MABTR Family - Elizabeth in MO

If you are thinking about volunteering, oh my gosh, do it! It’s not always easy and convenient, but the feelings you get when you know you have saved a life, far outweighs the hard work and sacrifice. Plus the cute faces and antics aren’t bad either!

I have a deep love for all animals. I got my first Boston in 2006 and immediately fell in love with the breed.

I wanted to get another Boston, so I reached out to my local no-kill shelter when I saw a female Boston Terrier on their website. I was frustrated when they told me that a rescue (MABTR) was picking her up, even though I was there in person. They put me in touch with Jennifer and she explained what MABTR does and it was then I understood the rescue process and that the rescue was the right choice for her. Shortly thereafter, another dog in MABTR’s care, Jack, had his circumstances change in his previous adopters home and I was offered the opportunity to watch him over the weekend (even though I was still waiting on the female that was in foster care with MABTR to become available). Well it only took

24 hours and I knew I couldn’t give Jack up. I adopted him the next day. Though it was hard to let the little girl stay in foster care, I knew she was in good hands.

In 2021, I was given the unique opportunity to take in a 7 month old hospice foster, Ace who was born with a very serious heart condition that the surgeons stated was more complicated to repair than they expected, so he was placed on hospice and I became his “forever foster” mom. His life span was expected to be greatly reduced and we didn’t know if he would reach his second birthday. With a whole lot of love and prayer, Ace is still with me and is one of the great loves of my life, his ocean blue eyes, his sweet loving nature and his will to survive are the best things to come home to every day. I often find myself listening to his heart while he lays on my shoulder and the back of my recliner, just to see if his heart is “getting/sounding better” and sometimes I think I can hear that it is.

No matter what the case is with any dog that comes into MABTR, I stick around because as long as I am able, it is my goal to help as many of these dogs get the chance at the best life possible, we owe it to them, they live their whole lives for us and ask little in return.

I started out doing transports, then I was a babysitter and shortly thereafter asked for the opportunity to become a foster. Now, I do a little bit of whatever the need is. Being centrally localized in Kansas City, MO, I find there is never a shortage of help that I can offer when it is needed and I am available.

I got involved because I felt it was important to give back to the people who educated and encouraged me on rescue and because of my overall love of all Boston Terriers.

By far the greatest challenge is getting so attached to a dog that it is super hard to let them go. I won’t lie and say that giving up some of my foster’s is easy, but it is easier when you know that no matter what, if anything doesn’t work out, that dog will come back into foster, no questions and no matter what, at any age.

Honestly, I look at my kids (my Bostons), deep into their eyes and I see the hope and love there and I want that for every dog we foster. They are my motivation.

There are a lot of favorites to volunteering for me. But at the moment it is the getting a foster back home, getting them bathed and fed and watching them decompress while holding them or while they lay in an open kennel. Just to see that they know they are safe and trust that they can fully and finally relax.

The most challenging thing to me is not with volunteering or with MABTR, the most challenging thing to me is legislation in my state (Missouri) and why there are so many back yard breeders and unregulated breeders.