Statements
Mission
To make a difference in our community by rescuing as many abandoned cats and dogs as possible in order to grant them the chance to live the lives they have been given. To educate the public on the need for spay and neuter, humane care, and the unconditional love that these animals have to offer in exchange for offering them a safe haven in their homes and hearts.
Background
Our organization was formed in 2007 as a grass roots efforts to help reduce the euthanasia rates at our local animal shelters. The idea was to keep this organization open to everyone who could work together for the common good without letting strong personalities get in the way of the mission. The organization would not employee personnel, but rather rely solely on volunteers and donations from the public to operate. Every penny received goes directly towards the animals in which we help. We operated for 6 months in 2007 and during that time rescued 122 cats and 105 dogs. We have grown quite a bit since this time, and started a partner program in 2012 which created partnerships with northern rescues that we would transport animals to, knowing that we could not possibly save them all by ourselves. In 2018, we rescued 1,716 dogs and 853 cats. Of this, 421 dogs and 372 cats were rescued through our adoption program, and 1,295 dogs and 481 cats were rescued through our transport program. The ONLY time that Euthanasia becomes necessary is when our licensed Veterinarians give us no other options. Every Animal is saved if at all possible,
Impact
2020 was a rough year for all of us. An EF-4 tornado destroyed part of our community, combined with COVID-19 which has made adoptions and transports difficult. The positive is that we have still stayed true to our mission to save as many lives as possible during this pandemic. We purchased our first transport vehicle in 2012 with the assistance of the Petco Foundation. Within 6 months of having this van and seeing the lifesaving impact it had, we started saving to purchase our next vehicle. By 2017, the miles were pushing 300,000 and we started having some maintenance issues with the vehicle. In December of 2017, we were able to purchase a second vehicle which we now use for all long distance transports. The older vehicle that we continue to use for short distance transports is reaching the end of its life, and we are now actively fundraising for the purchase of our third transport vehicle. When we started the transport program, we used the Cumberland County Animal Shelter in Crossville, TN as our basis for statistics. At the time, the euthanasia rate was over 60%. Our goal was to reduce this rate to 10% or below. In 2017, we achieved this goal. We continue to treat all Heartworm Positive cases, Parvo cases, broken bones, etc. from any shelter or county without a shelter in our 14 county region. While many shelters will automatically put these animals to sleep, and other rescue avoid these cases, we believe that every animal deserves the chance to live; and we will continue to fundraise to afford these costs to save these animals. Our goals in the upcoming year are to continue to operate as we have been. We plan on continuing to rescue animals from our local animal shelters when they are not adopted by the local community; we plan to continue to support our local counties that have no animal shelters in taking in their strays, making every effort to find the homes that they were lost from; we plan to continue to transport animals to our partner groups in the north for as long as that service is needed; we plan to continue to treat illness and injury in all animals that we possibly can; and we will continue to form and keep partnerships with everyone who has our same mission - to save them all.
Needs
Our most important needs at this time are: 1) Foster Homes - we provide all of the needed supplies, food, vet care - we pay for all expenses - we need safe places for these animals to stay while awaiting their forever homes or a transport to a partner rescue. Fostering can be short term or long term and we do everything in our power to match you with the right personality for your situation. http://aarf-tn.com/foster/ 2) Transport Drivers - you will drive our van to our partner shelters (typically overnight runs). You will assist with unloading the animals upon arrival, then spending the night (day) in a hotel to rest before returning the van to Cookeville. All expenses are paid for, including fuel, food for you and passenger, and lodging. http://aarf-tn.com/volunteer/ 3) Volunteers - Helping at adoption events, fundraising, local or long distance transporting, returning phone calls, cleaning/disinfecting transport crates, cleaning the cat habitat at the local pet stores, taking photos, grooming...you name it, we need your help! http://aarf-tn.com/volunteer/ 4) Donations: www.aarf-tn.com
CEO Statement
Hello and thank you for reading our profile, My name is Jennifer Farley and I am the Co-Founder of A.A.R.F. (All About Rescue and Fixin Inc.). When AARF was formed over 13 years ago, we did not realize the impact we would have on the homeless animal community in our region. We continue to stand by our mission, to save as MANY animals as possible to allow them to live the lives they were given. We realized early on that we certainly could not save these animals by ourselves - there were too few of us, and too many animals in need. What started as a 3-person operation has developed not only into a network of MANY local volunteers and foster homes, but long distance organizations that share our mission and values when it comes to saving animal lives. This has allowed us save so many more animals than we ever thought would be possible. In the 13 years between 2007 and 2020, we have saved over 22,000 lives from the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee! Our team does not take our volunteer responsibilities lightly; we work around the clock if necessary to save a life. We give EVERY animal a chance. While many organizations avoid taking higher risk animals (heartworm positive, Parvo positive, Distemper, Broken Bones, Hit by car, etc), we feel that those are the ones who need us the most. This entire organization is funded by donations and the occasional grant. We keep our overhead minimal to ensure that every penny received will help an animal in need. Not a single person in this organization receives a paycheck. Our passion is saving lives and we receive our payment in kitty nose rubs and puppy kisses. We hope that you will consider supporting our organization and our efforts to save them all! Jennifer Farley, Co-Founder
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Animal Related - Animal Protection & Welfare |
| Secondary Category: | - |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
A.A.R.F. is based in the Cookeville, TN area but we serve the entire 14 county district of the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee.
| TN - Putnam |
| TN - Cumberland |
| TN - White |
| TN - Warren |
| TN - Jackson |
| TN - Overton |
| TN - Macon |
| TN - Pickett |
| TN - Smith |
| TN - Clay |
| TN - Fentress |
| TN - DeKalb |
| TN - Cannon |
| TN - Van Buren |
