06/02/2023
Hello amazing HEA supporters! This is Shannon Mekelburg the rescue director 🙂 I’m ready to make an official announcement in regards to my decision on the future of Happily Ever After Canine Rescue Colorado. 🙏🏻🐶
After much time and thought, I have decided that I am happier/ healthier as a WHOLE not running Happily Ever After Canine Rescue so we won’t be reopening. 😢
I’m going to focus on spreading the word about humane society dogs at different facilities in Colorado for a bit, and look into volunteering a couple days a month at a shelter to get physically back into rescue slowly.
It was a HARD decision to make because the rescue was so successful (thanks to EVERYONE 🙏🏻ESPECIALLY OUR FOSTERS & VOLUNTEERS 😭😇) and we were ALL making a difference for many deserving babies 🐶🐶🐶🐶!
It was almost too successful (for me to handle) though, because before we knew it the rescue took off QUICKLY and I was working sometimes MORE THAN A FULL-TIME JOB (for a salary of $0 since we were 100% volunteer operated) There is SO much more……. paperwork, daily logistics, scheduling & driving of 🚗 incoming transports & vet appointments, managing social media, customer inquiries, and 24/7 managing of the well-being of ALL dogs, fosters, and adopters than most of the public is aware of. Behind the scenes of rescue is complex and takes massive detailed organization. It’s all WORTH it and ALL 100% NECESSARY to run a successful and ethical rescue though. I took it ALL VERY SERIOUSLY and we ALL did WHATEVER it took to hold the organization to impeccably high standards. That was our #1 priority from conception.
The literal ONLY problem in the rescue as we grew was ME (the director) 🙋🏼♀️ not being able to keep up with the pressures/ stress/ and demand of my time. I take FULL accountability for that. Work/ life balance is equally as important to me as giving back to animals and the community is. So I’m pivoting and finding a way to have BOTH while prioritizing my mental and physical health ❤️.
HEA will FOREVER be one of my fondest memories and I will forever be in AMAZEMENT and GRATITUDE for the way the whole community came together to make it happen! 😘
Happily Ever After Canine Rescue PROVED to me the TRUTH of the concept that when you have a VISION COME TO YOU & a DREAM WITH PURPOSE……… God works in miraculous ways to bring it to fruition. 🙏🏻
LOVE AND THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO MADE IT HAPPEN! Pics 📸 below of JUST SOME of the dogs now living Happily Ever After thanks to EVERYONE’S HARD WORK! (Facebook would only let me post this many collages MAX in one post 😒) ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
It would have ALL been worth it just to SAVE 1 LIFE and we SAVED MANY LIVES TOGETHER! 🐶🐕🐕🦺🐩