Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Peters.
Emily Peters truly cares—about her daughter, her dogs, and, for that matter all of the homeless dogs in the City of Long Beach!
Emily was born in rural New Hampshire and always preferred bonding with her animals over school- or much of anything else! At the age of 17, she moved to TN and began working at Veterinary Hospitals, eventually learning on the job to be a veterinary assistant/technician. She also obtained her Wildlife Rehabilitation certificate and volunteered with a local wildlife rescue as well as a local dog rescue. In 2010, Emily moved to Long Beach, new to the community- and the local animal-related issues- she had – $500 to her name but was determined to help the animals in need. This sense of optimism, resiliency, and initiative has infused her approach and leadership of what is now Live Love Animal Rescue. Emily proved herself to the Long Beach community because of her ability to catch street dogs that no one else could come near and to rehabilitate and re-home them. She started Live Love Pet Care, LLC and the rescue soon became an official non-profit from the independent rescue efforts she led. Eventually, folks got to know her and the community support is what she credits as the catalyst for Live Love Animal Rescue.
Emily created a unique and sustainable business model that pairs a pet care business (in-home pet sitting, visits and walks) with an animal rescue component. This allows her work to be truly sustainable. Pets that are rescued, rehabilitated, and transformed can continue to be closely tied to the Live, Love family through the pet care business allowing Emily and her team to continue to provide education and support to ensure that the adoption and family integration continues to be successful. It is this business model that allows her rescue placements to be highly successful and is a model that can be replicated in many other cities.
Described as “giving” by her team she’s also known for her capability, empathy, and passion in saving hundreds of dogs (and some cats!) every year throughout the Long Beach area through her organization, Live Love Animal Rescue. Emily is responsible for saving well over two thousand lives in the ten years she’s been in Long Beach. Along with her daughter Aura (CEO in-training), the board of directors, and dedicated volunteers, Emily runs a network of close to 150 pet foster parents to care for the dogs they rescue. Live Love is known for taking on some of the most difficult medical and behavior needs cases. They save the lives of dogs from every corner of our city and beyond. Emily and her team have a special way with the most fragile neglected, abandoned, and abused dogs. According to her admirers, she is a “beacon of hope” for those in the Long Beach pet rescue community and looks to embody that symbol for years to come.
She was nominated for the Justin Rudd Community Hero Award in 2015, was chosen as one of Long Beach’s 40 Under 40 citizens in 2017, was selected to the Long Beach Mayor’s Taskforce to revision Long Beach Animal Care Services in 2018 and to Long Beach Animal Care Services Strategic Planning Committee in 2019.
Emily not only works to rescue and rehabilitate dogs, but she also has guided her organization to be of monumental assistance to dogs at our local shelter, City of Long Beach Animal Care Services. Through the innovative Foster the Fourth program at LBACS, and the most recent Emergency Covid-19 Foster Program, her dedication to networking shelter dogs on social media, pulling into rescue medically and behaviorally needy dogs, and implementing foster programs when the need is great continually shown her commitment to bettering the lives of animals in Long Beach.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Many struggles along the way…
Over the ten years that I have been in SoCal, I have experienced both personal and professional struggles that were initially devastating but then transformed into opportunities for growth. Most notably, I became a mom in 2015 and learned to modify my hectic work schedule to be an active parent to my daughter, Aura. Personally, I’ve experienced a few partnerships deteriorate over the past ten years, including divorce, and I’ve learned to accept that people come and go in my life as necessary for my highest purpose and growth. I’ve also learned that my personal worth is not attached to the success of my LLC and non-profit. Professionally, the death of rescue dogs we desperately tried to save, learning to scale the non-profit in a sustainable way and experience those growing pains, Figuring out how to rebound from the economic loss of Covid-19 for my LLC, and deciphering plus overcoming the ever-looming threat of burn-out in the rescue world have been amongst the struggles.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Live Love Pet Care & Animal Rescue – what should we know?
Live Love Pet Care, LLC was established in 2015 as a social-enterprise alongside Live Love Animal Rescue, Inc. I made official what I had been doing the past five years, providing pet care, dog walks, etc. for clients and using the profits from that business to rescue dogs in our community. This is what makes us unique, we truly care about animals, and the humans who love them, in our community and my entire business model has been structured to reflect that. We also embrace holistic methods of healing for our rescue dogs, such as reiki/energy healing, acupuncture, water therapy, etc. Our goal is to care for your pets on every level- body, mind and spirit. I am very proud of our core values and of my team, our Live Love Family, both with the LLC, and the non-profit. I am also proud of the impact we have made in our community- rescuing hundreds of dogs each year (and some cats, too!).
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Purpose-Driven Resilience, both personally and professionally. Although I have detached from my personal self-worth being related to my business and organization, I still whole-heartedly lead both. Vulnerability, honesty, and perseverance are celebrated amongst the Live Love Family.
Pricing:
- Adoption Fees: $400 Puppy under 1 yr, $300 Adult dog under 8yr, $200 Senior dog
- Pet Care/Dog Walking: $30/30min, $36/45min, $40/60min
- Dog Training/Healing Services: Initial in-person assessment: $250, Additional in-person sessions: $150 for the first hour and $75 per hour for each additional hour, Additional virtual sessions: $100 per hour and $50 per hour for each additional hour.
Contact Info:
- Address: Adoption Center at Primary Care Animal Hospital 2, Opening July 20th: 920 E Wardlow Long Beach, CA 90807
- Website: www,livelovepetcare.com / www.liveloveanimalrescue.org
- Phone: 562-810-5350
- Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
- Instagram: @LiveLovePetCare / @LiveLoveAnimalRescue
- Facebook: Rescue: https://www.facebook.com/LiveLovePets/ , https://www.facebook.com/livelovepetcare/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/live-love-pet-care-and-animal-rescue-long-beach-6
Image Credit:
Tammy Frances Smith / True Blue Photography – Personal Photo, Curt Nordling Photography- Headshot
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