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

Rachel, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

For as long as I can remember I have always loved animals, especially dogs not even a specific breed, but all dogs. When I was in college my friend shared a picture of Rosco on her Facebook and once I saw him, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was on the euthanasian list at the shelter scheduled to be put down the next day. I remember seeing his picture and looking at his eyes and something about how sad he looked I knew I couldn’t let him die. I emailed the shelter probably ten times and called even more telling them I wanted to foster. When I went to pick him up the next day, he was so fragile looking and very weak. His previous “owners” though I think that title is a little too considerate for them left him to die. The shelter told me when they found him, he had been tied up in the back yard and the rope had somehow wrapped around his legs and body, so he was unable to move. The first few days I had him I wasn’t sure he would make it through the night. He wasn’t eating, barely drinking water, covered in fleas, and couldn’t walk. Fast forward to almost 10 years later and he is a completely transformed dog. He’s the inspiration and the driving force behind the rescue. Even though it’s named after him I’m not sure he’s totally on board with the idea of me giving other dogs my love and attention. Rosco will always be my baby, and everyone knows he is my favorite. I know you’re not supposed to have favorites, but I do and it’s Rosco. Rescued dogs have so much love to give and are the best dogs. Watching Rosco live his best life now after seeing the situation he came from makes me so happy. Being able to provide that for all the dogs we rescue is such a great experience that I’m thankful I get to be a part of. When I started fostering, I never once thought that I would be doing it from my own rescue, let alone have a non-profit. I named this rescue after Rosco not only because of the fact that he was my first foster fail, but because I want him to always be with me even after he’s gone. I want this rescue to be a constant reminder of how much joy this one little, scrappy looking dog has brought into my life. I’ve had him for almost 1/3 of my life now and he was always there to comfort me when I was having a bad day and is constantly making me smile. He’s my little four-legged bestie, and I can’t imagine not having this dog in my life. I know some people will read this and think, it’s just a dog, but to me he’s so much more than a pet. These dogs that we rescue are often abandoned or dumped somewhere and left for dead. Even after being so mistreated by humans, they are still so loving and all they want is to be loved in return. No dog deserves to spend its days in a shelter because someone decided they didn’t want it anymore and put it out on the street. I’m thankful to the people who decided they didn’t want Rosco anymore because not only did they give me my best friend, but they lit a fire in me. This rescue wouldn’t be here today if there wasn’t a Rosco. I don’t plan on losing steam anytime soon, and I hope one day to change the way the city of San Antonio handles animal cruelty and people who mistreat their dogs. The love I have for Rosco is what motivates me to keep rescuing even on the days when it feels like I’m barely making a difference.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I never once imagined I would be running a rescue. My background is in outside sales, customer service, and the service industry. So, running a non-profit was never in my wheelhouse. I will say I would much rather spend my days with dogs than making sales calls or working a 9-5. When I left my sales job to go back to the service industry, I knew that wasn’t what my passion was. The only thing I kept coming back to when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do was my love for dogs. I thought about working for a Vet, or maybe a dog grooming or boarding business, but that didn’t feel right. One night out with my husband he asked what I really wanted to do, and I told him “I just want to rescue all the dogs.” The next day we decided Why not? Let’s do exactly that. We sat down and figured out how to start a 501(c)3 and got to work. Unfortunately, right after we got everything back from the State saying we were ready to go, Covid happened, and everything shut down. All the plans I had in my head wouldn’t work and after my work got shut down for Covid I didn’t have any income to make anything happen. Finally, when everything opened back up, we went back to the drawing board for what we wanted our rescue to look like. We started out slow fostering one dog at a time and rehoming them locally or to nearby cities like Austin. This year has been our biggest undertaking and I’m constantly learning as I go and making mistakes along the way. I’m always open to learning from other rescues and doing whatever I can to help the rescue community as a whole. One of the things I’m really proud of that we offer is a complimentary dog training session for anyone who adopts through us. We work with an amazing dog trainer – Irving Pescador (pesca_sessions218 for those wanting to follow him on Instagram.) He has been a huge help with us and the dogs we take in. I’m constantly learning from him and grateful that he partnered with us to help new owners understand the ins and outs of owning a dog. I really think educating people on types of dog breeds, and how to train their dog, interact with them, and take care of them as a whole can really help set these families and dogs up for success. I want to make adopting dogs as easy as possible for people and take the stress of owning a dog out of the equation as much as possible. Having a sales background has helped me because it allows me to look at this from a business perspective and explore possible partnership opportunities, implement ideas to hopefully solve some of the issues the rescue community faces, and create sources of revenue for the rescue. I also started a line of t-shirts and trucker hats with funny slogans to help generate revenue and advertisement for the rescue. Our most popular t-shirt reads “The streets are for your exes, not strays.” All of our merchandise is available on our website and 100% of the proceeds go to the dog’s vet bills, training fees, food, and supplies. I hope to make rescuing and fostering a fun experience and change the perception people have with “street dogs.” San Antonio has such a serious problem with strays, and I want to be a strong force to help make a difference for these dogs and the city. I’m always open to working with other people in the community and learning from anyone that I can. I really think that education is key, and helping people understand where to get the resources they need for their pets could help a lot with the issues that we face in San Antonio regarding the stray and neglected dog population.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

For me, and I’m sure for some people reading this, I really struggled with feeling like an imposter. Being so new in the rescue scene it was really easy for me to compare myself to other, more established recues and feel like I wasn’t doing enough. I really had to remind myself that these organizations didn’t pop up overnight and they worked hard to get where they are. Especially now with social media it’s even easier to compare yourself to someone else or wonder why a post didn’t take off the way someone else’s did. One thing that I have going for me is my resilience. If I try something and it doesn’t work, I’ll go back to the drawing board and figure out a way to make it work. I consider myself a hard-working individual and no matter what happens I’ll never stop helping dogs in need. I also have a great support system in my friends, and family. They have really helped me focus on the positive things that I’ve accomplished and stop comparing my rescue endeavors to others. At the end of the day my focus is helping dogs, and I will continue to do that even on the days I get in my own head. My friends, family, and husband help me to refocus on the positive things I’m doing and the dogs I’ve helped. Reminding myself that it can only go up from here has helped me realign my way of thinking as well. I have to remind myself that sometimes it’s ok to be proud of what you’ve done and accept the acknowledgement and thanks from people who are supportive of what I do. We may just be starting out, but I have big plans for our rescue, and I know one day we’ll get there!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business partner also happens to be my husband. When we met, we had nothing to do with the rescue industry other than the fact that we both rescued and adopted our current dogs. We both worked in the bar industry, and running a rescue wasn’t even a blip on the radar. If you had asked me when I met my husband if I thought five years later, we’d be married, and I’d be running a rescue I would have said absolutely not. We were just two bartenders, working while in school to get our degrees. For the first few years of our relationship rescuing wasn’t something we had even considered. Eventually we fostered a dog, and both grew so attached to her almost immediately. Unfortunately, she ended up contracting distemper from her days in the shelter. We spent every night taking turns making sure she never spent the night alone, spoon feeding her, giving her liquid IV’s, and showering her with love. After several visits to the vet, and after we had exhausted all efforts, she still wasn’t getting better. The shelter we fostered through told us there was nothing left we could do. We both went with her to the vet the day we had to put her down, and looking back, I think that was the turning point for both of us. It’s been over three years since we fostered her, and shortly after was when we decided to start the rescue. Even though we only had her for a few months she left a big imprint on both of our hearts. Fortunately for me, my husband also shares my love of dogs and got on board with me bringing stray dogs’ home even after he would say “no more after this one.” He has to be the voice of reason, or our home would be overrun with dogs. He’s my biggest supporter and encourages me even on the days when I feel overwhelmed. He’s the only one who truly gets to see the behind the scenes of the day-to-day operations, the not so glamourous days, and allows me to turn our formal dining room into the dog’s room. He currently works at a CPA firm and is the CFO for Rosco’s Rescue. I joke that I get to do all the fun stuff, while he deals with the taxes and all the other business requirements.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://roscosrescuetx.net/
• Instagram: roscosrescue
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoscosRescue
• Tiktok: roscosrescuetx