Community Highlights: Meet Erin Morse of Midwest Animal ResQ

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Morse.
Hi Erin, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Shortly after I moved to the Kansas City area, I adopted my first dog. She was a puppy mill survivor of 8 years, and I was quickly made aware of the puppy mill problem here in Missouri and was appalled. I had no idea the state I now lived in was responsible for more suffering than any other nation, and I wanted to get involved. At first, I became involved politically, working on getting Prop B passed in 2010. We were successful in getting it passed. However quickly dismantled in the Senate. At that point, I realized it would be a much longer and harder road than my young, naive self first thought, So I decided to start my rescue, focusing on saving dogs from puppy mills while educating people about the horrors of what goes on there. I figured if I couldn’t change the laws for them all, I could at least help the few lucky enough to make it out of the mill and into my home. What started in a small one-bedroom cabin in Lake Lotawana, with one or 2 dogs at a time, grew into a small foster-based rescue group focused on saving dogs from inhumane conditions at large-scale local breeding facilities. With the help of dedicated supporters and volunteers, MARQ has quickly grown into a multifaceted group saving thousands of animals each year. While we are still very passionate about retired breeding dogs, our scope has increased along with our capacity to serve the animals of the greater Kansas City area. Our adoption center in Raytown, MO, opened in 2015, and our sanctuary property on 6 acres provides safe housing for animals of all kinds needing special medical or behavioral help before going to their forever homes. I quit my career in software and have thrown myself full-time into animal welfare, and I’ve never looked back!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There’s nothing smooth in this line of work. Nothing. The obstacles we face are insurmountable. The constant barrage of animals in need is overwhelming. The sheer number of requests we receive each day to take in animals seems infinite, while the resources we have to help them are finite. It can be increasingly disheartening to spend your life working on improving the lives of pets with a large group of other extremely dedicated individuals. Yet, the problem never seems to get better. MO still tops the horrible 100 lists of worst offending puppy mills in the nation. More retail stores open selling puppies sourced from inhumane puppy mills, and our intake requests rise every year. This is the struggle, trying to stay positive instead of defeated.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Midwest Animal ResQ?
Midwest Animal ResQ is a multifaceted animal shelter and rescue. We are big enough to make a major impact in our community but small enough to know every animal in ours. We employ “matchmakers” whose job it is to help match people with a perfect new family member. We are passionate about pets, of course, but also about people and making sure their experience with us is just as wonderful as the new family member they are adopting. Our mission statement is “Completing families one tail at a time,” and our focus is taking the time to get to know our pets and our customers so we can make a perfect match! Our adult animals go on a two-week trial adoption to ensure everyone is happy in the new home, and our commitment to each animal is lifelong.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success means changing a single person’s perspective about responsible pet ownership and helping to effect legislation changes to protect pets and the people who purchase them. By saving lives, improving the lives of pets in our community, being a responsible steward of the funds donated, and educating every chance we get. My ultimate success would be to shut the doors of our rescue because our work would no longer be needed.
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