Shelter Me: All 4 Paws

This week's Shelter Me winner is All 4 Paws, a foster-based group that is building a community through its work as a rescue.

"We deal with lots of animals in horrible situations, and the goal is to offer all of them a safe haven," said founder Kristen Geddes.

All 4 Paws does one thousand adoptions in a year. The key to their success? Getting their 40 foster families to showcase their dogs.

"We have meet and greet events pretty much every weekend," Geddes said. "Because our dogs are in foster homes they're not somewhere central that people can go visit all of them."

The events often lead to adoptions, but it is the fostering that gets the dogs on the right track.

"Because we know if an animal's good with kids, good with other dogs, good with cats we're able to feel them out more, to begin training with them, make them more adoptable," said Geddes.

That includes dogs like Dargo, who was a stray.

"He's an awesome boy, super smart, knows lots of commands," said Geddes.

We also met Jinx.

"Her owner left. Went on vacation and never came back," said Geddes. Jinx is a lab mix.

"She's nine, but she's got a lot of life in her. She's a happy girl, she gets along with everyone," said Geddes.

Rocky was rescued from a high-kill shelter.

"There were four puppies in his litter and three of them already got adopted, so Rocky's the last guy from his litter looking for his home," Geddes sadi.

Remy is a one-year old Shepard mix and gets along well with other dogs and cats.

Dixie is a Plott hound who was left because she didn't hunt.

"She's definitely not a hunting dog. She likes to hang out on the couch at her foster home," said Geddes.

There's also Rascal, a seven-year-old greyhound and boxer mix. He likes to chill with the family, gets along with other dogs and cats, and is house trained and crate trained.

If you are interested in any of the dogs, you can go to the All 4 Paws website.

You can also vote for your favorite shelter - or add a rescue group to our list - by going to the Shelter Me section of the Action News Facebook page. We'll feature the top vote getter next Saturday morning on Action News.