We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emilie Alfonso. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emilie below.

Emilie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is to rescue animals from unfortunate situations and empower members of the community to foster animals until the pet is ready for placement in their forever home.

A recent story of how we did both is with a dog we currently have up for adoption, Maverick. We were contacted by a concerned individual about the welfare of this dog. She sent us photos of him tied up to a broken down truck, where he had no shade, no food and his water bowl was completely covered in green algae. We immediately investigated more and found the people responsible for the dog. We were urging them to release to dog to our care but it wasn’t happening quickly. With the storms and inclimate weather in Florida, we needed to act fast. We contacted local authorities and at that point, the responsible individual(s) of the dog took him to Orange County Animal Services without providing any background about him. We got in immediate contact with Orange County Animal Services to request for them to place a hold on him for us. One of our board members stepped up to the plate to foster him and we set him free. Upon taking him in, we found a massive scar on his chest that was likely due him outgrowing a harness that was never removed, he had a skin infection, was heart worm positive, and was underweight. Despite everything this dog has been though, he is still incredibly sweet and happy. The most dangerous thing about him? His tail because he wags it so fast and hard!

We currently have 3 cats under our care that also faced severe injuries and neglect. One kitten, named Storm, was found barely alive with one leg completely necrotic and another leg fractured. She lost the leg that was necrotic. Another kitten, named Zombie, was given to us with a severe eye problem due to a reaction of someone administering human eye drop medication in his eyes instead of consulting a veterinarian first. Zombie lost both of his eyes over this. The other cat, Sweet Pea, was found with her skin growing over a dog collar. Her skin was becoming necrotic and rotting away around the collar. We found her original owner and she said she didn’t want her anymore. All three of these cats are still unbelievably sweet and will all now live long, happy and healthy lives. All three of them will be available for adoption.

We see stories like these far too often. Animals are treated like they’re disposable and they are failed by people time and time again. That’s why we are here. We are a team of people who do this because we love animals and we want to make a difference. None of the cats and dogs that come into our rescue could have been saved if it wasn’t for our donors, volunteers, fosters, and supporters. We strive to be a resource to the community to help animals, educate the public, and empower others to be part of our mission. We want others to be part of the solution, not the problem!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the President of A Better Life – Pet Rescue, Inc. I grew up fostering for this rescue with my mother. Over several years, the founder was ready to pass it off to someone new, and that’s when I came along. She built an incredible foundation to save animal lives and I hope to keep it going through our wonderful team of volunteers and fosters. All of us do this completely unpaid and on our volunteer time. We all work full-time jobs, many of us have families, but we do this because we love animals and want to make a positive impact. I am most proud of our fosters and volunteers. I say it all the time, but I truly could not do this without them. They are the first people to get dirty, stay up late, and go above and beyond for the animals. As we are a foster based rescue, we simply wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for them. Myself and every single life they touch, will be eternally grateful for them.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met my rescue partner, Nikki, through the rescue! She has been a foster for a long time, but to say she goes “above and beyond” doesn’t even feel like enough. We tell her to take breaks but never stops when it comes to saving animals. She was in active labor, laying in the hospital bed, working on finding homes for her foster kitties. She will stay up all night for sick kittens to make sure they make it through the night. She will take on the most challenging dogs that no one will take a chance on. Believe it or not, she’s also a mother, goes to school and works a full-time job. This woman is an actual super hero. I couldn’t be more proud to have her as a rescue partner.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Make a connection with your team. Everyone wants to feel like they are cared about and like what they’re doing matters. It’s important, especially in the rescue world, to have empathy and give people an outlet. Yes, it’s good to stay positive, but it’s also important to acknowledge their feelings. Appreciation, open communication, and forming connections are really key.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://betterlifepets.com/
• Instagram: abetterlifepetrescue
• Facebook: A Better Life-Pet Rescue
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betterlifepets/
• Other: Tik Tok: abetterlifepetrescue