Saving Senior Working Dogs Who’ve Served America

Nothing makes us drool more than organizations that help find loving homes for senior dogs, especially retired working dogs. Mission K9 Rescue (MK9) sniffs out military and contract working dogs who need homes and has saved more than 1,300 from “every corner of the world” since Kristen Maurer, Louisa Kastner and Bob Bryant founded it in 2013. This includes reuniting more than 540 with their former military handlers. The nonprofit 501 (c) 3 organization is based in Houston, Texas, plus has satellite offices in San Antonio and Los Angeles.

Mission K9 focuses on its five Rs: Rescue, Reuniting with former handlers, Re-homing, Rehabilitating (some have PTSD) and Repair (getting them healthy). “Out of every $1 donated, 93 cents are directly used for our work with the dogs,” says Bob. “No waste of donor funds, ever. We don’t take luxury retreats and often spend nights in roadside rest areas on transports, rather than incur hotel expenses. We have a dedicated team that takes pride in serving working dogs around the world.”

Of course, rescuing senior dogs who’ve served comes with its own set of challenges, such as much-needed healthcare funding. For example, in 2022, Mission K9 rescued 10 contract working dogs from Turkey, during the CDC rabies ban that affected many countries. “We were able to get the dogs safely back to the USA via an arduous process,” says Bob. “Once back, we were able to provide heartworm treatment to all the dogs, as they had tested positive. Each dog endured the treatment well and they are all now heartworm free and living in loving homes.”

Mission K9 is looking for more great people and companies to spread the word about what they do so that they can continue to grow. Want to learn more? Visit missionk9rescue.org and follow on social media @missionk9.