Rover's Do-Over will support local shelters and help dogs find their forever homes

Chelsea Williamson has always rooted for the underdog.

She has been working with animals practically her entire life, starting a neighborhood dog-walking business at age 10 and getting a job at Utica’s Anita’s Stevens Swan Humane Society as soon as she turned 18. While working at the shelter, Williamson found herself gravitating toward the dogs she calls “mistreated, misguided, misunderstood.”

“Those are dogs who are having a really hard time in the shelter,” Williamson said. “They’re stressed out, maybe they’re not presenting well. They’re the dogs who need the extra time, attention, patience, resources to get them adopted. And because shelters are so overwhelmed with the number of animals they have, they do a really good job taking care of the mass number of animals that they have. But those dogs who have those special needs, who need more individualized attention, the shelters can't give it just because of the numbers that they have.”

Williamson always dreamed of opening her own rescue one day. She left the humane society a year and a half ago to earn a “Running a Lifesaving Sanctuary” certification from Southern Utah University, which partners with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. And on Jan. 2, Williamson’s organization Rover's Do-Over went live.

Partnering with shelters

Rover’s Do-Over will give a second chance to those mistreated, misguided and misunderstood dogs who cannot receive the individualized care they need at traditional shelters simply due to lack of space and resources. Currently, it will do so by placing these dogs in foster homes, although Williamson's ultimate goal is to build an animal sanctuary facility.

While pet adoptions increased dramatically during the initial months of the coronavirus pandemic, adoption rates have since dwindled. According to the Washington Post, a survey of U.S. animal shelters indicates that shelters are the most overcrowded they have been in years.

“We want to help them alleviate some of those burdens by taking on some of those dogs,” Williamson said. “Because long-term stays at a shelter can cause deterioration in all sorts of ways, whether it's behavioral or it's health. Because our shelters have done a really great job, and they are no-kill now, which is fabulous, dogs sometimes end up staying there for a really long time. And because of that we see the deterioration in their behavior and their health and those types of things. So our goal is to help decrease the length of stays of those dogs in shelters.”

Humane Society of Rome manager Robin Genovese-Kaminski expressed her gratitude toward Rover’s Do-Over.

“We wholeheartedly support their mission and commitment to rescuing and rehabilitating pets who have been misguided, mistreated, or misunderstood,” Genovese-Kaminski said in a statement. “The services they offer, including support for shelter dogs requiring additional resources to prepare them for adoption and finding suitable placements for animals that may otherwise be sent to the shelter or deemed less desirable for adoption, play a vital role in addressing the persistent challenges we encounter in our community.”

How the community can lend a paw

Rover’s Do-Over will host its official launch event, Ales and Tails, from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at Old School Bar & Grill in Utica. The event will include a meet and greet with some of the 30 dogs the organization has taken in since it went live on Jan. 2, some of whom are adoptable and some of whom are in need of foster homes.

Attendees can enter drawings for a basket raffle, and if they bring in an item from Rover’s Do-Over’s Amazon wish list, they will receive a ticket for a door prize – a custom pet portrait by a local artist. The organization will provide a wealth of information on how community members can get involved, whether through volunteering, donating or fostering. If you sign up to be a volunteer or a foster, your first beer is on Rover’s Do-Over.

Given that Rover’s Do-Over currently does not have a physical facility to house dogs, it is 100% foster-home based. Williamson emphasized the great need for foster homes, because they cannot accept a dog until they have a place to house it. She has five rescue dogs of her own and is currently fostering a litter of orphaned puppies.

Entertainment: Broadway Theatre League of Utica to use NYSCA grant for educational, youth programming

Mohawk Valley Student of the Week: See this week's winner

Hall of Fame: Cooperstown welcomes newest inductees

Rover's Do-Over has fostering applications that ask questions about an interested foster parent's household and lifestyle in order to match pups with parents.

“As we pull the dogs from shelters, or if they're coming from another situation, we determine what we call pathway planning,” Williamson explained. “We determine if that dog is special needs behavioral, special needs medical, or if they’re just a fast-track dog who maybe just needs some minor training and some attention to build their confidence. And then we appropriately place each dog in a foster home, and then get them prepared to go up for adoption.”

Forever homes

Williamson envisions the animal sanctuary she hopes to build as a peaceful place where dogs can relax and receive individualized care, or even spend the rest of their natural lives. Events like “Ales and Tails” will help raise funds for that effort, as well as for veterinary bills and supplies that the organization currently needs.

Williamson said that in addition to donating funds and volunteering (the organization is currently totally volunteer-run), the community can help out by signing up to foster dogs. She said that if someone is mulling over the idea of adopting a dog, fostering is a great trial run to see if a dog would fit into their household and lifestyle.

“If anybody is thinking about adopting or thinking about getting involved, they should just do it,” Williamson said. “They should try it one time, because it really is contagious. And when someone sees and has the experience where they rescue a dog and they see that dog go from being scared and shy to outgoing and happy, it’s the most rewarding thing you can experience. We've had a few volunteers who are kind of new to this whole dog rescuing scene, and they went from not being super sure about it to being so passionate and so excited and so motivated to help, because the experience is unlike any other.”

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Rover's Do-Over launch will support Oneida County shelters