The Animal Support Project was formed in memory of a little dog we never met. Her name was Julia, and she was a Mini-Dachschund puppy who lived in Easton, NY. On January 11, 2006, Julia's owner was arrested because he shot her in the head for soiling his rug while he was away from home. The founders of our organization decided that what happened to Julia should never happen to another pet, and we decided to do everything we could to encourage people to do right by their companion animals. You can learn more about Julia's case at this link.

        Shortly before this, several of our volunteers had assisted with animal rescue in the Gulf region after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Our experiences taught us that people in crisis often need help when it comes to maintaining their animals, and many of the animals that end up being killed or sent to shelters ended up that way because nobody stepped forward to help these people when they felt they had nowhere else to turn. Panic or ignorance took over and the animal paid the price for human folly. 

         We are people just like you. We have jobs and families and pets of our own. But we work on our days off and in our spare time, assisting people who need help with their animals in order to keep them.  Our main goal is to support animals and their owners through tough times by helping pets stay where they belong: at home with their family. We do this by bridging gaps in behavioral issues, training, grooming, transportation, routine veterinarian care, and other necessary services, for all species. When necessary, we offer foster and re-homing services to ensure that animals continue to live in a safe, loving environment. Our volunteers are active Operations and Logistics team members responding across North America with HSUS, UAN, PetSmart Charities, American Humane, Noah's Wish, Muttshack, Rensselaer County CART, Louisiana SART and Empire SART Animal Disaster Response Teams.  The Animal Support Project also works to build awareness in our local community on best practices for animal care, sheltering, and emergency preparedness and we participate in local and national spay/neuter efforts to help alleviate the tragic pet overpopulation problem that exists today.  We are an all volunteer group that does not charge for the services we provide.

This is what we do in memory of Julia and all the animals who die or suffer because their owners just don't know how to or can't afford to do the right thing.