We were lucky to catch up with Victoria Shaffer & Riley O’day recently and have shared our conversation below.
Victoria & Riley, appreciate you joining us today. Do you manage your own social media?
When we first launched the rescue, we debated whether to hire someone to manage our social media, feeling unsure of our ability to grow it on our own. However, after reviewing our nonprofit budget, we realized that hiring a social media strategist wasn’t feasible. From day one, we’ve approached social media with complete authenticity. Every caption is written by us, based on our personal interactions with each dog we feature. Our community recognizes this genuine connection, and we’ve received wonderful feedback for our relatable and transparent posts. While rescue work can be tough and emotional, we aim to balance the hard truths with the joy and brilliance it brings. A glance through our feed shows how much we’ve grown over the past three years. Today, we’re fortunate to have talented photographers donating their skills to showcase our dogs beautifully, and our writing has evolved with over 1,000 heartfelt captions to date!
Victoria Shaffer & Riley O’Day, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Pup Culture Rescue is a female-founded 501(c)(3) based in Pasadena, CA. Over the past three years, we’ve rescued and found loving homes for more than 850 dogs of all ages, sizes, and abilities. We believe that every dog deserves a loving family, and every person deserves the loyal companionship of a dog. Our personalized approach ensures that each adopter is paired with their perfect match. Through community outreach and education, we are dedicated to preventing abandonment and reducing the strain on our shelter system.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
We first connected at the height of the COVID lockdown when we teamed up to foster a litter of nine puppies—Riley cared for them the first month, and Victoria took over for the second. That experience brought us deeper into the rescue world and formed a close connection with a large organization. A few years later, we decided to start our own rescue, focusing on a personalized approach to adoptions and setting the gold standard for animal welfare. Both of us had adopted dogs in our early twenties, forming strong, lifelong bonds, and that shared experience became the foundation of Pup Culture Rescue, inspiring everything we do today!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
We are dedicated to ensuring our fosters and adopters feel fully supported throughout the entire process—and long after. We’re always here to celebrate small milestones and provide guidance every step of the way. This level of communication helps us build lasting friendships, which organically expands our network. One of our key goals in founding Pup Culture Rescue was to celebrate the vibrant dog-loving community. Los Angeles may be a sprawling city, but this community of like-minded dog lovers makes it feel wonderfully close-knit. People love talking about their dogs, and word of mouth spreads quickly when there’s something as meaningful and easy to share as Pup Culture.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pupculturerescue.org
- Instagram: @pupculturerescue
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/pupculturerescue
Image Credits
Catherine Heath