‘Love Story’ Garners $100,000 Grant for F.C.’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation

A wave of joyful tears and emotions swept around the circle of human participants assembled together for a surprise announcement in the upstairs pet play area at Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation of Falls Church (LDCRF) at 6801 Wilson Blvd., Wednesday, Feb. 4. 

The occasion: the surprise unveiling of a $100,000 check from nonprofit Petco Love as part of the group’s Love Stories campaign spotlighting the “life-changing impact of pet adoption” for both animals and humans. The sizable check was a reward grant to LDCRF in response to a ‘love letter’ written by Anna Ridge, of Alexandria, who testified about how – with LDCRF’s help – her newly-adopted two-year old mixed-breed dog, Yuki, has transformed her and her husband Matt Ridge’s lives “for the better.” 

Anna Ridge’s winning letter was selected among 10 nationwide finalists. 

“National nonprofit Petco Love awards 10 Petco Love Stories winners and grants a total of $250,000 to winning animal shelters and rescues across the country to help continue their lifesaving work,” the group wrote in a press release prior to yesterday’s unveiling. “Winning organizations are hosting celebrations throughout February where Petco Love surprises them with a grant from $10,000 to $100,000. The winning adopters submitted their love stories about their best friend, giving the organization from which they adopted a chance to receive a winning grant.” 

Spotlighting Love Stories

Since 2013, Petco Love has received more than 25,000 “heartwarming Love Stories from adopters across the nation and awarded more than $8 million to animal welfare organizations in conjunction with the campaign,” the organization said. 

“Petco Love Stories show how the love of an adopted pet changes everything,” Petco Love President Chelsea Staley said. “This Valentine’s Day, we’re celebrating the pets who stole our hearts and reminding everyone that your perfect match might be waiting at your local shelter or rescue. By spotlighting these beautiful stories, we invite more animal lovers to choose pet adoption in their community to create their own love stories.”

“For more than seven months, Yuki waited patiently for a loving family of her own," Petco Love wrote. "When Anna discovered Yuki, she just knew she couldn’t live without her. ‘Adopting Yuki has changed everything. She’s made our home louder, funnier, and infinitely warmer. She’s taught us to slow down and laugh more, to find joy in the little things, and to let love take center stage in the everyday.’ ”

How LDCRF Came to Be

Since its founding, LDCRF “has saved the lives of more than 50,000 homeless pets, many pulled from overcrowded municipal shelters where they faced the risk of euthanasia” the group says. 

While the LDCRF’s headquarters was established in Falls Church in 2017, they also maintain a 63-acre farm in Summerduck, Va. called Lost Dog Ranch, the group’s original site and a great place for dogs and cats to enjoy wide-open natural spaces. In 2001, LDCRF’s founders, Arlington restaurant owners Pam McAlwee and Ross Underwood, formed the organization as an accompaniment to their Lost Dog Cafe concept, a local chain of four Lost Dog Cafes (in Westover, McLean, Dun Loring, and Alexandria) each serving as financial and volunteer contributors to the group dedicated to rescuing and finding “forever homes” for dogs and cats. 

The Falls Church Independent had a chance to schmooze with, and pet, Yuki (who’s indeed lovable) and spoke with several of the key participants at the unveiling. And, what we learned was quite moving.

Tears All Around

With the sounds of dogs happily barking in nearby rooms, winner Anna Ridge was asked by Petco Love Partner Cathy Wilson on the mic, to describe how Yuki’s adoption has improved the Ridge family’s lives. 

“Well, first of all, we’re so grateful for everything Petco has done but also for Lost Dog,” Anna said. “So, about a year ago, Matt and I came here [to the LDCRF shelter] with the express purpose that we were not going to adopt a dog, but we were going to just walk dogs for maybe Dogventures and Yuki was actually the first dog we saw when we stepped foot in the building – and we fell in love with her. She’s so magnetic. She has so much personality. She’s just such a great, wonderful dog. So we thought we could adopt her and improve her life, and what we found out was actually, she improved ours.”

“She added so much joy, so much routine, so much happiness, and so much pet hair. [Laughs]. But it’s been great,” Anna continued. “And we’ve been excited to be able to tell our story because we wanted to not just focus on Yuki but on how adoption really improves everyone’s lives. And if you can’t adopt, if you’re not in that spot, even putting a spotlight on the great work that Lost Dog does and thinking about, 'How can you volunteer, how can you foster, how can you donate, how can you even share cute pictures of dogs online?' Because I think this is lifesaving work and Yuki is just one example. And this just confirms what we already knew, which is Yuki is the award worth winning.” [Applause]. 

Petco Love representatives then unfurled the whopping $100,000 check to gasps heard all around, then applause. In response to the happy commotion, Yuki wagged her tail vigorously and – to much happy laughter – circled around the group looking to share in the delight. 

“This is monumental for us,” LDCRF Executive Director Dawn Wallace said. "We’re very grateful that Anna and Matt found their way to us. Yuki has a special story. It's not so different from many other animals we see come to us that are homeless, that are looking for their forever family. And it’s just overwhelming. [choking back tears]. This grant means opportunity. It means opportunity for more homeless pets, like Yuki. It means opportunity for the volunteers you see standing here and that come to our facility.”

“Our rescue care center is not just for the animals. It’s also for the people who are helping those animals find their homes,” Wallace continued. “And we’re just so grateful. This gift will do amazing things for the animals we're looking to save, the shelter partners we've committed to working with. This means we can get those animals to us where they can get the enrichment and care they deserve. They can go out on Dogventures like Yuki did and steal people’s hearts. [Laughs]. And the volunteers also get to experience that companionship and that love that we all know is there in every rescue cat and dog that comes through our door. So thank you so much.... Our hearts are huge today.”

We asked Petco Love Partner Cathy Wilson why there were so many tears during the ceremony. “Well, anything that is nonprofit is constantly needing funds and to be able to give $100,000 to a nonprofit animal welfare organization is, I feel, like Santa Claus,” she said. “And it is what we do at Petco Love to really help organizations that are saving lives…. And you can see what an awesome dog Yuki is and what a character she is.”

"Has Petco Love reached its grant limits as far as giving awards to local shelters such as LDCRF?," we asked. “Nope,” Wilson answered. “The sky is the limit right now. This is something we do every year to put a spotlight on pet adoptions and the bonds we create with our pets. And, you know, it’s one of our missions at Petco Love to ensure that every shelter pet finds a loving home.”

"It's through the life-saving work that foundations like this do, and animal welfare organizations do, as part of the hard work to save these pets’ lives," Wilson said. "And then to make the matches we’re seeing made today. You know, the ‘pet love’ is boundless and this is just one of the ways Petco can really put a spotlight on that and how important it is to adopt.”

Executive Director of LDCRF Wallace also described what she thought brought tears to so many eyes during the ceremony. “Huge emotion, that’s where those tears come from. It’s tears of happiness," she said. "And it’s also tears of hope, because that $100,000 donation is opportunity for us. It’s opportunity to save more homeless animals, have more stories like Yuki’s, and just to be able to help more homeless dogs and cats be able to find their forever homes.”

“We were very excited when we were notified we had a finalist,” Wallace recounted. “We didn’t know who it was. [Laughs]. They didn’t tell us in the beginning who the finalist was. So, we’re all picking our brains going, ‘Who is it? Who is it?’ And then we got an email telling us who it was and around the same time Anna also reached out and asked, ‘Did Petco contact you?’ So that’s how we found out she was the finalist and we just were really excited that that story and Anna and Matt’s journey with Yuki was recognized by such an amazing organization like Petco Love. And it’s huge for us. And I think Yuki still has a lot of spotlight to be given which is really exciting for her.”

"Since 2001, we've placed over 50,000 dogs and cats into homes. So that’s a really proud thing for us," Wallace said. "And again, grant money like this…. is what allows organizations like ours to go out and do the great work and find those dogs and cats that need homes, match them to wonderful people, and, we here in the Falls Church community enjoy being able to help those pets find companionship....” 

Wallace wishes more people knew about the life-saving joys of pet adoption. “There are so many wonderful pets that come through shelters and I wish they could each tell us their story…. It’s important people know that rescue pets can be really great companionship animals for them. It’s an opportunity for people to learn how important it is to spay and neuter your pet and to be a responsible pet owner. And to understand that by doing so it reduces the chance of euthanasia in those shelters. And dogs and cats are just wagging tails ready to be with a family and there isn’t always that opportunity for them.” 

A 'Really Special' Adoption Story

Wallace held back tears when asked to describe what makes Yuki’s adoption story so moving. “Yuki’s story is really special,” she began. “She was surrendered to a very small rural shelter in Dickinson County in Southwest Virginia. She delivered her puppies the next day after she was surrendered to that shelter… Yuki was very pregnant and unfortunately had her puppies on a shelter floor without companionship and without the warmth and comfort she should have had."

“And we got a plea from that shelter asking, ‘Could you help?’ We immediately went out on our social media. We put up a post saying, ‘Please, we want to get Yuki here. Could somebody please take Yuki?’ We had a foster mom who said, ‘Yes, I can do it.’ So, she drove to pick up Yuki and the puppies to meet with the transport that was coming. And Dickinson County is six-plus hours from here. She had Yuki and her puppies in her home and then we transferred Yuki and her puppies to another foster’s home. She was actually with our founder for the majority of the time,” Wallace continued. 

“The puppies grew and got healthy and were wonderful and got adopted. And then it was Yuki’s turn. She got spayed. So there will be no more puppies. And once her puppies were gone we realized that Yuki had a really hard time being by herself. You’ll hear the phrase ‘separation anxiety’ and it’s a real thing with pets. They get confused as to why they’re by themselves. And the anxiety is so high in them they’ll tear down doors because they think they can get to their human or get to where someone else is. So we realized that pretty quickly. And we brought her here to the shelter. We also realized pretty quickly that she could climb. We had her climbing over the kennels one day. And we realized that was going to be a bit of a challenge.” [Laughs]. 

“So, it’s a hard match to make now, right? Finding a family that can either adjust to what her needs are going to be and be patient with her and work with her through those needs,” Wallace said. “And Matt and Anna Ridge are volunteers of ours. They started doing Dogventures which is our short-term field trip program we offer here through the care center. They had taken some dogs out and then all of a sudden, they had taken Yuki out and then asked to take Yuki again, and then asked to take Yuki again. [Laughs]. And they just bonded with her. And they started talking about how they could give her the home she deserved. And bless them for that. Because it’s a hard placement, with the needs that Yuki has had. And so they did. They were very smart about it. They were very well thought-out in their plan. They hired a very nice trainer and partner to be able to help with Yuki. And they’ve made great progress with her, which has been wonderful.”

We asked LDCRF Board Chair Austin Garcia, standing next to Wallace, what their nonprofit might be planning to do with their $100,000 grant. “It’s hard to answer,” he said. “But, life-saving, transports, being able to bring more animals in and to provide the sort of medical care that animals need. Because we also don’t know when we’re bringing animals into our rescue what medical attention they might end up needing.” LDCRF has no in-house veterinary doctor and vet services tend to cost “a great deal,” Garcia confirmed.

Fortunately, Wallace said, with a capacity to shelter 75-to-80 dogs and 20-to-30 cats comfortably, LDCRF has over 800 (local and non-local) volunteers, 60 percent of whom work remotely. Their paid employees consist primarily of kennel staff who ensure the spaces are clean and disinfected and the animals receive proper care. Even LDCRF’s tech folks on their new "data analytics team" are volunteers, as are their social media, graphics, and website assistants. Their many volunteers willing to foster are also indispensable to finding temporary homes for lost dogs and cats and to matching adopters to animals.  

According to Board Chair Garcia, LDCRF was quick to pivot to remote work during the pandemic while other shelters had to close. “It’s definitely teamwork,” Wallace added to describe coordinating all the volunteers. “It’s all kinds of pieces always being shuffled around. And I think that’s also the behind-the-scenes part our adopters don’t often realize most of the time. They go to an adoption event at a store, they meet that dog, the dog is happy and wiggly, and they’re excited to adopt. But they don’t always know the journey and the steps that had to happen and all the touch-points and even the journey the dog has made both emotionally and physically, right? So, it’s exciting to see stuff like this happen and be recognized because it’s a motivator for us too. It’s exciting to see the recognition and to be able to do more with that particular success and that award. Yeah, it’s really cool.”

After much oohing and ahhing over Yuki and her hamming it up for the cameras, we spoke with winning Love Letter-author Anna Ridge. “It was wonderful,” she said of the ceremony. “It was so nice to see people who’ve been part of Yuki’s story and her life and they’ve helped her really be able to be on this journey. And so the tears came. To kind of see the award that will be helping so many other people to do that was so meaningful.” 

'World's Most Expensive Birthday Gift'

We asked Anna how she and Matt first came to LDCRF. “So actually, two years ago for my birthday, my husband Matt had signed us up to volunteer here because I had said that, though I love dogs and we’re not ready for one, I just wanted to spend time with them,” she began. “So, he signed us up for the Dogventure program which is just a fun way to take a dog out for a day or an hour or a weekend and it’s nice because you get to spend a ton of time with different dogs and you get to know them. And now we joke because that was the ‘world’s most expensive birthday gift,’ because the first dog we saw, we were like ‘We love her!’ [Laughs]. So, now she’s in our home permanently.” 

“She’s been so wonderful in our lives,” Anna said of Yuki. “I think she’s upgraded our lives by helping us develop more of a routine. She’s added more joy. We also joke that she’s added a ton of more pet hair. [Laughs]. But I also think she’s helped expand our community. Some of my best friends are from here [LDCRF]. And in our community [in Alexandria], our neighbors have come together more because everyone wants to play with her and it’s been interesting how much she’s just expanded our lives. It’s been really fulfilling.”

While Yuki's not quite ready for dog parks, Anna said with a laugh, “We’re out every day walking the dog, or we’ll let her run around in the field behind our house. And she’s made friends with other dogs from the community, like her friends, Thatcher, and Blue, and Aria, and Domino; like there’s a ton of dogs she’s friends with now.”

Advice for Prospective Dog Adopters

We asked Anna for advice for folks thinking of dog adoption. “I would say, for me, the most important parts are to think about how you'll spend time with the dog, to get to know what the dog needs, and how you can support them, but then also, to think about, 'How do we find the right trainer and someone who can really help?' Because we were first-time dog owners. We had no idea how someone could help a dog through separation anxiety. Literally, we came here and they were teaching us how to put a harness on a dog and things…. But I would say to people, give it a try, spend some time with a dog, and then find someone with experience who can really help you.”

Anna’s husband Matt Ridge was also nearby, with Yuki on a leash. So, we approached. “It’s been an incredible day,” he said. “I mean, I’m not the most emotional person, but during the check presentation – what’s the expression? – there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. It was great to see the impact that something like this could have on a local shelter and then the reach it can have after that.” 

“There’s more than one way to donate,” he said. “You can donate your funds, you can donate your time, you can foster, you can get involved, because it goes a long way.” Matt and Anna both plan to continue volunteering with LDCRF. 

'My Dog's About to Be a Celebrity'

“Never in a million years,” could Matt have “foreseen this working out this way.” Matt said with a laugh. “I didn’t even know Anna wrote the piece for it, until after I heard she was a finalist! And I said, ‘Oh that’s cool. It’s a big nationwide company, you know?’ And then I was on a work trip when I found out she had won. And I was running around telling my co-workers ‘My dog’s about to be a celebrity!’ ”

By Christopher Jones