Emmie began her rescue mission at 19 years of age as a volunteer for the Central California SPCA in Fresno, CA. After adopting her first pet, a Maine Coon kitten, she learned the sad plight of shelter pets due to pet overpopulation. Determined to make a difference, Emmie became a volunteer foster parent taking home underage kittens and caring for them until they weighed two pounds and then returning them to the shelter for adoption. Emmie often had up to 20 kittens at home at a time and saved over 100 kittens during that first year.

In October 2003, Emmie got a job with the Central California SPCA as the Stray Cattery Manager. She was responsible for all incoming stray cats and kittens handling up to 300 per day during the summer months also known as Kitten Season. She continued her kitten fostering and in early 2004, she fostered her first two puppies - Koda and Kujo. In February 2004, while walking through Dog Quarantine where sick and injured stray dogs are kept, she came across an adorable Rottweiler puppy who was just days old. His mom had been marked for euthanasia due to aggression which left this poor pup to the same fate. Instead, Emmie named him Cubby, brought home and committed to bottlefeeding him every two hours for the next several weeks. As her first 'bottle-baby', Emmie was unable to part with her beautiful puppy and he became her first canine companion.

Cubby, Six Days

Cubby, Four Years

In 2005, Emmie decided it was time to move away from the emotional distress of the Central California SPCA where she was responsible for choosing which kitties lived or died. She soon began fostering for a No-Kill organization called Animal Rescue of Fresno. She was once again a volunteer foster parent but this time it was litters of puppies coming home with her for several weeks until they were old enough for adoption.

After a year and another hundred or so lives saved, Emmie decided it was time to return to her kitten fostering. Because Animal Rescue of Fresno is a dogs only organization, Emmie took the plunge and started Emmie's Animal Rescue in April 2006. She and her friend, Michelle, pulled kittens primarily from the public to save them from ever ending up at the local high kill shelter. They took in hundreds that year, fostering them in their homes before finding adoptive homes for them. They also transported over a thousand others to no kill rescues in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In October 2008, Emmie left Fresno and returned to her hometown of San Jose, CA. She is continuing her rescue efforts and looks forward to another successful year of saving lives. She now owns five dogs, all of which were rescued from euthanasia lists. Four of the five are AKC Canine Good Citizens (CGC) and two of the four are certified therapy dogs with Therapy Dogs International. Cubby, pictured above, is still working on his exciteability around new people and will hopefully pass the AKC CGC test soon!