Molly's Mutts and Meows was founded in 2005 by Molly Wootton to rescue animals from the Los Angeles area shelters and place them in loving, new homes. After volunteering at the Lange Foundation (another LA-based animal rescue shelter), for 12 years and seeing first-hand "the colossal problem of pet overpopulation" in Los Angeles, Wootton opened MM&M as a way to facilitate the organized rescue of even more neglected cats and dogs.
Since its beginning, the organization has worked independently and with other reputable non-profit rescue groups and individual rescuers, with the belief that "the more local rescue people effectively communicate with each other, the more effectively they will be able to help those that cannot speak for themselves," according to Wootton.
Wootton's organization focuses on placing its rescued animals in foster homes before adoption. "By having all the animals live in homes versus kennels and cages," Wootton explains, Molly's Mutts and Meows, "could tell the potential adopter so much more about each cat or dog. It also allows the rescue to take out the 'unknown' element about adopting an animal pulled from a city or county shelter," since, she says, "it is the 'unknown' element which scares many people from adopting."
The organization has already begun to make an impact in Los Angeles. In 2008, Molly's Mutts and Meows was awarded the "Grass Roots Rescue of the Year" by Best Friends in 2008. The organization's goal is to "make adoption the first option," and it works toward this goal daily.
To see some of the animals currently available for adoption through Molly's Mutts and Meows, see the slideshow below.