Statement from GRCGLAR President - Time to be Thankful

GRCGLAR is thriving.   As we close 2015, we look back on our successes and continue in our mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home Golden Retrievers in the Greater Los Angeles area.  The Golden Retriever is the most beloved canine breed in North America if not the world. Often, this popularity also poses a different set of challenges and quite often GRCGLAR is called on to remedy a difficult situation.  2015 proved that we are always ready for that challenge.

I'm appreciative of our volunteers who provide endless hours of commitment to the Goldens we help. I'm appreciative of our foster families who, while behind the scenes, provide a very valuable service to the community. They bring dogs into their homes to facilitate rehabilitation so they can be successful in their new adoptive homes.

I'm appreciative of all of our permanent foster families for the love and care they continuously give to our most challenging Goldens.  I'm appreciative of our adopters for the commitment to welcome into their home a rescue Golden Retriever. And finally, I'm appreciative for the opportunity to serve our communities and raise awareness of animal rescue.

2016 is becoming a stronger economic time for Southern California and GRCGLAR is excited to face the challenges of the new year.  Our rescue outreach program is expanding through our Speakers Bureau around the region, increasing the visibility and awareness of golden retriever rescue. We have also seen our volunteer base grow in regions like San Diego, and the Inland Empire due to our event participation. And we have seen larger grassroots efforts at the local level interested in helping the pet rescue community in an ongoing basis. Looking forward, we hope these trends continue as our Rescue grows and succeed in its mission.

In the coming year, we are committed towards the goal of making our rescue financially strong and stable and continue to serve the most needy rescue Golden Retrievers who are often neglected by all. On behalf of the Board and all of our volunteers, we thank you for your continued support of GRCGLAR.

Warmest Regards,

Gerri Monohan
President, GRCGLA Rescue

Year in Review - 2015

2015 was a year of great growth for GRCGLAR. The US economic downturn of '08 had shown a steady downturn in both adoptions and an steady increase in owner turn-ins. Thankfully, these 2 rescue indicators are heading in reverse directions which means GRCGLAR is in a stronger financial position heading into 2016.

This past year, GRCGLAR placed 90 dogs for successful adoption throughout our 6 county area. More than half of our adopted goldens were placed in Los Angeles County (50) and we also experienced larger adoption rates in San Bernardino County (7) and Orange County (21).

Our Shamrock program is a program dedicated to those golden retrievers who need extra medical care for their recovery. We had 18 golden retrievers rehabilitate through the Shamrock program during 2015. We were able to save nearly every Shamrock golden and we want to thank our 99 special donors for their extraordinary donations throughout the year that support this important program.

Shamrock Retrievers 2015
Merry, Casey, Kassandra, Ursula, Mikey, Beau, Tahoe,  Wilson, Rogan, Sassy, Snowden, Kopper, Randall, Banjo, Aggie, Charlie, Chloe, Chrissy.

We experienced a surge in volunteers in the Inland Empire and San Diego due to our annual event participation, which included Strut Your Mutt (Los Angeles), Holiday Pet Expo (Pomona), Holiday Bone-Anza (Long Beach), Doggie Street Fair (San Diego), and the OC Pet Fair (Costa Mesa). We hope to see you at one of our booths during 2016.

We also launched a new outreach program to raise awareness on golden retriever rescue. Our Speakers Bureau has made presentations to many civic organizations, discussing the challenges of pet rescue and showing off many of our rescued Golden Ambassadors. If you are interested in having GRCGLAR speak to your organization, please contact us through our website. 

On behalf of all the volunteers who keep this Rescue working, we thank you for your continued support and we look forward to continuing to serve the communities we live in. If you are in need of a wonderful pet, please consider GRCGLAR.