Sonia is the founder of Last Hope Animal Rescue. We asked her to convey the story of how it all began and here it is in her own words: I have always said that Last Hope started with a dog named Honey and her six puppies. This may not be the exact starting point but, for me, it’s where Last Hope started to …

Jane met a volunteer from Last Hope at a soccer tournament. She saw the volunteer’s Last Hope shirt and, being a dog lover, asked her about it. After learning about what Last Hope did for animals, Jane decided to volunteer in July of 2017. She helps with getting dogs from the Adoption Center to our Saturday and Sunday adoption events …

Barb started rescuing with LHAR in early 2017.  She was with another rescue for six years and transported hundreds of kittens down to Iowa Humane Alliance from the Waterloo area where she lives, which is how she met Lori Arbuckle (an LHAR board member). In early 2016 Barb coordinated the removal/rescue of 47 cats from a hoarding situation in rural Grundy …

Kayla and Anthony Manning have been volunteering for Last Hope for about a year and a half after Anthony, who worked at a doggy daycare center, heard from one of their clients about the good work Last Hope does. They began by fostering dogs until May of 2017 when they foster “failed” with their dog, Popeye (formerly Cooper). During that …

Kiley has been a volunteer with Last Hope since January 2017. She first signed up to foster because she wanted to help animals in need and she recently lost a family dog but they weren’t ready to adopt. She fostered two dogs in the first eight months; one of which was a “foster failure” meaning Kiley ended up adopting her. …

Over 10 years ago Lori was working for Friends of the Shelter in Vinton when she met our founder, Sonia. Sonia asked Lori and her husband to foster a very ill dog, Lottie. Week after week Lottie got stronger and stronger and was able to live a happy life for about four and a half years and was adopted by …

Our fosters are very important people! Yes, we have the Adoption Center where we house some animals but foster homes are preferable for the animals. They get to know the animals so we can better find forever homes that will be good matches. While in the foster homes, the fosters learn about the animals’ personalities and quirks and have an …

Here is what Lynn Kennedy said about her experience volunteering for Last Hope… My family first heard of Last Hope Animal Rescue when my daughter wanted a rabbit. We knew we wanted a rescue bunny so we found Toby through Last Hope’s website. We quickly fell in love with him and adopted him. We then lost one of our cats …

Shannon began volunteering for Last Hope in May 2015 while working on puppy mill issues in Iowa. She and her family began by fostering dogs and have had 11 fosters since then. She felt that fostering was something her family could do to save the lives of animals. She also has transported dogs, helped with a variety of events, is …

After learning about Last Hope at a holiday event, Val and Andy attended a new volunteer orientation and started volunteering in February of 2016. They volunteer as dog leads at the Adoption Center and work an average of three to four shifts a week. They feed, give medication, provide exercise and play time, clean, and make sure each dog gets …