Nonprofit organizations throughout Asheville and the surrounding area nourish the people within our communities, caring for those in need, protecting our historic heritage, educating young and old, and nurturing our cultural soul. Each month, The Laurel is bringing to our readers some of the stories behind these agencies. This month, the “spotlight” is on Brother Wolf Animal Rescue

Where did the name Brother Wolf come from? Ask the organization’s founder Denise Bitz that question and you’ll get a laugh. “We didn’t spend a lot of time on that,” she admits. When you learn what Brother Wolf Animal Rescue has accomplished in the four short years since it was started, you realize these volunteers had something more important on their minds: saving as many dogs and cats as humanly possible.

“We started fostering animals in 2006, organized as a tax-exempt nonprofit group in 2007, and opened our shelter in June 2009,” says Denise who was a registered nurse working at Mission Hospital at the time. In just the past 12 months, BWAR has found permanent homes for more than 1,400 dogs and cats.

Denise had grown up in Long Island, New York, a region where spay/neuter programs got an early start in reducing the numbers of animals ending up in shelters. “Where I came from, only the very sick or aggressive animals were euthanized,” she says. “When I learned how many healthy, adoptable dogs and cats were being euthanized here in Buncombe County, I knew I had to try and do something about it.”

She began by trying to foster as many animals as she could. “I had a small home in West Asheville where I had two dogs of my own plus I was usually fostering about six more. I had a permit to do that, but the neighbors kept complaining to Animal Control about the barking,” she explains.

As soon as she could, she sold that house and bought another situated on a few acres on a mountaintop near Candler. “I have ten dogs now, all my own.” She says they’re what she calls “foster failures” meaning they’d been in foster homes sometimes for years and were never adopted. “I have a lab, a border collie, and eight hound dogs. They’re really quite musical,” she jokes.

Brother Wolf gets its animals from a variety of sources. The majority, Denise says, come from owner surrenders. “We also get quite a few from the Asheville Humane Society, dogs that have a minimal chance of being adopted. Shy or otherwise under socialized, we don’t care. Our volunteers will work with them to help develop their social skills and prepare them for permanent, loving homes.”

They also accept special needs dogs. An example are the two Australian cattle dogs that someone abandoned at the Azalea Road Dog Park this past September. Another is Dizzy, a seven-month-old long-haired dachshund. Dizzy can’t hear, but he sure can love.

As a result of the northeast part of the country being ahead of us in reducing the number of dogs in shelters, that region has a shortage of puppies and younger adult dogs. Brother Wolf stages nearly monthly puppy transports. “We regularly make runs up to New York, New Jersey, and last month we took 12 pups and one adult to New Hampshire,” says Denise. “The most we ever took at one time was 40!”

Brother Wolf has become one of the most successful no-kill animal rescue organizations in the region. But, as with most nonprofits, money is always tight. It receives no government fund- ing, relying instead on donations, fund-raising events, an on-site thrift shop (consider donating your used clothing and household items), money received through their grooming services (Brother Wolf has two full-time groomers), boarding, and daycare services. And, of course, from adoption fees.

Brother Wolf regularly holds adopt-a-thons at PetsMart and every other Friday at Mast General Store in downtown Asheville. “We need adopters,” says Denise when asked what’s the most important thing the organization needs. “I read that 16 million people who want to get a dog or a cat are undecided about where they should adopt. Please get your next pet from a shelter,” she says emphatically.

Brother Wolf found adoptive homes for 1,400 animals last year. They expect that number to rise to at least 1,600 in the next 12 months. Make some dog or cat really happy (and you, too) by adopting from Brother Wolf Animal Rescue.

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue is located at 31 Glendale Avenue off Swannanoa Road in East Asheville. Hours are 6–8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 8–6 p.m. on Sunday. For more information and to see photos of adoptable animals, visit bwar.org. You can reach them by phone at 828.505.3440 or 828.808.9435.