A division of S.O.S Rescue Relief, Inc.
Our Founders
Shari and Stephanie Timberlake
Shaping a Dream for a Better Future
Our Story...
The concept of S.O.S. Rescue Relief, Inc. and The Adopt-A-Pet Shop was born during multiple difficult rescue missions. From Hurricane Katrina to volunteering at day-to-day adoption events, it became clear to our founders that the actual “saving” part was much easier than the “where do they go now?” part of the equation. We always found willing rescue organizations, but the adoption and placement of animals was challenging. The resulting log jam of adoptable pets seemed to be the real issue confronting us, in addition to the ever-present funding issue.
In 2012 our organization was born. S.O.S. Rescue Relief opened a physical store front property in Plymouth MN, by the name of The Adopt-A-Pet Shop. For over eight years The Shop provided animal rescues a dedicated physical space to conduct adoptions, increase visibility of available companion animals and help streamline the operations and efforts of partner groups. When The Shop opened its doors to the community there were 200+ registered animal rescue in MN and a national kill rate of 10 million dogs and cats per year. Nine years later MN has 400+ animal rescues and the national kill rate down to 1 million per year. While the number is still far too large, we were moving in the right direction.
In 2012 S.O.S. opened a store front adoption center in Plymouth MN
In 2020 as a pandemic swept the country and forced nationwide shutdowns, the rescue community was suddenly faced with many new obstacles to overcome. Due to the halt of spaying and neutering programs to conserve PPE; trap-neuter-release efforts for wild cats were put on hold. Veterinary clinics were forced to cancel surgeries and establish new and more time consuming operational standards. These Covid 19 born safety measures resulted in a community cat population explosion and long waits for companion animal care as the veterinary community struggled to keep up with demand.
With a now re-surging cat population and the dramatic increase in demand for adoptable animals, the time had come for S.O.S. Rescue Relief to step out from behind our retail windows and dedicate our future animal rescue resources towards the most vulnerable members of the pet population – the fragile, the sick, and the unsocialized cats and kittens who need our support the most. In July of 2020, S.O.S. made the difficult decision to close our retail adoption center to focus our limited resources on the emerging needs of our four legged friends in need.
Co-founder Shari with cats Tofu and Sven
Co-founder Stephanie assisting on a mother’s day intake of neonatal puppies
Our rescue work is far from done – it is simply changing. A “no kill” country is within our grasp, but only if we continue to challenge our way of thinking and reinvent ourselves to meet the ever-evolving needs of the pets and their owners in our community. Just like the innovative opening of our adoption center in the post-Katrina rescue world, we will continue to keep re-evaluating and shifting our resources to where we can do the most good. Our new world will be dedicated to providing the best medical care, community education, trap-neuter-release and fostering assistance to our partners.
Our Current Mission
To partner with multiple rescue organizations to help increase the number of animals saved.
Assist with the ongoing trap-neuter-release efforts to benefit the community cats across MN.
Facilitate the adoption of the most at risk animals by placing them in specialized foster homes dedicated to the socialization, health and well being of each feline resident.
Provide day-to-day and emergency support to our rescue partners to increase the number of healthy pets available for adoption into forever homes.
Our Pawlicy
We are unable to take owner surrenders or strays. We are a rescue relief organization who only brings in homeless pets from partner groups and shelters. If you would like guidance or need help with a pet, please check our FAQ page for some helpful hints, contact one of our partner organizations or email us with specific needs. Our staff will get back to you as quickly as possible.
