SOS Beagle Rescue Leadership
Linda Forrest
SOS Founder and Director,
Director of New Jersey Chapter
sosbeagles@juno.com
Atco, NJ 08004
856-336-2520
Linda started SOS Beagle Rescue in 1992. At the time she was exhibiting her beagles in AKC competitions (both conformation and obedience). Animal rights activists in NJ tried to pass legislation which would have resulted in high licensing fees for breeders while allowing shelters to place unneutered animals without restriction. Linda began convassing her local shelter to assist in placing their beagles, and eventually became so busy with rescue that her show and breeding careers were discontinued.
Linda oversees all three chapters of SOS Beagle Rescue and fosters many of the group's dogs herself. (There are currently 6 other NJ foster homes).
Beth Schultheis
Director of Tennessee Chapter
sosbeagles@juno.com
Beth joined SOS Beagle Rescue early in 2008. One of our core shelters put her in touch with Amber Levendusky when Beth found a beagle. Amber was then in charge of our Tennessee chapter, but has since moved to Wisconsin and hopes to open a SOS chapter there in 2011.
Beth is our powerhouse in Tennessee -- arranging foster homes for dogs from our 15 core kill shelters, and coordinating transport through the Newport Animal Shelter and private volunteer runs. She rescues other breeds as well, but was instrumental in assisting the 157 beagles transferred from Tenessee to New Jersey in 2010.
Jennifer Kersh
Former Director of Alabama Chapter
The Alabama chapter has closed - SOS would like to thank Jennifer and her many volunteers for their efforts and success
Jennifer Kersh started the Alabama chapter of SOS Beagle Rescue in 2008. The Alabama chapter has 6 foster homes located throughout the state, providing temporary shelter and care for approximately 9 or 10 dogs. The chapter's primary focus is to assist in rehoming Alabama beagles. Jennifer met Linda through a mutual friend and quickly realized that this was her opportunity to become part of the rescue community and to do more for animals and beagles in particular. Jennifer and her husband Howard have two beagles of their own, in addition to their foster beagles.
A special message from Linda Forrest,
SOS Founder and Director:
As I look back at 2010 and our success, I marvel at what we've done. Over 175 dogs adopted in New Jersey, 153 of them from our Tennessee chapter! Our Alabama chapter had approximately 25 adoptions this year as well.
Beagles in New Jersey are pretty much restricted to owner surrenders, as New Jersey shelters have been so pro-active on spaying/neutering everything before it's adopted that shelter numbers of small breed dogs, especially, are dropping, and usually an adoptable beagle has 4-5 applications within hours of arriving at the shelter.
Our Tennessee shelter partners are doing better as well -- a shelter in Knoxville that used to contact us for beagles on a regular basis has now reached the point where beagles are easily adoptable there, and the last 5 that we saw on their website were adopted within days.
But our success is because of volunteers -- those of you who foster, help with transport, maintain our petfinder page, help staff our educational events at Meet the Breeds, L'Oreal, and other events. So many of you help financially with sponsoring and donations and participating in our fundraisers -- I couldn't ask for better support.