OUR VOLUNTEERS
Gail Vargas
Hello my name is Gail. I have been a volunteer for Sachi Animal Rescue since 2011.
Since childhood, I can remember always liking dogs. If I knew then that I would have the opportunity to help a wonderful organization, I would not believe it. I met the founder Raphaele when I was boarding a dog that needed rehoming. Sachi Animal Rescue helped me and the homeless dog. This rescue helped when other rescues could not help. This is why I volunteer with Sachi. The dog eventually found the perfect family. Since volunteering, I have witnessed so much rescue and rehabilitation that has led to fantastic homes and families for these forgotten dogs. I have met so many rescued dogs and I have had some favorites. It makes me so happy to see them in their homes. I have also met extraordinary people in rescue especially my fellow volunteers. My fellow volunteers are friends with big hearts and I’m so proud to be part of this team. |
Maddie
Hi, my name is Maddie and I have been a volunteer with Sachi since 2013.
My husband and I were so impressed with the love and care that the Sachi crew shared with our pup, Smithwick "Wicky". We were eager to support this excellent organization and help find great homes for other dogs. Wicky brings so much joy and laughter into our lives and we are so grateful that Sachi Animal Rescue saved him from a local kill shelter. These four-legged love-bugs are worth the effort. |
TINA M.
Supporting dog rescue has been an important part of my life for many years. Over the past six years I have been a foster mom for many dogs in need. Each dog I've cared for has left its mark on my heart and brought me endless joy and enlightenment.
Recently I began volunteering for Sachi by fostering boxers in need and, when I can, walking and spending time with the precious souls in boarding waiting for their furever family. Currently, I have been lucky to be foster mommy to my sweet boy Tito. He came to me emaciated and riddled with medical issues. Over the past several months, with the support of the Sachi team, led by the perseverant and loving Raphaelle, and too many to mention vet visits and medication changes, Tito has transformed into a thriving and happy senior with love in his heart and pep in his step. |
SHANA K.
My love for animals is a big part of who I am! As a vegan, I live my life conscious of how my lifestyle impacts the environment and living beings on our planet.
I have been deeply involved with many facets of dog rescue for many years. With Sachi Rescue I have enjoyed the time I get to walk and love on the dogs awaiting their new forever homes. I have also been networking with other rescues and fosters to help find good homes for as many fur babies as I can. |
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Tracy and Eric Stultz
Interior Designer and Architect living in Santa Monica, Ca.
Full time boxer lovers..former Sachi pup rescue Freddykins
LAURA
I have been volunteering for Sachi since 2008, when I met Raphaele and adopted my beautiful, perfect Popeye. I was a first time dog owner looking for a boxer, and I was so impressed with Raphaele and the entire Sachi Team for their timeless care and commitment to the dogs. Popeye ultimately became my service dog, accompanying me wherever I went.
It just came naturally that I joined the Sachi Team as a volunteer. I have been walking and socializing Sachi’s dogs almost every weekend since. I am proud to be a part of Sachi Animal Rescue. |
THE NEXT GENERATION OF SACHI ANIMAL RESCUE VOLUNTEERS!!!!
DELANEY AND JACK (PROUD SIBLINGS OF BRUNO II) TOOK MATTER INTO THEIR OWN HANDS AND DECIDED TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE SAR PUPPIES. LEMONADE STAND CHECK, FRESH BAKED COOKIES CHECK AND GARAGE SALE CHECK.
DELANEY AND JACK DESIGNED ALL THE SIGNS, MADE THE COOKIES AND DECIDED WHAT ITEMS THEY WOULD DONATE.
I AM SO PROUD OF THEM, THESE KIDS ARE AMAZING.
CONGRATULATIONS AND A HUGE HUGE THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US.
DELANEY AND JACK DESIGNED ALL THE SIGNS, MADE THE COOKIES AND DECIDED WHAT ITEMS THEY WOULD DONATE.
I AM SO PROUD OF THEM, THESE KIDS ARE AMAZING.
CONGRATULATIONS AND A HUGE HUGE THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US.
DENISEMy name is Denise and Zeus was my first pet. Hard to believe that it took all these years for me to have a pet. Actually, I did have two ducks, Reagan and Gorbachev, but they became victims of the family beagle. Zeus was absolutely the perfect pet. He walked without a leash, stopped at the corner and waited for me. I would ride my bike and he would run on the sidewalk next to me. He was a large boxer, 100 pounds of solid muscle. He was the love of my life. Shortly after he turned four years old he was diagnosed with lymphoma. He was given three months to live. He lived only 21 more days. My heart had been torn from my chest. I had already fostered Baby Jack (Lil Jack) for Sachi by then. (Zeus was afraid of Baby Jack and just wanted him out of the house! Zeus went out to the driveway and just sat!) When Zeus was in his last moments, through the tears, I promised him I would help all of his cousins, that I would do what I could for them. I believed that Zeus was perfect not only because I loved him, I believed it was his breed that helped him be such a love.
That was the beginning, or should I say, the spark that got me involved with Sachi. Since Baby Jack, I have also fostered Julia (for a short time), Bonnie and Clyde, Maggie, Keegan, Jillian (Jilly - my love), and Clooney. Clooney has been renamed, at least by me, as Fred. He is always so happy to see me. He sounds like he is dancing. He just needs a Ginger in his life. Is it hard to give up a dog that has become part of your family? Most definitely!!! The way I look at it is that I am helping a cousin of Zeus, my baby. Have I cried when they leave? Yes, each and every time. But I know that they are going to wonderful homes where they will be given loads of love and spoiled each and every day. Do I spoil them? You bet I do! I love them as I loved Zeus. They have a special place to sleep, and sometimes it is with me. They need to feel loved. And I love them as if they were my own because for a short time, they are. Denise's Foster dogs |
ZEUSZEUSZEUSZEUS |
ELLENIt was a long time before I discovered the joy boxers, but once I did, I fell head over heels in love.
Growing up I had Pekingese dogs that I loved dearly. I learned a lot about them from my Grandmother. She was so gentle, and showed me how her little dogs have their own personalities. Many years passed before I got a home where I could have dogs. I soon had 4 Pekingese. All were rescued. A few years went by and I began exploring a new way to learn about other people. That of course was Facebook. One day something happened that changed my life. I saw a boxer that needed to be rescued. His name was Monte and I wanted to do all I could to help him so I sent some money to help. SACHI answered my prayers. He was indeed rescued and I received a note of thanks from SACHI. Fast forward a few months and SACHI needed a foster home for a boxer being rescued. I had never had a large dog so didn't know how I could manage, but I rescued my first boxer, fostered her and loved every minute of it. What joy! And that's when I fell in love with boxer dogs and have been a volunteer ever since. I have lost count how many boxers I have rescued but I am thrilled each time I do. I wish to continue helping boxers as long as I can. |
DANI grew up in a house full of a variety of pets, except, strangely enough, for the cat. However, my bio wouldn’t be complete without mentioning my love for the guinea pig. In fact, the first animal “rescue” that I ever witnessed was when my mom brought home two guinea pigs, Lady Jane and Lord Byron, from the medical research lab where she worked as a secretary. I’d like to say that I was too young to understand how she managed to get these two pigs “rescued”, but I do remember she was quite a charmer with her feminine wiles. Needless to say, a few months later, and after having measured poor Lady Jane’s stomach at a whopping girth of 18 inches, she gave birth to 8 little piggies. These childhood experiences really impacted my love for animals, and as an adult I was lucky enough to have had several pigs of my own.
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I know, it seems like having a pig is a poor substitute for a dog, but when you are living like a nomad, they are just a tiny bit easier to cart around with you. In fact, when I drove out to LA from Chicago, I had my, now elderly, mother as a co-pilot (if you consider sleeping the #1 duty of a co-pilot) and five pigs stuffed into my tiny little pick-up truck. It was quite an adventurous road trip, and I have the home movies as proof. For instance I filmed one-handedly while cruising down the highway at 90+ mph the moment when my mother’s upper denture rolled out of her mouth during a “nap” and landed on her stomach.
Anyway, those pigs brought me a lot of joy, and I couldn’t have been happier to have known them…well that is until we adopted Monchis, our first boxer. And now, thru SAR, we are adding Whiskey to our clan. My only wish as a volunteer is that one day I am able to payback to a dog in need just a smidgen of the joy that SAR has brought into my life. And congrats to Rafa on making her dreams of SAR a reality. Now, can someone help me to fulfill my other childhood dream of owning a goat? Stop laughing, I’m serious! |