SNARR Northeast stands for Special Needs Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation. We are a registered 501(c)3 non-profit and rely solely on donations and volunteers. We were founded in 2011 by Courtney Bellew and this will be our 10th year saving dogs in need and helping them find their forever homes! Two years ago we opened our doors to an adoption center located in Brewser, NY which allows us to provide additional safe shelter to dogs, as well as basic medical care.
While we have some dogs that stay at our adoption center, we are primarily foster based and prioritize placing dogs with fosters so that they can acclimate to home life and receive love and a warm bed to snuggle in while waiting for their forever home. While fostering, all medical costs are covered and any needed supplies are provided. Our foster coordinator does an excellent job matching dogs up with their temporary homes until they are adopted. We can always use more fosters in the tri-state area, especially for our special needs and adult dogs! (https://snarrapps.org/foster/)
Our mission is “Giving Hope to the Hopeless.” We save the toughest dogs to place; those with serious medical conditions, paralyzed dogs, deaf and blind dogs, severely emaciated dogs, dogs with neurological deficits and disease, dogs with injuries and orthopedic issues … the animals that nobody else wants; the dogs that would otherwise be euthanized. As a special needs rescue, we have extensive access to resources to assist our special needs dogs. This includes working with Guardian Veterinary Specialists (Dr. Jason Berg) and Animal Surgical Center (Dr. Tomas Infernuso).
One of our special needs dogs, Noelia, was rescued back in September 2019.
She was found in a cemetery where she had been dumped with her 4 puppies. Noelia had a spinal injury that left her paralyzed in her hind end. She had no use of her hind legs and unfortunately was not producing milk and her babies did not make it. Noelia came to SNARR and Dr. Infernuso completed her spinal surgery. Within a week, she was standing with assistance and by week 2 she started hydro and physical therapy with Wagging in Water, run by Andrea Ramos Calderon. By week 5, this resilient girl was running. She does have residual continence issues due to the time she was left to fend for herself but this is managed with expression and she loves to be outside. Noelia is up for adoption and still looking for her forever home! Click here for her Petfinder bio.
Audrey is another success story who came to SNARR Northeast 2 years ago!
She was found as a stray in rural Texas with her hind paws severed. Some people say it looked like her feet were cut off. She’s had several orthopedic surgeries, performed by Dr. Tomas Infernuso at the Animal Surgical Center. Audrey was adopted by her amazing foster parents, Jessica Lynn and Steve Sterlacci, who are both country musicians. Audrey is now ready to travel the world on tour with her parents!
Many of our special needs dogs go to Andrea, Wagging in Water, to assist with their rehab. The majority of dogs that come to SNARR needing physical rehabilitation are fostered by Andrea so that they can receive constant access to this service so that they can literally get back on their feet! Andrea’s love and passion for rehabbing handicapped dogs started with Gabby – her first success story.
Gabby was due to be euthanized in 11 hours because she had a severed spine.
When SNARR pulled her out of the shelter, the specialist said that she would never walk again. Well… they were wrong. Andrea took her into her home in May 2014 and with a little TLC and rehab, she was running by that September. She was then officially adopted by Andrea and got to live happily ever after! Gabby was the inspiration for Andrea to start studying animal rehabilitation. This led to certifications and the creation of a canine rehabilitation facility in her private home for all the SNARR dogs to benefit from.
However, we also rescue perfectly healthy dogs and puppies from municipal shelters all over the country that would otherwise be euthanized due to overcrowding. We have rescue partners in Texas, Tennessee, and South Carolina who work hard to pull nearly euthanized dogs out of shelters. We also get phone calls and emails from all over the country asking for us to help with special needs dogs. We are always here to mentor and provide advice or take a dog to our rescue if we can.
Once a SNARR dog, Always a SNARR dog
You can also find more information about our rescue on Dog Spotted’s Rescue Database.
Conversation