On Angels’wings Emptying the shelters is the goal of Forsyth-based pet rescue By CANDY WAYLOCK
L
LuAnn Farrell, co-founder Angels Among Us Pet Rescue.
44 | Community Answer Book 2019
uAnn Farrell does not think of herself as a hero, or even the kick-starter of a revolution. But more than 14,000 castaway dogs and cats who found their way to her might think otherwise. “I didn’t set out to become an [animal] rescuer,” said Farrell, who co-founded Angels Among Us Pet Rescue in 2008. “But I am a firm believer that we are destined to follow a life path, if we only listen.” For the Minnesota native who spent her childhood surrounded by farm animals and pets, her love of animals had early roots. When she and her husband, Ray, got their first German shepherd in 1983, she knew her home would never lack a dog. But the idea of a life of rescue was never in the plans. After a series of moves around the country — 14 in 36 years — Farrell and her husband landed in Cumming in 2005. She began volunteering for the Forsyth County Humane Society. “Somehow, somewhere, I got on an email distribution list of rescuers, and it all really began from there,” she said. Farrell would see pictures of dogs about to be euthanized in shelters around the Southeast, and then work within a network of rescuers in other states to eventually rescue the dogs. “I formed an alliance with a rescuer in the Northeast, started saving a handful from local shelters [in Georgia], vetting them and then sending them north,” she said. Soon, a like-minded neighbor, Valerie Addington, with a similar passion, reached out to her to join forces, and Angels Among Us gained its wings. “I wish I could say we had this incredible vision of how we were going to change the world, but at the time, we were just desperate to try to save the lives any way we could,” said Farrell. “When we started, Val and I relied on friends and family to foster, volunteer, everything. For the first couple of years, we personally paid all the vet bills out of our pockets, which is why we had to keep working full-time,” said Farrell, a recently retired financial planner. Slowly, the group grew to include other people as dedicated to animal rescue as Farrell and Addington. In 2009, AAU became a registered 501c3 organization. Its nonprofit status allowed AAU to solicit donations to help pay vet bills, which run thousands of a dollars a month, even with discounts from their network of veterinarians. Since its founding, Angels Among Us has rescued more than 14,000 dogs and cats, primarily from high-kill shelters in rural Georgia, through a network of dedicated volunteers and supporters. Although the organization now has more than a million
