Ninna Lopez founded Ninna’s Road to Rescue in 2012 after working as a shelter manager of a large no-kill shelter for five years. She wanted to provide dogs and cats a better life. She wanted to give them an environment where they were able to live in a home that prepares them for their new life once adopted. Lopez has always had a caring heart for those who are not able to help themselves and formed this thriving shelter out of a foreclosed house. She tells CityLife about her own road to rescue.

Q&A with:

NINNa LOPEZ

Q: What kind of services you provide? Lopez: Many of the animals we take in come from animal control facilities. However, we do take in owner-surrenders on occasion. Many of the situations we prefer to help with are when an owner dies, leaving a pet behind or when an owner goes to a nursing home or when they can no longer care for their pet. We specialize in small-breed dogs and a handful of cats. While we are also an adoption center, we do not publicize our address or give it out until an adopter has been approved to adopt. This is to protect not only our animals but our volunteers as well.

Q: How is it different from other shelters/rescues? Lopez: Our rescue is not your typical shelter, and there is no other shelter in our area like ours. I secured a home equity loan on my primary residence and with that hired a animal-loving Realtor and ultimately purchased a foreclosure. We converted the two-bedroom, two-bath (with loft) into something similar to a doggie daycare. The dogs have room assignments and comfy beds and are housed in a home environment with air conditioning during the summer months and heat during the winter. During the day, they have a large backyard to run and play along with a huge deck, which includes a dog bone-shaped pool for those that want to take a dip during the hot summer months. If it’s too cold or too hot outside, they have access to come inside via a doggie door that leads to one of the doggie rooms inside the building. Our shelter better prepares the dogs for their new home by introducing them to new people, television, knocks on the door, cell phones ringing, washer and dryer going, etc. We can house roughly 20 dogs at a time. We have approximately 25 volunteers who come out every day of the year from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to clean and take care of the needs of the animals. The Meow House is a building I purchased and hauled to the back of the property to house the cats and kittens we rescue. It was built out to include a/c and heat, a cat walk, a screened-in front porch, which they can access via a doggie door. We can house roughly 10 cats. If an animal passes on while still under our rescue, they are cremated, and their ashes are in urns displayed in our Rainbow Bridge cabinet. Every animal is respected even in death.

Q: What inspired you to take care of animals? Lopez: I have always been an animal-lover. I will stop on a dime to remove a turtle out of the road or try to catch a stray. I have always been a defender of the bullied, the throwaways of society, the defenseless, voiceless, neglected and abandoned, whether it be an animal, a senior citizen or a child. Any human or animal that cannot defend themselves, I feel an overwhelming compulsion to help them. My heart goes out to those who cannot speak for themselves.

Q: Why is this work so important to the Shreveport-Bossier City community? Lopez: On a community level, our work reaches beyond what we do at the rescue. In October 2012, I walked into Bossier City Animal Control offering my assistance. Their animals were not posted anywhere, people were afraid to venture into the ‘pound,’ the perception of the staff was as ‘killers,’ and their euthanasia rate was over 80 percent. I explained to them my intentions were to help them, not hinder them. I wanted to get their animals out on social media, educate the importance of the spaying and neutering to the public, change the public’s perceptions of the shelter and the staff and help reduce their euthanasia rate. After receiving their blessing, I founded the Friends of Bossier City Animal Control Facebook page. I recruited some rescue friends to help me with pictures and the Facebook page. Fast forward three years later, the euthanasia rate for dogs is down to 16 percent, the Facebook page has over 15,000 likes, adoption numbers have increased exponentially, and the perception of the shelter and the staff has completely changed for the better. As a result, the moral of the staff has changed as they are encouraged and motivated with all the support from the community. I know the work we do at the rescue is important, but of everything we’ve done, partnering with Bossier City Animal Control is, I feel, our biggest impact on the community. We also formed the Rainbow Bridge program. One of the things that impacted me on a deep level was seeing all the sick senior dogs being surrendered to Bossier City Animal Control because the owner could not afford or did not want to bother with humane euthanasia at a veterinary clinic. Many of these dogs (and sometimes, cats) are blind and/or deaf and suffering in an unknown place with people they did not know. The shelter doesn’t have the staff to humanely euthanize an animal immediately upon entering just because the owner wants it done. Sometimes, the animal would sit in a kennel for days. I wanted to change that. I wanted to give pet owners another option other than animal control.

Q: Was there one rescue that stood out or was special to you? Lopez: We rescue a lot of dogs that are in horrific condition. The rescue that stands out to me the most wasn’t even a rescue under Ninna’s Road to Rescue. In January 2011, I rescued a little dog we named Pearl from Caddo Animal Control. Pearl was a tiny poodle. She could not stand, she was grey instead of white, she would not eat or drink, was infested with fleas, cataracts in both eyes, emaciated and in horrific shape. The person who transported her to us named her Pearl. She wanted her to have a name because she did not think she would survive the trip to the shelter and didn’t want her to die without a name. I worked with her for days hand feeding her, bathing her (which took about five baths), getting rid of the fleas, cutting the matting off and providing just basic love and care and of course vet care. We never thought she’d make it. Soon after, a woman entered the building offering to foster her and she ultimately adopted her. To this day, Pearl is still alive and well and very-much loved by her family. From a dog we thought was on death’s door to the queen of her domain ... she is one of many that inspired me to start Ninna’s Road to Rescue. The picture hangs on our wall at the rescue as a reminder to us why we do what we do every day! To get involved, go to www.RoadtoRescueLA.org and click on “Volunteer.”

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