BEVAN

SOCIAL MEDIA/CONTRACTS

Hi, I’m Bevan, and after adopting three HIP dogs, I joined the Hounds in Pounds team in 2021, helping with social media and adoptions. In addition to my three HIPsters, I have another rescue dog that my family found as a stray in Central Park, a rescue bunny, and two rescue parakeets.

TONI

TEAM LEAD, FOSTER PROGRAMS

Hi, I’m Toni, and I have been working with HIP as part of the foster program for over two years. I am a single mom of two teenagers and have four rescue dogs, Sadie and Milly, and I adopted former HIPsters Frida and Bean (foster fails). I live in Sussex County. I am passionate about helping dogs and have recently begun co-leading our foster program.

MADELINE

DIRECTOR OF ADOPTIONS

My name is Madeline and I began my rescue career 8 years ago. I have been with HIP for 4 years, as the Director of Adoptions. In this role, I ensure that each dog is placed with the best family possible. I am also the proud Mom of 2 human children and 4 dogs. My youngest, Dottie, is a lucky HIPster.

TARA

DIRECTOR OF SAFETY AND COMPLIANCE

Hi, I’m Tara, and I began my career with HIP as a foster Mom. I have fostered many dogs, and each one has left a great impression on me. I am currently the Director of Home Checks. I take great pride in what I do to help dogs find their forever families.

KELCY

DIRECTOR OF RELATIONS

Hi, I’m Kelcy, and I have worked in animal rescue/welfare for the past 14 years. If I’m not saving animals from the side of the road, fundraising for HIP, or painting murals, I am snuggling with my 13-year-old Pitbull, Wiggles. I help raise funds and write blogs and emails/newsletters for HIP to ensure we can save as many dogs from death row as possible.

LAUREN

DIRECTOR OF FOSTER PROGRAM

Hi, I’m Lauren, and I have been with HIP for five years. I have fostered dozens of dogs through that time and felt the need to continue saving lives. Fostering is more rewarding than I ever thought, and it brings my family together, helping save lives as a unit. My grandfather rescued dogs in East Orange, NJ, in the late ’50s, so I think it must be in my blood!

BRIANNE

SOCIAL MEDIA/GRAPHIC ARTIST

Hi, I’m Brianne, a mom of two kids and two pups. I have a background in art and love doing anything creative, whether graphic design, oil painting, drawing, or writing. I help run HIPs’ Twitter, and I do graphic design for them. I grew up with dogs and truly believe no better creature exists on the planet.

LINDSEY

KENNEL MANAGER

Hey, y’all, I’m Lindsey! I work in animal welfare & advocacy in the southeast. My motto is “Do it for the dogs,” I live every day in that mindset! I can’t count the number of dogs I’ve fostered for HIP; it never becomes any less rewarding. Including nine giant puppies, one of which I adopted myself!

JEANIE

GEORGIA COORDINATOR

Hi, I’m Jeanie, and I have been with HIP since 2016 and support our founder, Cat, in various roles. I have fostered 164 HIP dogs and puppies from 2016–2021. I help with our Facebook page, including our opening day joke or informational piece.

CASSANDRA

INFORMATION SPECIALIST

Hi, I’m Cassandra Lang, a volunteer with Hounds in Pounds doing dog data entry! I work with other team members, and we post available dogs to the website and Petfinder with pictures and fun bios! I have always loved dogs and grew up with them most of my life. I have one named Auggie. Recently, I was looking for a way to do more than donate, and I saw a post on Instagram, so I signed up!

RITA

INFORMATION SPECIALIST

Hi, I’m Rita, and my family and I have been fostering with HiP since December 2020. It’s an honor for us and so rewarding to be part of every pup’s journey to its furever home. I grew up with dogs my whole life up until my last pup passed in 2009. I also help write bios for the dogs so we can do our very best to highlight them and their very best qualities to get them adopted.

In 2021, we adopted Cheerio from HiP. She’s been such a blessing to us. Our family loves her dearly.

CAT

PRESIDENT

Hi, I’m Cat, founder, and President of Hounds in Pounds. Saving dogs has changed my life in unimaginable ways, and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine my life would turn out like this. But thank goodness it did.

Hounds in Pounds started as a small grassroots rescue; I went in not having any idea about the crisis in our shelters. Eight years later, Hounds in Pounds has rescued thousands of dogs, and thousands more await us.

I love shelter dogs; they represent something in all of us. Their will to survive is beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. When the odds are stacked against them, they refuse to give up. Despite everything these dogs endure, they remain ready to love. They give themselves freely to the people who care for them. They live in the moment and never look back.

Dogs have shaped us, taught us, and made us want to become better people. They have led us to dig deep, hang on, and never give up. To practice compassion. To share love and kindness without conditions. To overcome fear with love. Every dog we help epitomizes the magnificence of a dog’s essence.

Dogs saved my life, and in return, I save theirs. I couldn’t think of anything else I would rather be doing.  In my spare time (haha), I foster HIPsters and spend time with my family and friends and our dogs.  If you see me dining outdoors in NYC with my pups, stop by and say HI. 

All of my dogs are rescues; we are a proud HIP family representing shelter dogs worldwide.

ALLI

FOSTER

Hi, I’m Alli! After rescuing my pride and joy, Lincoln, fka Buck, from HIP in 2021, I wanted to pay it forward and help other pups find their forever homes. I will forever be grateful for the couple that fostered Lincoln before I found him. Lincoln and I opened our home to our first foster in the summer of 2022.

ASHLEY & DAVID

FOSTERS

Hi! We are Ashley and David! I am an NYC school-based speech pathologist. Dave is a financial coach for EY. We joined the HIP family in 2017 when we adopted our dog, Jackson Browne. Since December 2019, we have fostered 23 dogs in our Downtown Jersey City apartment. We love fostering for HIP!

KELLY & BILL

FOSTERS

Hi, we are Kelly and Bill, and we started fostering 11 years ago. As expected, our first foster, Oliver, was what they call a “foster fail,” and we adopted him ourselves. But we’ve successfully fostered many others since. The life lessons this process has taught our now-adult children are invaluable. Taking in a broken soul and watching them come back to life and their personalities come through is fun and rewarding. Is it tough to let them go? Sure! But we often stay in touch with adopters and can see pictures of them living their best lives, making it easier and well worth it.

BRENDAN

FOSTER

Hi, I’m Brendan, currently working at the Hudson Farm in northern NJ and a former driver for Grateful Doggies transport, driving dogs from down south up north to join their rescuer, Hounds in Pounds. I joined HiP in 2021 when I started fostering, and I adopted a dog named Duke, aka Dublin. I adopted two other dogs, Sugar Plumb and Pierce, in 2023. I love trying to help shelter dogs get to their forever homes.

CAMBRIA

FOSTER

Hi, my name is Cambria. After lovingly following Hounds in Pounds on social media for a year and attending a couple of their adoption events, I began my foster journey with them in January 2019. I have fostered countless dogs of all shapes, sizes, and ages. Each one offers something special to me and my family, and they leave to their forever homes knowing how to be a dog and be part of a loving home. I don’t do it on my own; I have two of my dogs and two children who participate in helping these dogs adjust and feel safe. I can’t explain how fostering has enriched our lives; knowing that we were a part of their journey to living their best life is…for lack of a better word, AWESOME.

COLBY

FOSTER

Hi, I’m Colby, and I started fostering with my family at age 9 or 10. It is something I love to do and find very rewarding. It has taught me many lessons, and my experiences have even helped me with many essays for school over the years. I am now a sophomore in college, but I always hope there is a foster at home when I’m on breaks. This pic is with one of the greatest, Barry.

THE COOPER FAMILY

FOSTERS

Hi, we are the Cooper family, and my name is Sam.

My kids (Taylor and TJ) and I have been fostering for Hounds in Pounds since the organization started, and we are so thankful to be a part of such a fantastic group of volunteers! The organization truly makes every step of the fostering process so easy. The nervous feeling we had when we picked up our first foster and the voices of “I don’t think we can do this – how will we be able to say goodbye?” very quickly changed to “How many more can we save” when we realized the impact that foster families have on the ability to save these beautiful dogs’ lives.

Welcoming a new foster into our home is just about as exciting to my kids as waking up on Christmas day! When we are between fosters, no day goes by for my kids to ask me when the next foster will arrive. We are the Cooper family and love fostering for Hound in Pounds!

JEN

FOSTER

Hi, I’m Jen. I’m a school counselor and single mom to one teenage daughter and two rescue dogs. I’ve been fostering for four years and HIP for the past two years, allowing me to meet many beautiful dogs and people!

JOHN

FOSTER

Hi, I’m John, and I adopted two amazing Hipsters (Tess and Hazel) and serve as a volunteer foster parent for HIP. I have always had an affinity for dogs: they are the most unconditionally loving and loyal creatures on earth. And since a human is behind every dog in a kill shelter, I feel obligated to help. And what’s amazing about HIP is they make it so easy to foster and save a dog. All I have to do is give a temporary home to a HIP rescue. HIP takes care of everything else, right down to supplying the food. I am so grateful to HIP for saving my two AMAZING dogs. And since ALL dogs go to heaven, HIP is truly doing God’s work, and I am honored to do a small part in helping to fulfill HIP’s mission.

JEANNE

FOSTER

Hi, I’m Jeanne. I’ve been fostering for Hounds In Pounds since March 2021. I also volunteer at adoption events handling dogs and taking photos. I have 4 rescue dogs of my own including one HIPster. I love helping dogs in any way I can. They bring us so much joy and unconditional love!

DEBBIE & KEVIN

FOSTERS

Hello, I’m Debbie. I live in Woodstock, GA and have been fostering with HIP since the rescue started, I was the first Forster for HIP! I will never forget the dog we saved; Max. Kevin started fostering with me about 7 years ago. Since then, we have had countless fosters and a few foster failures! We both are extremely grateful to HIP for all they do, and we look forward to many more fosters.