxford, NC
- Guaham Paws for Pets (Gaum, U.S. Territory)
Former Overseas Partners (Note: We are currently unable to rescue dogs from these areas due to the CDC ban on the importation of dogs from these countries)
- Barkin Q (Qatar)
- Celine Escomel (Qatar)
- Al-Rahmeh for Animals (Jordan)
Traveling Tails Dog Rescue is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization.