THIS WEEK AT VRC

Greetings Villalobos Village!

This time of year I get pretty sentimental as I’m regularly reminded of our first Christmas in New Orleans and how the city embraced us when we had no place else to go. All these years later, Louisiana absolutely feels like our home and sadly continues to need us more than ever.

Our intake in both the City and the Country continues to outpace our adoptions for both dogs and now cats. However, we’re constantly reminded of your support. Whether you simply forward an email, share a Facebook post to spread the word, adopt a dog, sponsor a dog, make a donation, or volunteer with us - we are so grateful, thank you!

Another way you can support us is by checking out the VRC Gift Guide we sent earlier this week. It highlights a number of ways you can support VRC with your holiday shopping. If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to click here and check it out whether you’re shopping for friends, family or yourself!

In other news, we’re still working every day to get our dogs into their forever homes. Just this week, Mariah traveled to Kentucky to place Wilks in his new home!

Enough from me, let’s move on to what you’re here for…the dogs! Keep scrolling 👇️ to see updates from our Texas and West Virginia locations this week. Together, we'll keep wagging those tails and changing lives.

Slobbers and Drools,

Tia Torres

THE ADOPTABLES

😍 We can’t get over these amazing and festive photos of some of our adoptable dogs. Rather than only highlight 1 or 2 adoptable dogs, in this issue we want to share six amazing dogs! Click any of the images, or the button below, to see all of the Villalobos adoptable dogs.

To learn more about all of the adoptable dogs at Villalobos, click below.

Have you played MUTT yet? 

The goal of the game is to guess the top four breeds in a given dog’s DNA. Every day will feature a new dog and a new challenge. As you gather with family and friends over the holidays, be sure to play and see who knows their mutts best! Some of the dogs featured on MUTT will be Villalobos dogs available to be adopted by anyone playing the game (along with other rescues across the country). Click the image above, or here, to play!

If you want your dog featured on MUTT, send a photo of your dog and it’s DNA test results to [email protected] Haven’t done a DNA test on your dog yet?  Click here and save up to $40 with code BESTDOG on an Embark DNA test kit! Part of your purchase using that link supports VRC!

Have fun playing the game, share it with everyone you know and let’s help get dogs across America adopted!

VRC SPONSOR PROGRAM

WILD TURKEY, BEATRICE AND DEREK NEED A SPONSOR

Want to adopt a dog, but for one reason or another, you’re unable? Rather than a typical adoption, we also offer virtual adoptions through our Sponsor Program. You can virtually adopt Wild Turkey, Beatrice, Derek or any of our amazing dogs in this program.

WOLF DOG SPONSOR

Did you know you can sponsor wolf dogs from our Texas location?

Introducing Coy Coy! She was rescued from a wolf dog breeder in Louisiana years ago. She and her sisters were transferred to Texas a couple of years ago to have more room and a better life. She is shy, but warms up quick. Coy Coy is a very sweet girl who is very attached to her pack and relies on Haylee and Davina (her sisters) for her confidence.

While most of our dogs are here awaiting a home, some take longer than others to get a new home and they need a virtual friend while they are here. Sadly, others are not adoptable due to severe medical conditions and, in some cases, severe emotional distress and are not able to leave our facility. As much as we want all of our dogs to get a home of their own, it is simply and sadly, not possible. The sponsor dog program helps cover the needs of our dogs while also giving them their own “virtual family.”

VRC dog sponsors get access to a private Facebook group moderated by Tia.

TEXAS SANCTUARY

From Texas Manager Amy: A lot goes into getting our shyer, more feral dogs to the vet. It’s not always a walk in the park. Each year, I must come up with a slightly different idea to trap them because they usually won’t fall for the exact same method twice.

This year, I created a smaller space within their enclosure to corral them into, then slowly shrank it down to get them to go into their crates since they are not leash trained, and will not let you touch them.

Click here to see the full video explaining the full process or visit our Villalobos Rescue Center, Texas Facebook page.

In other Texas news…the wolfdogs are getting fancy new den boxes in preparation for winter. As you see in the photos above, the den boxes consist of an almost fully enclosed den box with a roof over it, and a porch on the front for sunbathing…I think they approve.

WEST VIRGINIA WAYSTATION

From Prison Dog Program Manager Dani: Wow, it's been a whirlwind of activity up here in the mountains of West Virginia, all the way to the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. It's that time of year when everything starts to die off, and our heavily trodden grass is the first to go. Our kennel yards get slippery, muddy and a bit dangerous for staff and dogs alike. Our construction team has been hard at work building a safe platform deck for the dogs to hang out on during heavy snow, and a place for them to get out of the mud (when they want to). We are all so excited for it to be finished, and to get to see the dogs enjoy it!

The prison program has seen some major changes as well. Couzan, Peanuts and Dutton all came back from our prison program, and are having the time of their lives being BFFs at the West Virginia kennels. They gained some valuable obedience training in the program, and are now back at the kennels for socialization.

Meanwhile, Mack and Crowley made their way into the program! Crowley is busy making friends with everybody, humans and dogs alike, while Mack is showering the humans with unconditional love. Hooligan, our second longest participant in the Prison Program, had a meet and greet recently...there are rumors of an upcoming adoption. Stay tuned for updates!

Have something to share with the community? Click below to comment on this newsletter.

If you aren’t getting Straight Outta Swampton in your email, subscribe now and never miss an update. Don’t depend on the algorithm to know what we’re up to!