Help a Stanwood dog rescue stay open, find pets their forever homes

STANWOOD, Wash. — A dog rescue in Stanwood is now in need of its own rescuing—and the founder is hoping the community can lend a helping hand.

MustLuvBoxers Rescue has until the end of the year to raise $250,000 or move to a new location.

“It’s not looking good, “President and Founder Holly Adams said in a video online:

She said they applied for some bigger grants, totaling well over $300,000, and should know by the end of November whether they’re getting the funds.

“If that doesn’t come through, we are definitely going to have to pull the rescue center,” Adams said.

She founded the rescue in 2013, transforming an internet forum into a nonprofit so she could help save Boxers along the West Coast.

Two years ago, the rescue acquired a five-acre property for its Rescue Center and Senior Sanctuary. They are currently in a lease-to-own contract, and according to an online fundraiser, circumstances have changed. If they don’t purchase the property by Dec. 24, the rescue will have to move off the property. Of the $600,000 needed, the rescue is about $250,000 short.

Many shelters are already overcrowded. Rescues like MustLuvBoxers are where animals go when no one else can take them. Without a facility, the futures of many Boxers are unknown.

“Please don’t let their stories end here,” Adams said online.

The shelter has created a GoFundMe to help raise the needed funds to stay open. You can visit it here.

The fundraiser also lists several other ways people can donate to help the cause.