RAYTOWN, Mo. — There are some new puppies up for adoption in Raytown, and they have some familiar names!
Midwest Animal Resq recently named a litter of puppies and their mom after some of Kansas City’s meteorologists — including FOX4’s Michelle Bogowith, Joe Lauria and Karli Ritter.
The rescue said the puppies were born during the tornado warnings on May 24. Severe storms rolled through the area that night, and a few small tornadoes even touched down east of the metro.


“My brother kept calling because he thought the tornado was going to come,” foster mom Erin Morse with Midwest Animal Resq said. “I was so busy with the puppies luckily that I was in the basement anyway.”
So the rescue decided they should name the new puppies after some of the people who helped keep Kansas City safe.
The momma dog is a 1-year-old, 30-pound terrier mix that has just three legs. She was on death row at a rural shelter but was thankfully rescued by the Raytown shelter.
“She was huge with puppies, and we felt bad for her hopping around,” Morse said.
She had 10 puppies in total — all named after local meteorologists.
Mom and puppies are in foster care right now, but will be available for adoption once the puppies reach 8 weeks old.
“Welcome to the world, weather pups!” Midwest Animal Resq wrote on Facebook.

RAYTOWN, Mo. — A Raytown rescue group has turned around the city’s stray animal program.
Before Midwest Animal ResQ took over, if there was a stray in the city, it was more likely to be killed than reunited with a family or adopted.
Previously, stray cats were considered wildlife and euthanized right away.

“Now, these kittens don’t have to just face the end of the road because somebody didn’t get their cat fixed,” Sydney Mollentine with Midwest Animal ResQ said.
Before 2016, stray and surrendered animals went to a local vet clinic, which didn’t have the time or resources to focus on adoptions.
Since Midwest Animal ResQ converted an old 7/11 in Raytown into its shelter, euthanization rates have plummeted while adoption rates are skyrocketing.
“Oh my gosh, I am so proud of this,” Mollentine said. “I mean, we started this out of a small house really with one person and one goal to help one animal. And we have helped thousands of animals since our inception.”

​Dogs like father-son duo Zuko and Zeek’s owner tried to drop them off as strays but a microchip gave him away. The dogs were suffering from urine burns.
“Urine burns are usually caused from sitting in your own urine for an extended period of time. It just eats away at the skin,” Mollentine said. “All of the dogs had that, and it’s easy to say that these dogs most likely spent the majority of the time sitting in a tiny kennel covering on feces. And that’s no way to live.”
Now happy to be well taken care of and on the mend, Zuko and Zeek are ready for a forever home.
Unlike the other dogs full of energy and excitement, we found Lilly cowering in the back of her kennel. She came to Midwest Animal ResQ from a breeding facility.
“She came in. She was terrified, terrified,” Mollentine said. “Her nails were extremely long. You could tell she was painful on her paws. We see that when a dog has spent most of its life standing up on a wire kennel bottom.”
The animals that are euthanized now are because of incurable diseases or the animal has been determined to be dangerous because of behavioral issues.
If you would like to volunteer, support, donate or adopt an animal from Midwest Animal ResQ, visit the shelter’s website.

RAYTOWN, Mo. – The Midwest Animal ResQ is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and charges after a dog was found left to die in a dumpster. Staff with the animal rescue said the dog is in such bad condition they don’t know what breed it is.
“It’s been proven that there’s a link between cruelty to animals and cruelty to human beings so even if you are not an animal lover, cruelty like this should be concerning,” said Erin Morse, President of Midwest Animal ResQ.
The Facebook page for the city of Raytown said the dog was founded in a dumpster at 5242 Blue Ridge Boulevard. There are several dumpers in the area behind a shopping center.
Staff with the animal hospital said the dog is recovering but is not out of the woods yet. They said she has a whole list of health concerns, open wounds on her body, mange, secondary skin infections and blood loss.


“To get her into the condition she is in now, it took months,” said Morse.
Staff said they believe she is around a year old. They said they named her Iris because they hope she blossoms into a beautiful dog once she gets the love she needs.
Dozens of people have already donated to help pay for medical care for Iris, but she still has a long road ahead of her.

​Ava was saved just in the nick of time.

The pregnant golden retriever-chow mix, who is believed to be between 2 and 4 years old according to WDAF – TV Kansas City, was pulled off a Missouri shelter’s euthanasia list by Ashlee Holland only two weeks before giving birth.

“She was on the euthanasia list. She had no other choice, no other hope,” said Holland. “I was basically her last resort along with Midwest Animal ResQ. No dog deserves to be put to sleep for space.”