Why are we named AHeinz57 Pet Rescue & Transport?
Hi, I’m Amy Heinz! When I was a kid, we referred to mutts as “Heinz57’s”. I love mutts and it happens to be my name, so AHeinz57 was born in my garage on August 18, 2008.
The Birth of AHeinz57:
During the Easter holiday in 2008, a medium black mutt with a broken leg was tossed out of a small red pick-up truck. I was new to Iowa and quickly discovered during my 12 day adventure trying to catch the dog, that stray dogs in the country are typically shot because there is nowhere to take them. On the 12th day, I finally caught the dog in a live trap with the Easter ham. I told her it was only by the Grace of God that she was alive after 12 days are darting back and forth across a busy highway. So, it was only fitting that she was named Grace (“Gracie”). For months I complained that there was no help for dogs in my area, so in August 2008, I decided to start AHeinz57 Pet Rescue & Transport.
Where We’ve Been?
We have been working HARD for over 10 years now. We have the only transport program in Iowa dedicated to transport other dogs and cats each week from kill-shelters to no-kill rescues at no charge to anyone. We have over 700 people who have signed up to volunteer. We have become a reputable and leading force in the rescue community, not only in Iowa but in numerous states all over the country. We have participated in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl for 7 years. One of our dogs was invited to and spent time at the White House with President Obama’s dogs and the First Lady. We were present in Texas during the hurricanes and rescued 96 dogs and 5 cats. Most recently we assisted with the floods in western Iowa and rescued 25 dogs from drowning. And that’s just to name a few things we have been up to!
Where Are We Now?
We have completed construction on 2 new buildings. The first building is our new rescue building that is allowing us to rescue far more dogs and cats. This building also has a new surgical suite that allows us to provide our community with low cost spay and neuter clinics, and soon will provide vaccination clinics and trap-neuter-release programs. We have amazing exercise yards for our dogs where we have started a Dogs Playing For Life program designed to teach, train and enrich the lives of our dogs who have behavior issues.
Our second building is called, Gracie’s Place, and provides boarding, grooming, and training for the public. This business is owned and operated by AHeinz57 Pet Rescue & Transport. Therefore all proceeds go directly to AHeinz57 for the care of the rescue dogs and cats. The business model is designed to help AHeinz57 be fairly self-sufficient and no longer completely dependent upon random donations. AHeinz57 does NOT receive any monetary assistance from any municipality. We also have a training room/Learning Center where we have dog training classes, meetings, seminars, and provides a place for school-age children to learn about responsible pet care, overpopulation problems, and puppy mills.