About Mountain Pet Rescue
Our Mission
Our Mission is to improve the lives of pets in need by providing rescue, foster care, veterinary care, education, training support, and adoption into safe, loving homes.
Our Objectives
We strive to find foster care and forever homes for dogs in need.
We collaborate with other animal welfare organizations to help find good homes for pets in need – no matter where the pet is located or what organization it is with.
We support our volunteers by showing them the respect, professionalism and responsiveness that they deserve, so that they find volunteering with Mountain Pet Rescue to be a valuable, rewarding, and enjoyable experience.
We provide basic education and training to the general public and to those who foster and/or adopt, so that our pets receive proper care in their new homes and lessen the need for rescue. Education and training topics include basic behavioral skills for pets and their owners, basic first aid, and the importance of spaying and neutering.
We have developed a system that is informative, timely and organized. We routinely track pet statuses, communicate with the public and volunteers, and respond to questions and/or concerns within 24 hours to ensure a successful experience in pet ownership, education and fostering.
Pets come into our lives and touch our hearts. Sometimes they change us forever.
For Sybil Miller, that pet was Boris – a Bernese mountain dog who would have continued to swelter under Florida’s sun if Sybil hadn’t flown from Colorado to rescue him. Sybil had been looking for a Bernese but couldn’t find one in a Colorado shelter; the breed was so popular there, no one had one available. When she contacted the Florida shelter, they were thrilled that Boris had finally found a loving home and could be the mountain dog he was meant to be.
The experience taught Sybil that certain dogs that are in high demand in Colorado mountain communities, such as Labradors, Newfoundlands, Huskies, and Heelers are often considered unadoptable in other states. With the help of a group of dedicated volunteers, Sybil decided to start a local rescue dedicated to finding homes for these types of dogs. And so Mountain Pet Rescue was born.
We are a foster-based rescue in Grand County, CO that focuses on rescuing active, energetic “mountain” dogs by working with overcrowded shelters in and outside of Colorado. Our Board of Directors strives to match each dog with its perfect home by assessing its temperament, evaluating the potential foster and adoption home, and following up with the pet owner to ensure a healthy and enjoyable relationship.
We look forward to helping you find the perfect family member to join your loving home!
Discover the compassionate champions fueling our mission—the devoted hearts behind our pet rescue family.
Meet the Board
Sybil
An animal lover throughout childhood, Sybil worked as a veterinary assistant while in high school and then at a dog training facility during her college years. In 2006, she decided she wanted to adopt a Bernese Mountain Dog and found her Boris, abandoned and miserably hot in a Florida shelter. Then, in 2010, she learned about the huge need for puppy fosters and the idea of being able to love on and play with puppies whenever she wanted sounded like great fun and a wonderful way to support rescue!
Sybil spent the next couple of years volunteering with different rescues, learning what she liked and didn’t like about their practices. As a successful business owner, Sybil had developed the skills and contacts to start a non-profit organization so she gathered the support needed and founded Mountain Pet Rescue. She is forever grateful for the generosity of MPR’s legal/accounting professionals, administrative assistants, veterinarians, dog trainers, fosters and volunteers who have helped save and rehome over 3000 dogs in 10 years!
Sybil
Becky
Becky has always loved animals, with a particular affinity for dogs. One of her earliest memories is sitting with her Fisher Price tape recorder, documenting her ideas of building a dog zoo where she could have every kind of dog in the world. While that desire to “have all the dogs” never subsided, her childhood black lab taught her that loving a dog meant so much more than just giving it a place to live. So, her dream slowly morphed from “having all the dogs” to “helping all the dogs.” After finishing college and pharmacy residency, Becky moved to Denver for a job that provided the ability to have a dog – which became her first order of business. Within two days of touring shelters, she had adopted a one-year-old Ridgeback/Boxer mix. He turned out to be quite a wild child! By working through his medical and behavioral challenges, Becky learned about the benefits of positive reinforcement, routine, enrichment, and creative problem solving. She also realized that so many homeless dogs face similar challenges, preventing them from finding homes and living the lives they deserve. So, after years of training her dog and helping him build proper social skills, Becky decided she wanted to start fostering dogs to help them become more adoptable.
A friend mentioned they’d worked with Mountain Pet Rescue in the past and had a positive experience, so Becky reached out to volunteer and learn about the organization. She started by welcoming dogs at transport arrivals and chauffeuring them to their new homes. She quickly realized that her values closely aligned with the organization’s, so was excited to continue helping out. One day she saw the sweetest, saddest face of a boxer in urgent need of a medical foster. Within a few hours she was bringing that dog into her home, nursing her back to health, and falling in love with fostering. Since then, she has worked to help over 30 foster dogs on their journey to their forever homes, while continuing to be involved with other aspects of rescue. Becky later joined the organization’s Board of Directors currently serving as the Vice President, offering insight and perspectives based on her volunteer experience in different roles within the rescue. As a board member, she combines the critical thinking and organizational skills from her day job as a clinical psychiatric pharmacist with her love and passion for dogs and their well-being. By focusing on welfare and getting involved with rescue, Becky has found the perfect way to fulfill her lifelong dream, both having and helping “all the dogs.”
Becky
Cathy
Cathy’s love of dogs was discovered when her daughter was 12 and wanted a dog, which led to many dogs being adopted since that time for both of us. Cathy adopted a dog from Mountain Pet Rescue in the early days of its existence and has adopted four dogs (directly and indirectly) throughout the years through this organization, in addition to rescuing dogs from other organizations. One MPR adoption led to becoming lifelong friends with the rescuer in another state. Cathy’s favorite saying is that rescue dogs win the “mega lottery” by coming to Colorado. She currently serves on the board as the Secretary.
Cathy
Meet the Staff
Emily
It was Emily’s love for animals that brought her to Mountain Pet Rescue. From the moment she joined this wonderful team of hard working volunteers, her eyes were opened to a whole new world of rescue! With her Bachelors of Animal Science and years of experience in administrative duties, Emily was ecstatic to have the opportunity to become MPR’s invaluable Executive Assistant. Having adopted three dogs of her own (MPR foster failure Red pictured here), Emily instantly fell in love with the mission of MPR and the goal of ensuring each dog finds their perfect forever home and that each adopter is provided with the tools to guarantee a successful adoption! She has a true appreciation for MPR’s dedicated team of volunteers and hopes she can contribute to the expansion of our organization to continue saving dogs in danger for years to come.
Emily