Living well is the best revenge.

A boutique animal welfare initiative protecting the dogs behind the puppies through awareness, investigation, accountability, and support.

It started with Stella.

Soon after, Rosie.

It became a reason to do something.

Stella & Rosie’s Revenge was founded by cousins Sandra and Michele, inspired by two former breeding dogs who became deeply loved members of their families.

Sandra rescued Stella first. Through Stella, Michele saw firsthand both the physical consequences of commercial breeding and what was possible when a dog was finally given the opportunity to simply be a dog. A few years later, Sandra introduced Michele to Rosie, another former breeding dog in need of a home.

Stella and Rosie spent their later years loved, cared for, and very much part of their families. They also lived with significant health problems after rescue.

Their experiences became the foundation for Stella & Rosie’s Revenge.

What We Do

Our mission is to bring greater attention to the dogs behind the puppies, while supporting the people and organizations who care for them.

Our work will focus on several areas:

  • Awareness and education. We want people to understand the realities of irresponsible commercial breeding and puppy mills, including what happens to breeding dogs during and after their reproductive years. Our work includes both male and female dogs, while recognizing that females can face additional physical consequences from repeated pregnancies, births, and C-sections.

  • Research and accountability. We will research breeding operations using public records, documented sources, reports, and other legally obtained information. When appropriate, we will make that information accessible so people can make better-informed decisions and problematic practices receive appropriate scrutiny.

  • Support for adopters and families. There is an emotional side of rescuing a formerly exploited dog that receives far less attention. It can be difficult to reconcile the animal sleeping safely beside you with the knowledge of what happened before she or he reached you. Medical problems can continue for years, and caring for these animals can involve grief, anger, helplessness, and difficult end-of-life decisions.

  • We plan to develop free online resources, occasional virtual workshops, and other educational and emotional-support programming for people navigating that experience.

  • Supporting the people doing the rescuing. We are not a rescue organization. We want to complement, rather than duplicate, the work of established rescues, fosters, advocates, and animal-welfare organizations. As Stella & Rosie’s Revenge grows, we hope to amplify their work and eventually develop ways to provide tangible support.

Who We Are

Sandra and Michele bring different professional and personal experience to this project.

Sandra has decades of experience working with animals and animal-related organizations, along with extensive travel and relationships within the animal-welfare community. Her experience, knowledge, and connections will help guide our work and connect it with people already doing important work in this field.

Michele brings a background in legal advocacy, investigative work, public education, communications, and emotional-support work. Her experience includes researching and documenting difficult issues, navigating advocacy systems, educating the public, and helping people process emotionally complicated experiences.

We are bringing those skills together and volunteering our time.

This is a labor of love.

Where we are right now

Stella & Rosie’s Revenge is currently an emerging boutique awareness and advocacy project. Our longer-term intention is to establish a formal nonprofit organization, but we are taking it slow.

We are not currently soliciting donations, investments, or financial support.

Right now, what we are looking for is momentum and connection.

We want to build a community of people who care about breeding dogs and animal welfare. That might mean following our work, sharing something important, submitting information for us to research, connecting us with an organization or expert, participating in a free program, or simply helping another person understand what can exist behind the puppy they see for sale.

You don't need to give us money to help us build this.

You can give us your attention, your experience, your connections, or your voice.

Why “Revenge”?

The word revenge gets your attention. It carries emotion. It has a little edge. And we chose it intentionally.

But that isn’t the deeper meaning of the word for us.

We’ve all heard the saying, “The best revenge is living well.” That is the revenge behind Stella & Rosie’s Revenge.

For Stella and Rosie, living well meant getting away from the breeder and being rescued. It meant receiving medical care, learning to trust and feel safe, and being safe, traveling, lounging on pool floats, sleeping in comfortable beds, and finally being loved simply because they were themselves, not because of what their bodies could produce.

We also want their stories to create change for the dogs who are still waiting.

Our revenge is awareness, accountability, rescue.

And ultimately, it is more dogs getting the chance to live well.

That’s Stella & Rosie’s Revenge.

The story started with Stella.

It continued with Rosie.

It certainly doesn't end with them.

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