About Us
Tara's House is a private, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization based in Columbia and Silver Spring, Maryland. Our mission is to rescue and then provide care and compassion for our pets while working to place them, through a competitive adoption process, in permanent, loving homes. We are a high-placement organization and we rescue our pets primarily from high-kill shelters throughout West Virginia. Tara's House practices humane training of our rescued pets using positive reinforcement techniques. We receive no government funding of any kind, and therefore operate solely on private donations, adoption fees and volunteer efforts.
Tara's House Operations:
Tara's House is a 'virtual' animal rescue, meaning we do not have a brick and mortar shelter available for public visitation, or that houses our dogs. Instead, we are a network of volunteers who allow our rescued dogs to live with us in foster care until they are adopted. We harness the full power of the Internet to adopt dogs by using email for correspondences (we do not accept phone calls or return general inquiry phone calls), and accept only online adoption applications. We do, however, hold monthly adoption shows, the location of which is advertised in our calendar and upcoming events page. Operating as a virtual shelter allows us to run lean operations and put a higher percentage of adoption fees and received donations toward the care of the dogs we pull from high-kill shelters.
What does this mean for you? Well, it means we will primarily correspond with you via emails to answer your questions and take you through the adoption process. You will need to submit your Adoption Application online. Please do not expect or request phone calls for general inquiries or questions; we will call applications accepted by our Adoption Committee for a telephone interview, but all other communications will be email-based. We thank you for understanding our operations and helping us to run a lean organization so we can save more dogs and make them available for adoption in the Washington, DC Metro Area.
Who is Tara?
This is one of the most asked questions! Tara is the canine companion of Tara's House Animal Rescue's founder, and she permitted her human to bring unwanted dogs into their home to stay while permanent, loving homes were sought in the Washington, DC Metro and surrounding areas. Tara's sacrifice encouraged her four-legged friends to open their hearts and homes to other dogs from high-kill shelters and so grew our organization and network of foster homes and volunteers. When we select fosters that must embody this dedication and spirit. Tara is no longer as active in our rescue operations today as she is enjoying retirement, but her dedication and compassion for unwanted pets is instilled in every volunteer and staff member. Our own dogs have embraced Tara's kind heartedness for pound puppies as well, and allow us to continue rescuing pets in need. We could not do what we do without Tara's lessons and soft heart for dogs in need!
Our Adoption Area:
Our adoption area is the greater Washington, DC Metro Area. We limit our adoption area to uphold the highest quality adoption process, and honor our lifetime commitment to our dogs. We expend many resources to rescue and adopt dogs to deserving families, therefore we like to stay in contact with adopters for the life of the pet.
