Since opening five years ago, Better Together Dog Rescue has found homes for more than 2,000 dogs. Based in Leverett, the rescue was founded in 2021 by Jenny Franz, who saw a “crisis” for homeless dogs in the U.S. and felt compelled to act.
Today, Franz leads a team of two paid employees and a dedicated group of volunteers. The rescue’s impact is widespread, with approximately 30 dogs currently in foster homes across western Massachusetts. after realizing the “crisis” in this country for homeless dogs. Along with her, the shelter is run by two other paid employees and a team of volunteers.
“I will say we’re a small organization. We have three paid employees at minimum wage and we rely heavily on our volunteers and fosters for their time,” Franz said. “So it’s quite a big accomplishment that we have been able to save and rehome many dogs.”
Many of the dogs are brought to the shelter from Cleveland, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee — areas where, according to Franz, stray populations are high and shelters are overcrowded. Twice a year, volunteers travel down to Texas to perform what Franz calls “boots on the ground” work by providing food, supplies and medical care through the Forgotten Animals of Cleveland Texas program.
Dogs from both locations are brought into the Cleveland and Nashville shelters, seen by a veterinarian and then transported to Massachusetts. After a veterinarian check and a state-mandated 48-hour isolation period, the dogs are released for foster or adoption.
“It’s a volunteer-favorite shift because they get to see the journey of these dogs coming through and going into their second chances,” said Franz about the process of getting the new dogs ready for fostering or adoption.
Better Together also takes in local dogs, working closely with with Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospitals in Springfield, West Springfield and Deerfield.
Franz’s path to rescue work began with a stray at the Granby dog pound; she later earned her master’s degree and completed a six-week internship in Utah at the Best Friends Animal Society. Now, she works with people like Sydne Didier, who matches prospective adopters with dogs such as the Springfield PetSmart, pride marches, the Amherst and Belchertown farmers markets and local breweries.
“There’s all different ways that we try to get the word out and try to get our dogs seen,” she said.
The impact is felt deeply by volunteers like Austin Urkiel and his wife, who have fostered 22 dogs with Better Together. The couple has also adopted two dogs through the organization. Urkiel explained that while they can have a dog in their home anywhere from one day to 10 weeks, they usually foster for about three weeks at a time.
“The line is, ‘it saves two lives.’ It opens a spot up for another dog to be in the shelter while you’re holding onto that dog until it finds its forever home,” Urkiel said.
Kayla Blair, who also fosters dogs and is a volunteer coordinator at Better Together working two to three times a week, sees this transformation firsthand.
“You’re getting to get out and be active, and you can see the difference in a lot of dogs’ personalities when they are able to leave the kennel and start walking outside,” she said. “Sometimes you can literally see the stress just come off of them as they step out.”
Franz expressed deep gratitude for how warmly the residents of Leverett as well as the larger western Massachusetts community have embraced the shelter since its opening.
Didier echoed that sentiment, noting that community feedback has been “universally positive” and that the rescue is now “being seen as helpers” throughout the region.
“It’s very infrequent in life that you get to be involved with something that is so ultimately positive and really makes you feel like ‘maybe I couldn’t make a huge difference in life, but I can help this one dog get from a bad situation into a loving caring home,’ which is just as good for the people as it is for the dogs,” said Didier.
