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Rescue Runners, Inc.
Rescue Runners was created with one simple belief: shelter dogs deserve more than life inside a kennel. Based in El Paso, Texas, we bring volunteers together to walk, run, and spend meaningful time with shelter dogs who desperately need exercise, enrichment, socialization, and a break from the stress of the shelter environment. For some dogs, these outings may be their only opportunity to get outside their kennel, explore, play, and simply be a dog. But these moments do more than give them a good day. Outside the kennel, dogs have the chance to show who they really are, their personalities, their quirks, their affection, and their potential. That visibility can make all the difference in helping them find a foster or adoptive home. As our community has grown, so has our mission. In addition to our volunteer Sunday walks and runs, Rescue Runners organizes a once-a-month Sunset walk/run and Doggy Day Out opportunities and helps provide essential supplies to fosters and adopters who step up for at-risk and long-term shelter dogs. What makes Rescue Runners different is that our work is not tied to just one shelter or rescue. We support dogs across multiple shelters and rescue organizations throughout the El Paso community, helping connect volunteers, resources, and opportunities wherever they are needed most. There is no other organization in El Paso doing quite what we do: bringing the community together to support dogs across different shelters and rescues under one mission. At the center of everything is the dog in front of us: the one waiting for a walk, a day out, a foster home, an adopter, or simply someone to notice them. Rescue Runners is completely volunteer-run, so donations go directly toward the programs, supplies, and opportunities that help us continue showing up for the dogs who need us. Maybe you can’t adopt. But you can still make a difference.

Causes: Advocacy, Animals, Education

Rescue Runners began in 2014 with a simple idea: give shelter dogs a break from the kennel and give the community an easy way to make a difference.

Shelters operate with limited staff whose priority has to be feeding, cleaning, medical care, and keeping hundreds of animals safe. That often means there simply isn’t enough time for something dogs desperately need too: exercise, enrichment, socialization, and human connection. So Rescue Runners set out to help fill that gap.

At our very first event, 15 volunteers showed up on a Sunday morning to walk shelter dogs. Before it happened, our founder was told that people wouldn’t come that early on a Sunday just to walk dogs. But they did. Then we were told there was no way volunteers could ever walk every dog at El Paso’s main municipal shelter.

So in 2022, we organized the Mutt-A-Thon, and our community showed up once again, with over 500 volunteers helping walk every adoptable shelter dog in one event.

Since then, that has become part of who we are. We set a goal, our community steps up, and together we find new ways to give more dogs the experiences, exposure, and opportunities they deserve.

What began as a small group of volunteers walking shelter dogs has grown into weekly walks, Doggy Day Outs, special events, foster and adoption support, and collaborations with shelters and rescue organizations throughout the El Paso community.

From 15 volunteers to hundreds of dogs walked in a single day, Rescue Runners has grown because El Paso keeps showing up. And we’re not done yet.

Powered by volunteers
it takes a village! Volunteers waiting in line
Our Progress
Our Goal $10,000
Total Amount Raised
-
Number of Donations
0
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