Should dogs with behavior issues be labeled as unadoptable and left to live in kennels their whole lives? Or worse, be euthanized?
For Thommy Harley, founder of From Kennels to Homes, the answer is absolutely not—and we agree 100%.
Being a huge animal lover, Thommy had always volunteered at animal shelters.
But, his decision to start From Kennels to Homes began when he transferred to Florida and ended up volunteering at a large animal shelter.
The shelter had a building housing 21 dogs that many considered “unadoptable” due to behavior issues.
He says in the podcast,
“In the back, Chris, they had this human aggression, dog aggression, never-can-be-adopted building of about 21 dogs. And to be honest, it just kind of broke my heart.”
Right then and there, Thommy made the decision to try and rehabilitate the dogs to at least give them a chance to find a family of their own.
And sure enough, his dedication paid off.
After working with the dogs, he was able to help 18 of them find homes before he left the shelter.
This positive outcome showed Thommy that many so-called “behavior issue” dogs are just mislabeled.
With the right amount of patience and love, they’re all capable of becoming an amazing family member.
He says in the interview,
“I’m very humbled with what I do because the first thing I need with these dogs is trust. And that’s a huge gift from a dog that’s been mistreated.”
Leaving his day job behind for good, Thommy set out on a mission to help behavior issue dogs stuck in shelters and rescues.
He also wanted to encourage those with a background in behavior training to do the same.
And thus, From Kennels to Homes was born.
What Does From Kennels to Homes Do?
From Kennels to Homes is an organization that aims to reduce euthanasia rates in local animal shelters and rescues and help “unadoptable” dogs find homes by providing behavior training and modification.
Since many small animal shelters and rescues don’t have the means to pay for a trainer, a lot of dogs with behavior issues remain “too dangerous for adoption”. Thus, they either spend their whole lives in a kennel or get euthanized.
Thommy’s goal is to help these animal shelters and rescues pay for behavior training through outside sponsors.
So how does this work?
Sponsors simply donate money to pay for the cost of a certain number of hours of behavior training.
On the site, they have a Rescues in Need page where you can manually choose which animal shelter or rescue to donate to or which animal to sponsor.
We also highly encourage you to check out the Success Stories on their website to see previously shy and fearful dogs transform into friendly pups and find forever homes.
Learn more about From Kennels to Homes!
Check out their website at https://fromkennelstohomes.com/.
