Saving Sunny founded the Community Dog Resource Center in 2014 with the goal of preventing dogs from entering the shelter system, by providing free resources for historically excluded communities in the way of dog food, medical care, spay/neuter surgeries, behavior support, transportation, and more. These resources often provided lifesaving care, and proved to assist families that may find themselves facing financial burden when it came to caring for a pet. There is no denying that this service is worthy and needed, however as 2020 hit us all smack dab in the face, so did the opportunity to understand why this exact route may not be the path for us any longer.

Therefore, we will no longer be operating our Community Dog Resource Center in its current form. Instead, we will be operating under a grassroots framework that supports abolitionist organizing and mutual aid. What does this all mean? In short, it’s simply giving money directly to the people that need it. Not soliciting for donations, then buying the things we think people need, then collecting data from them, but simply giving away our funds. Redistributing our wealth. Quite literally, sending money to anyone in need as long as we have the funds to do it. We will do this in incremental waves, and the only thing we ask in order to receive funds is that you own a pet.

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Mutual aid is a form of solidarity-based support, in which communities unite against a common struggle, rather than leaving individuals to fend for themselves. We are moving towards this mutual aid model because we believe in it, and it’s time we leverage our power in this community, and let the pet owners we love and care for make the best decisions for themselves and their families. Without moving towards this model, we believe we are withholding this power, and we’re inadvertently saying we don’t believe folks can make the best decisions for themselves. That is simply not true, so we’re trying something different. Something that’s proven to empower communities to thrive.