God obviously brings Angels in all forms. The women who founded Angels Among Us Pet Rescue refer to the dogs and cats they rescue as “Angels,” because they bring humans so much unconditional love, comfort and humor.  It’s pretty obvious that these women are angels as well. The organization was able to save the lives of 720 animals last year.

LuAnn Ferrell and Valerie Weinberg originally started the rescue, then four more women joined in to help. Lisa Zambacca, does marketing and PR.  Karin Wallace is the Foster Coordinator. Lara Shaw does Event Planning and Marketing and Marla Olcott is the Adoptions Coordinator. “We are convinced that God brought us together,” says Zambacca.

 After gathering the animals, they take them to be “vetted” with shots, worming, spaying, chipping and other necessary medical care. They then find foster care until the animals can be placed in permanent homes. Volunteers help with all facets of rescuing the animals.  Those who choose to be foster parents feed and provide a safe haven for them until permanent homes can be found. Some of the volunteers help with the pet events where foster parents bring the dogs and cats to be adopted every other week on Saturday from 11 to 3 in front under the Clock Tower at The Forum at Peachtree Corners.

“Finding temporary homes provides the opportunity to learn the personality of the animals and helps us know how to make the best family match," says Ferrell.  This group of six dynamic professional businesswomen rescues dogs and cats from “Kill Centers” around North Georgia and even from rural areas in North and South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee who have no rescue facilities. “If we didn’t go into these rural areas, the dogs would never survive,” says Ferrell.

“Georgia happens to be one of the worst states, especially the rural areas,” says Zambacca. “Many of the North Georgia shelters put the animals down after only seven days and literally thousands of animals are killed yearly.  Seeing the condition in which some of these animals are treated breaks your heart.”

When Angels Among Us can’t find immediate foster homes, Camp Wolf in Norcross, Camp Bow Wow in Alpharetta and Rita McPherson at Park Retreat in Tucker have been extremely supportive in helping house the animals. “We couldn’t do it without them,” says Zambacca.

The group also supports other rescue organizations to gather and place pets. In the beginning, they only had a few dogs; now they have almost 200 and have attracted more women to help run the organization and provide foster homes. They also have a permanent “Cattery” where cats can be seen every day at Petco at State Bridge Road in Alpharetta. The adopt-a-rescue events have been very successful in that hundreds of people come to see if they can find a pet.                                   

 Angels Among Us is a non-profit foundation relying on public kindness and are always seeking both volunteers and donations. Their next large fund raising event is the “Big Hair Ball” scheduled for June 18 at the Country Club of the South which will be open to the public. In the meantime, Zambacca says they are open to ideas from anyone who would like to help with fund raising or volunteering, and they need all of the help they can get. To become a pet Angel contact: http://www.angelsamonguspetrescue.com