Better Together Dog Rescue

Better Together Dog Rescue in western Massachusetts is led by a smart group of women who are finding a way to save lives near and far. In 2024, they saved 273 dogs. In addition to pulling from the shelters nearby, they also pull dogs from other parts of the country.

The rescue is primarily foster-based, but has a physical location in the former Dakin Humane Society shelter building. It uses its shelter property to evaluate its newest dogs, allows out-of-state dogs to serve out their 48-hour state-required quarantine, and houses a handful of dogs who need specialized care.

Jenny founded BTDR in 2021. She had finished a master's in Contemporary Animal Services, and her kids had reached an age where she felt it was possible for her to pursue her own dreams. She, Jill (who commutes 90 min from Vermont to work here), and Amber are full-time employees. Amber met Jenny while living in Arkansas and driving transports to meet up with BTDR. Her husband has a remote job, so when Jenny offered the job of Director of Operations for ‘shit pay,’ she jumped at the chance and moved to Massachusetts.

All three women work for minimum wage, and likely many hours unpaid. Spending a little time with them, it was clear that they don’t work for the money. They love their jobs. Jenny grinned as she told me the job is “crazy, stressful, emotional, and wonderful.”

Locally, BTDR pulls dogs from municipal shelters and also saves dogs who have been turned in to local veterinarians for owner-requested euthanasia for situations that are not life-threatening. We met a maltipoo recently brought into their care, whose owner had asked the vet to euthanize the tiny dog because of a urinary tract infection that had become inconvenient.

BTDR also pulls dogs from the south, primarily Texas and Tennessee, no easy feat in Massachusetts. The state rules make rescuing dogs from the south particularly challenging.

Dogs must test negative for heartworm to enter the state. This means that even if the dog has been treated for heartworm, it will have to wait until it receives a negative test (usually six months or longer after treatment) to be brought into the state.

Many of the dogs that BTDR saves come from the Houston area, which, like so much of the South, sees a lot of heartworm. Instead of avoiding those dogs, BTDR pays for the dogs to receive treatment, knowing that other rescues in other states will be more likely to rescue those dogs. Some of those dogs will still make their way to BTDR after being fostered with their local contacts in Cleveland, TX, until they test negative.

Massachusetts law requires all dogs coming from out-of-state shelters to be quarantined for 48 hours in a state-regulated facility. Until recently, before coming to BTDR, dogs had to spend those forty-eight hours at a quarantine facility in Westport, MA, about two hours away, and the rescue paid $200 per dog for that service. After retrofitting their facility and complying with requirements (including an on-site vet exam at the conclusion of the 48 hours), dogs come directly to the shelter and serve their quarantine there.

The weekend we visited in September 2025, a transport of twenty puppies had arrived from Tennessee. So, we suited up (according to regulations) and got to meet puppies who had come from two familiar shelters we have visited in Tennessee (Robertson County Animal Control and Coffee County TN Animal Control). BTR often works with one of our favorite partners, CASA Transport. Having seen CASA vet and load up transports in the past, it was great to see the other end of the rescue pipeline.

After these puppies serve out their quarantine period, they will be sent to foster homes until adopted. BTDR has about 30 active fosters, plus others who help when they can.

There are a handful of dogs living in the small shelter, including a pair of elderly bonded beagles, and a young dog from a cruelty situation who is still being evaluated for potential hip surgery.

 BTDR’s two dedicated volunteer coordinators (who are volunteers themselves) have created the best volunteer board we’ve seen. The magnetic whiteboard has magnets for volunteers to use to record walks, the dog’s potty activities (including poop and pee emoji magnets!), training efforts, activities, special needs, and enrichment.

The Shout Out board in the volunteer area also praised volunteers who had made a special effort. Finding ways to empower and engage volunteers is something this rescue does well.

BTDR funds a program called FACT (Forgotten Animals of Cleveland Texas Streets) which pays for spay/neuter, heartworm treatment, and other needs for the local stray population, hoping to keep the number from growing and give those dogs a chance at rescue. Staff and volunteers regularly travel to Cleveland to help. Jenny explained that going there really puts the work they are doing in perspective.

I had that thought often in our short time here in the northeast. If people up here could spend a day in rescue and shelter work in the south, they would realize that while they are saving lives up here, too, it’s a whole other ballgame down there. The huge numbers and the lack of resources seriously up the ante.

Still, it’s places like BTDR that are allowing many southern shelters to save lives they otherwise would not be able to. Transports are critical. The truly terrifying thing is that too many shelters in the south rely on transports to save lives. But transports are slowing and states, like Massachusetts with its regulations for incoming dogs, are beginning to put up barriers that will continue to slow the flow of dogs. With adoptions slowing, the transports that had already begun slowing down, may be reduced even further, potentially stopping altogether.

As a nonprofit, BTDR must raise the money not just for salaries, but for the mortgage, transports, the FACTS program, spay/neuter, veterinary needs, and of course, the care of the dogs. If you’d like to support them, consider making a donation or shopping their Amazon wishlist.

 Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/G14GZVA0GU0Q...

To learn more about them, check out their website: https://www.bettertogetherdogrescue.org/

Until Each One Has a Home,

Cara