Resilient Hearts Animal Rescue isn't your basic animal shelter. The first thing guests notice when they walk through the open gates during community visitation days (Wednesday through Sunday) is the serene atmosphere. While other shelters are full of stressed and barking dogs in echoing hallways lined with steel kennels, the pups at Resilient Hearts lounge about freely in an open doggy-daycare-style room. There are only two kennels in the back of the building. All the pups go home with foster families, where they can sleep in the comfort of a warm and quiet space.

"Fostering is good for the animals. It's healthier, it's safer, and they get to build the routines that help them become more adoptable," Mike Ezzo, executive director of Resilient Hearts told the SGN.

Ezzo and their two partners, Erin Handley and Shaina Ward Siegel, founded the rescue in 2019, aiming to fill in the gaps they saw in large rescue-based organizations and help make pet ownership more accessible to the community.

With a background in doggy daycare, Ezzo and Ward Siegel recognized that many behaviors that make dogs seem "unadoptable" in traditional rescue settings stem from a lack of socialization. By providing an open space where dogs can play and interact with each other and with people, they're helping to lower the animals' stress levels so they can put their best paws forward.

"We're trying to build something that can... exist within the traditional model and offer an alternative to the animals we get, and offer a [few] more services to the fosters we get, [in] a daycare setup," Ezzo explained.

Filling a gap
Foster parents in the Resilient Hearts program can drop their pups off to play and meet potential adopters during the day, then pick them up in the evening once they're all tired out. The setup has enabled many people with full-time jobs to dip their toes into fostering or adoption.

"We saw that there was a gap in how the shelters and rescues interacted with the community and how the community was kind of being shut out and not able to help," Ezzo said. "People who wanted to foster or volunteer or adopt were being hit with a lot of barriers, and we wanted to set up something that was a little bit better and more community forward, so we opened up this space, where people can walk in off the sidewalk and have an immediate interaction with us. We wanted to do something completely different from the traditional model."

The only requirement to volunteer with Resilient Hearts is to "be a good human." This includes people of all ages and backgrounds, including eight-year-old Bridget, who comes in daily to walk dogs with her babysitter, and nine-year-old Ryder, who uses his YouTube channel and artistic skills to connect with potential adopters. "It's a great place to come and hang out," Ryder said.

Because of their open approach to community engagement, Ezzo sometimes has more volunteers than necessary, but everyone is welcome to lend a hand and pet a dog. "We can't keep up with the volunteer requests, [but] it's been cool," they said.

Out-of-the-box approach
Unlike traditional rescues, Resilient Hearts has few barriers to adopting or fostering animals. "We live in a city, so expecting everyone to have a half-acre yard ...is absurd," Ezzo said. "We have adopted out large German shepherds, large huskies, and large adult dogs to people in studio apartments where everybody is happy. It's just about finding the right family, finding the right match. As long as you can do that, the rest of it doesn't matter."

Potential pet parents not only have access to the rescue's daycare, but the Resilient Hearts team also offers resources for training programs and pet sitting. They want to ensure everyone finds their perfect match, even if that means trying out a few different dogs.

Potential adopters must undergo a one-week trial period with the dog they're interested in. If it's a good fit, they can move forward with the adoption process. "If it's not the right pup, they come back, and we will refer to a different animal at some point that might be a better match," volunteer Pam Klein-Farrow explained.

"We work with a lot of first-time pet owners," Ezzo said, "and even on the foster side, we work with people who haven't had their animal before, so we try to offer a lot of guidance along the way, like that you don't need previous experience." They also provide foster parents with all the food, vet care, and supplies necessary.

Most dogs at Resilient Hearts Animal Rescue are puppies under a year old, transferred in from Yakima Valley Pet Rescue. According to Celia Miller from Spots, the average age of a shelter dog in the United States is 18 months, with at least 16.7% of animals euthanized in shelters each year under the age of one. Resilient Hearts is helping to reduce this number by making space in Eastern Washington for rescues and placing pups in loving homes.

The rescue's out-of-the-box approach to animal advocacy directly reflects the founders' Queer identities and abilities to approach situations from a different angle. "I think there's just an alternative approach to living that exists when you're a Queer person," Ezzo said. "[I] and both of my business partners, we're in a polyamorous relationship, so those are both of my partners, both in life and in business, and there's a lot of openness and a lot of communication that happens."

As Queer people, Ezzo, Handley, and Ward Siegel understand the importance of community and prioritize making their space a welcoming environment to their found family — both people and pets.

"There is a lot of value in safe spaces, there's a lot of value in the community, and there's a lot of things that you learn... that that we wanted... to offer to everybody, no matter how you identify," Ezzo said.

"We run a business by the ideas that we live by, and that's how we built this. [Our space] is intentionally set up like a rainbow. You make one circle through the whole facility and you get the whole rainbow in here. We're very intentional with what we're about and how we live in it. Can you think of a better third space?"

Resilient Hearts Animal Rescue is open for walk-in visits Wednesday through Sunday between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. For information on how to foster, adopt, or volunteer, visit https://resilientheartsanimalsanctuary.org/foster-care-program