Connecting People with Pets in Need

We are a non-profit, foster-based animal rescue in Asheville, NC that has saved thousands of lives since our inception in 2017.

That’s thousands of lives saved without a physical animal shelter, but with lots of love and support from countless fosters, volunteers and donors.

Our Mission

Our mission is simple, but extremely important:

Connecting People with Pets in Need. 

Our Vision

Through grassroots efforts, we envision a future in which all companion animals find loving homes where they are able to receive the care and respect they deserve.

Our Team

There is a team of powerful Rescue Warriors behind this mission and we want to bark and meow about our very own lifesavers.

Joelle Warren

Chief Lifesaving Officer

With over two decades of experience, Joelle is a prominent leader within the animal rescue community. Her incredible networking skills, ability to think quickly and creatively, and her endless devotion to helping cats and dogs is nothing short of amazing. As our Chief Lifesaving Officer, Joelle stays up to date with the progressive, best practices of animal sheltering and is responsible for leading our everyday lifesaving efforts.

Erica Paschold

Director of Lifesaving Operations

Erica found her love of animal rescue in 2013 and has been dedicated to the field ever since. She started out as a kennel attendant, then quickly moved into adoption counseling, intake coordination and pet retention, so naturally she took on the role as our Director of Lifesaving Operations. She likes to think of herself as a rare breed as she enjoys working with pets AND people to make lasting adoption matches. 

Denise Stone

Director of Feline Affairs

Denise entered the rescue world in 2014 as a volunteer working with dogs at Austin Pets Alive, but quickly moved into fostering cats and kittens. She has since fostered over 1,400 felines, mostly bottle babies, and with experience across 3 rescue organizations, she has taken a leadership/mentoring role as our Director of Feline Affairs.

Melanie Harriss

Director of Barketing

Melanie is the bark and meow of MPR AVL meaning she’s the voice behind the brand. She manages our social media, website and writes our monthly newsletter. And when she’s not laughing at her own content, she’s a helicopter dog mom to 2 MPR alumni, Poppy and Oliver.

Madi Burns

Shelter Manager

Madi landed at MPR AVL in hopes of doing meaningful work and has since gained experience in every part of rescue. She started out in animal care, but quickly picked up adoptions, driving the spay/neuter van, helping with medical and even jumping in to support the Thrift Hound and some of our adoption events. Thanks to MPR, she also foster failed on her dog, Bones, who happens to be a wonderful foster brother to all the other animals who find their way to Madi.

Paula Huntley

Shelter Manager

Paula thinks animals deserve a voice and thank goodness she has a loud one! With over 20 years of rescue experience and a love for both cats and dogs, Paula finds fulfillment in helping MPR AVL any way she can-animal care, medical assistance, adoption processing and more! And when not at the shelter, she is loving on Pixi, her Heeler/Pointer mix and her cats, Kipper and Budin Budin.

BreeAnn Keogh

Medical Specialist

BreeAnn has over 12 years of experience in animal rescue and has worked most all positions, including Animal Care Manager, front desk, adoptions, intake, medical, behavior, transport and logistics. She has also been on several emergency shelter deployments with the ASPCA to handle hoarding and dog fighting cases as well as natural disaster relief.

Amber Nuckols

Animal Care Specialist

Amber is a BIG time animal lover and enjoys being in the mountains when she isn’t caring for all the cats and dogs that find their way to MPR AVL. She’s had a total of 6 rescue animals…2 being MPR foster fails…and we can always count on her to socialize the kitties before they make their big debut!

Kate Baran

Animal Care Specialist/Spay & Neuter Coordinator

Kate left the corporate world and came to MPR AVL to work in Animal Care and has recently taken over our weekly spay and neuter coordination. A former feline fanatic, Kate has since come over to the “bark” side with 3 doggos of her own-Leo, a shepherd mix and 2 MPR alumni, Fran and Gus. And lucky for her pups, she also enjoys knitting and having them model her finished projects.

Want to join our pawsome team?

Click HERE for open positions.

Sit. Stay. And, of course, keep up with all our hairy happenings.

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