About Furever Yours Rescue

Dorothy Ochotny grew up in Montgomery county as a free spirited child with a passion for animals. Even as a young child she had an obsession with animal information, facts, behavior and training evident in her obsession with collecting National Geographic animal cards or creating obstacle courses to lure the family dog through and making a neighborhood club to raise funds for the World Wildlife Fund. As she aged she began saving fallen birds and bunnies pulled from their nest. Rabbits abandoned in the neighborhood park and reuniting lost dogs when they took themselves on a little walk. By 21 she had saved her first 2 dogs from a life of neglect and restored them to health and saved and placed several others from unfortunate situations with friends over the years. When she found herself ready for a new dog in her early 30’s it came as no surprise she got engaged with the rescue she adopted from and began volunteering full time. After a year or two her passion had grown so much that she reached out to a friend with a farm and said what do you think about helping me open a rescue and the rest is Furever history!

Furever Yours Rescue opened its doors in March 2016 and was fully operational by June. Originally located in a picturesque farm with rolling pastures in Hatfield we saved almost 100 dogs in our first year! Our first save was a pair of Great Danes from a local owner surrender with some health and behavioral problems that we were able to pair with the perfect people. From there we went to NJ to Elizabeth to save 3 pits who were facing euthanasia. Challenging dogs behaviorally but each found their place and we moved on to Arkansas and Tennessee! Dorothy personally drove down and loaded up 27 souls in need of a second chance and drove 23 hours straight home! Before we knew it calls were coming in from up and down the eastern coast and then Puerto Rico! We started receiving dogs from the island and working closely with a mission there which has been one of our most precious partnerships and is still a big part of our mission today!

We found ourselves somewhat settled in shelter pulls from the Carolina’s based on location, logistics, and need. We have saved dogs from PA, NJ, TN, AR, GA, NC, SC, NY, and Puerto Rico! A couple years into the venture the miniature shelter in Dorothy’s home was completed and we said farewell to the farm with so much gratitude for everything that our friends did for the dogs and all the passion poured into the project! In the end 3 dogs remained adopted and FYR loved at their home on the farm while the rest of the operation moved to Maple Glen! One acre of fenced in dog heaven! Spacious kennels and XXL crates. We have a lunge course for them and agility equipment. Play Frisbee almost daily. A day program for folks to take waiting adopters out for walks. Bridges, tunnels and basically everything a dog could dream of while they spend their time with us. It’s a stepping stone from the shelter to home. It’s the closest to family a lot of these dogs have ever known. Dorothy works personally and individually with each pet saved by FYR and lives with them. They are her family until they become yours. We have saved over 1000 dogs since 2016 and counting!

We have also saved hundreds of cats and while our primary focus was dogs our cat focus is growing! In May 2021 we opened our Everyday Adoption Center in Petsmart which we were offered by Petsmart Charities! They have been and continue to be an incredible ally. Now we have a dedicated space to find homes for the unwanted street cats of Philadelphia. We have partnered with cat trappers to secure kitties living life on the streets and bring them to our facility after vetting to await a Furever home. Our team of volunteers is highly unique and special! We have created a volunteer program for disabled adults, teens, senior citizens, and anyone who loves cats! Having a welcome atmosphere for disabled adults and families with disabled members to adopt and a space to get involved volunteering was always an important part of our mission. But our cat room really opened the doors to providing what we wanted to wholly and safely! We like to think of it as our Cat Community Corner were connections can be made and we are so lucky to have such a fun team of volunteers! We have adopted hundreds of cats and look forward to hundreds more!

In addition to dogs and cats we have save all types of creatures from Parrots to ferrets, lizards to turtles, chickens to ducks, goats to rabbits, chinchilla to snakes, all kinds of birds, Guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rats you name it we’ve probably saved it!

If you love what we do, believe in our mission, and like to support small grassroots efforts please consider a donation! Every donation lets us change a life!