About the Nonprofit
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PA Pitstop Rescue.....
PA Pitstop is a small rescue doing big things, based out of Shillington Pennsylvania. Owned and operated by Josh McCormick and Denise Klonis, we are a nonprofit 501c3 organization.
How it began....
In 2017 after having shelter fosters, we decided we wanted to do more. Denise and I would visit shelters and spend time showing the forgotten dogs want love is. Denise’s social media presence was expanding rapidly in the rescue world as she gave generously and stepped in as the voice for the voiceless all across the country. She decided to adopt a skinny, dirty, rough around the edges Staffordshire Terrier from Texas because his eyes spoke to her and within weeks, she was driving across the country to pick him up! Upon return, he was magnificent, kind, trusting and stunning, she said, we have to do more!
Our next trip was immediately following Hurricane Harvey where we worked 12 hour days with a legendary street rescuer and we rescued 47 dogs from the conditions, we even brought a dog home with us on the plane!
We were exhausted, mentally and physically, we saw things that the eyes could never unsee and we just knew we had to do more. We worked with several rescues and found ourselves wanting to do things differently time and time again. Every takeaway conversation we had, always ended in the same place. “We could do rescue ourselves, on our own terms, morally and ethically correct, from an honest position, with the dogs best interest at heart”.
We would bring dogs back, show them lots of love, Denise would heal them, I would train them and she would find them the best homes. So that’s how the name originated, the dogs would come to PA=Pennsylvania for a short time that we considered a Pitstop along their journey to a forever home.
PA Pitstop
Our main focus is to help homeless, neglected or abused dogs find their way to a peaceful, loving home. The majority of our dogs come from the Deep South of Texas. This area is in complete crisis. You can look down any street and see 10 dogs, emaciated, dehydrated, tick and flea infested, injured, homeless, helpless, innocent. Thousands of dogs just looking for a family. The local shelters have 6-7 dogs in every 1 dog kennel. Small facilities with a 40 dog capacity will have 250 dogs. We have now expanded our network from coast to coast and border to border.
Rescue process...
Each dog that we decide to save is greeted with the same quote. “This is the first day of the rest of your life and you will never have to worry again” welcome home! We wish the process was this easy. All of the dogs must immediately go for a medical evaluation and vaccines ($110). Following this, they must quarantine in boarding for 14 days before travel to allow time for observation of possible medical issues ($168). After 2 weeks they return to the vet for a health certification to travel ($25). Transport consists of 48 hours in a travel carrier with minimal food and potty breaks, but as quickly as possible to reduce stresses ($200). After arrival at PA Pitstop, an additional medical evaluation and spay or neuter is performed ($260). At this point if there are any additional medical needs, they are treated and paid for immediately, usually followed by a social media plea for fundraising to help offset the cost. So, it’s about $700+ without any extra cost to bring a dog home.
Fosters....
PA Pitstop has been blessed with the most loving fosters. We are so thankful to all of you. Your skill set, talents and caring personalities have encouraged every dog to be the best that they can be. Fostering an animal is an excellent opportunity for you to contribute to the rescue community.
As a foster, our expectation from you is to show the dog what it feels like to be loved! Provide them with a routine, get them on a schedule for eating and going potty. Have patience with them as it is like their first day on the job and they do not know what to do. Just be kind to the animal and encourage them to be the best they can be through positive reinforcement. send pictures to help get them adopted!
We will cover the rest if you choose, we can provide food, bowls, crate if needed, leash and any vetting that is necessary at our discretion. If you want to, you can spoil them as much as you want, toys, treats and comfort items. We want for you to have the best positive experience as possible. You are doing a compassionate service, you are literally SAVING LIVES!
Adoption process....
We make the final decision on placement of a dog. All adopters require a home inspection, background check, vet check, in addition, other house and family members will be screened. We like to see a relationship between the rescue and adopter to be generated. Our adoption fees range from $300-$600 and we invite you to join our social media pages, sign up for amazon smile, check out our Wishlist and to send many updates as you are now part of the PA Pitstop Family!
“ForTheLoveOfDog”
Josh and Denise
