Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Garcia.
Natalie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In 2010, I was working for a travel company as their animal coordinator. As a part of our vacation we’d give back to the community we were visiting and I was in charge of organizing visits to the local shelters etc. I fell in love with a dog in Mexico and brought her back to foster her and find her a home in LA. After only 2 weeks of being back, I was driving with her and my dog Maggie Mae. We were hit on the freeway by an out of control SUV that came out of nowhere. My car flipped and in that moment my world changed forever. Both dogs disappeared from the accident and as I was rushed to the ER, I was helpless and couldn’t immediately look for my pups. At the time I was also working as an on camera personality and lucky had a lot of loyal followers, who ended up coming out to help for search for the dogs in the weeks after. We first found my foster dog Pistache, after a week of searching. She was tired, but in good health. We then found Maggie Mae a few days after that, dead from being hit by a train. I was devastated, heartbroken and went into a pretty deep depression. I couldn’t work due to my own injuries, so I started fostering for local rescues. I soon put my anger and sadness from the accident into starting my own rescue, named after Maggie Mae, MaeDay Rescue.
Now 7 years later, we’ve saved hundreds of dogs and have placed them in forever homes! I still miss Maggie every day, but feel I see a part of her in every dog we save!
Has it been a smooth road?
My main challenge was more a personal struggle in finding balance between animal rescue and enjoying life.
Animal rescue is very demanding and endless. After the first year, I realized that we can’t save all the animals and it’s an uphill battle.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with MaeDay Rescue – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
MaeDay Rescue is a non-profit animal rescue, we mainly rescue dogs. We don’t have a specific breed we rescue, but mostly small breed dogs, due to space. We don’t have a facility, so rely on fosters. The more fosters we have that open their homes, the more dogs we can save. We do tend to get a lot of terrier mixes, but I think that is just because LA shelters are full of small terriers, chihuahuas and pits. We do take those breeds as well, but most of our fosters don’t have space for big breeds like pits etc.
There are a lot of rescues in the LA area, but I think what sets us apart is that we offer weeklong trial periods. When people are interested in a dog, they first fill out an application, then we set up a meet and greet and if we all want to move forward, the potential home gets to take the dog home for a week before committing to being together forever!
Most rescues have you adopt right away & we believe in everyone having time and being comfortable, even the dog!
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love how diverse our city is and mostly how dog friendly it is. Having so many off leash parks, hiking & places that allow dogs, really has helped with more people wanting and being able to adopt dogs. LA is a big rescue city and really pushes adoption, instead of buying a dog & that is VERY important in a city that euthanizes a lot of animals.
What I like least about LA is that a lot of landlords don’t allow pets, resulting in people dumping their animals because they can’t afford housing. While LA pushes adopting from a local shelter, there are still people in our city buying dogs from a breeder & that adds to the overpopulation problem we have. I’m not against buying from a breeder, but if you live in a city that doesn’t have dogs dying due to overcrowding and lack of spay and neutering. Yet, every time we get a loving dog a home, I remember how much I love our city!
Pricing:
- Adoption Fee (Which includes all shots, training, a fixed dog & any history we know, plus toys and supplies) $300
- MaeDay Save A Dog/My spirit animal is a mutt SHIRT – $25
- MaeDay Save A Dog/My spirit animal is a mutt Tote – $15
- MaeDay Save A Dog/My spirit animal is a mutt Sweatshirt – $40
- MaeDay PLEASE ADOPT pin – $12
Contact Info:
- Website: www.maedayrescue.com
- Phone: 5056885303
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @maedayrescue
- Facebook: @maedayrescue
- Twitter: @maedayrescue
Image Credit:
Lorraine Young
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
