Dear supporters and friends of Nuzzles & Co., 
I am deeply honored to serve as the new executive director of Nuzzles & Co. as of August 1st, and I thank the board and staff for entrusting me to lead the way forward into the next chapter of the organization’s vital, life-saving work.
During my first week at Nuzzles, I had the pleasure to speak at length with Wendy Lavitt, a current board member and one of the 12 founders of what started out as Friends of Animals in 1990 in a small shack located at Park City’s Kimball Junction. What progress had been made during these past nearly 35 years! Thanks to our generous donor community, that small shack has evolved into our adoption center at The Outlets in Park City and our main shelter, the Rescue Ranch, located in Peoa, Utah. While the adoption center has served as a key connector for meeting our local community, the Rescue Ranch is the ground zero where we’ve saved more than 27,000 dogs and cats through rescue and adoption since our founding and delivered low-cost spay/neuter services to avoid the suffering of hundreds of thousands of unwanted animals and overpopulation in the local community and region.
In the coming year, we aim to draw more visitors to the beautiful 100-acre Rescue Ranch location and engage the local community more deeply. We’ll soon be in the planning stages for a 5K Fun Run and other exciting ideas that are in the works. We welcome your thoughts on events that may be of interest to our community!
We also need to make urgent repairs and shelter upgrades to keep our animals safe and keep our incredibly dedicated staff in a welcoming work environment. Among two of our most urgent needs are new dog kennels to replace the current ones that have deteriorated and an upgrade to adequately heat and cool much-needed animal housing areas and staff workspaces to ensure that they can be used comfortably and effectively all year round.
Thanks to our committed board members and hardworking staff who organized a beautiful annual Nuzzles gala at the Pendry Hotel on July 27th and to all who attended and donated, we are on track to cover our day-to-day operations for today! But, achieving success is an ongoing endeavor, and we require ongoing support to keep our rescue, shelter, and adoption efforts on track while we raise and dedicate financial resources to our infrastructure deficits.
Shelter work is difficult and emotionally confronting, knowing there are many innocent lives on the line every day. This is true no more than the present. Partner shelters are full and cannot take in more animals, raising the stakes among all who can assist. Housing shortages and the expense of animal care prohibits many prospective adoptions, and others in the community affected by domestic violence call on Nuzzles’ Purple Paw Program to help shelter their pets until safety is found for all. Not to mention the competition for funds from the many other great social causes equally worthy of funding support.
The quality and dedication of the Nuzzles staff, board, volunteers, fosters, partners, and supporters made it an easy decision for me to jump into these challenges and lead this beloved organization. Should you have any questions about the work at Nuzzles or my background, or if you wish to grab a coffee and chat, please email me at leslie@nuzzlesandco.org, and we’ll make a date! Until then, I look forward to your continued partnership in our work to protect the lives of both innocent animals and people.
Sincerely,
Leslie
