Today we’d like to introduce you to Larissa Gavin.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My twin sister adopted a dog from Corridor Rescue in 2013 that had been sitting in boarding for almost a year. I had no clue how bad the animal overpopulation problem was in Houston and that year at Christmas, we decided to volunteer and give back to that organization. Anna Barbosa with Corridor Rescue took my sister, dad and I on a tour of the area off of Little York and 59. It was like a 3rd world country with stray dogs everywhere, roaming the streets. I vividly remember looking up and seeing the Chase Tower, my office building where I worked downtown and was in disbelief that it was only 10 minutes but a world away. At that moment, I decided I was going to do something to change this. Being from Wisconsin, stray dogs are not a problem because laws are enforced and there is simply a different mentality. With that in mind, I formed Lola’s Lucky Day to rescue dogs in Houston; simply focus on getting them healthy then once healthy, we transport them to our partner rescues and shelters who they are adopted through in Wisconsin.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There is no manual or college degree on having a dog rescue organization, so there has definitely been some bumps in the road but they have all been learning experiences. I am thankful for that because it has now gotten us to a point where we have a well-oiled machine and team.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lola’s Lucky Day – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Our rescue organization is different in that we rescue dogs from the street, shelters, those that are abandoned, or unwanted or people who simply are asking us to help them because they need assistance for various reasons. We simply focus on getting dogs 100% healthy and then rely on our Wisconsin partners to adopt out our dogs through their processes of applications, home visits, vet and personal references, etc. A large majority of the dogs we send go straight to adopters; some go to another foster home for a short time. The ones we send to our partner shelter groups (completely different than shelters here) are adopted usually within a week. When local Houstonians are interested in adopting our dogs we refer them to the many great other rescue organizations who don’t have the outlet we do and just adopt locally.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our plans for the future would be to continue the same model we are using. We would love to obtain more 100 Club members as that helps us tremendously financially. These are people who commit on a monthly ongoing basis to donate anywhere from $5 to $500 a month.
Contact Info:
- Website: lolasluckyday.com
- Email: lolasluckyday@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lolasluckyday
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lolasluckyday
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lolasluckyday?lang=en
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