Highway Hounds Rescue & Transport
Highway Hounds is a 501(c)3, non-profit, foster-based animal rescue organization, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.
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About Us
Mission Statement
We are a non-profit animal rescue and transport committed to saving homeless companion animals, assisting other shelters/rescues through rescue transports, offering low-cost spay/neuter services for our community, and educating the public on the issues of pet over-population, responsible pet ownership and puppy mills.
Foster Based Animal Rescue Organization
Highway Hounds is a 501(c)3, non-profit, foster-based animal rescue organization, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. We are a unique rescue organization in that we exist mainly to bridge the gap between traditional animal shelters and no-kill rescues in 2 different ways: 1) By providing transportation for dogs and cats from traditional shelters to no-kill rescues in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa and many other states. We also provide foster care for those whose time has run out at the shelters but have to wait for a foster spot to open up in one of the rescues; 2) By pulling dogs out of traditional shelters that are on death row and placing them in foster homes through our organization.
Our Founder
Highway Hounds was founded by Susan "Tutti" Trammell in September 2019. Susan became involved with rescues in the early 90 's when working at the Humane Society of North Texas. She fostered many dogs and cats while working there and also area veterinary hospitals as a vet tech. She then expanded her education and became a certified animal massage therapist and then on to be certified in animal behavior.
The Complexity of Rescue
Capacity of Care
This seems to be a concept that many don’t understand when it comes to rescue. Rescue isn't simply a numbers game.
A rescue can only intake what they can safely and properly care for as well as find the right outcome for. This applies to size, breed, temperament, and medical status.
This means that a rescue has to consider what they can place in foster care and not have stuck in foster care. This means a rescue has to consider the number of dogs in the rescue and can they handle a large number of foster or adoption returns. This means a rescue has to consider if they have the financial means to take on a medical case. This means a rescue has to consider if they are able to place the animal in an adoptive home or find a rescue transfer in an acceptable amount of time. This means a rescue has to ask themselves the hard questions with every single intake.
Every single resource in a rescue has to be considered. This is space, supplies, and money.
There are always questions to consider:
How many dogs could I save with the money I’m spending on one dog?
When do we say enough is enough? How do we put a price on a dog? Do we have a foster that is capable to handling ongoing care? Do we have an adopter willing to take on a medical case? Can we find another rescue willing to to take on a medical case?
When a dog sits in a foster home for an extended amount of time, are we placing the foster in a position to get frustrated and burnt out? How many other dogs could have been saved in the same amount of time? Does the foster have the long term capacity to give this animal what it needs? Are we ensuring that the foster’s own animals aren’t suffering long term due to a foster animal in a home? Is the foster’s family safe and mentally in the right place to continue to foster? Has the foster reached their capacity for care?
Is this dog safe to be placed in a foster or adoptive home? Is this dog too far gone behaviorally to be adoptable? Do we have the resources to give the dog what it needs? Are we keeping the dog alive for our own emotional needs and not considering what’s best for the dog?
Rescue has a million moving parts and there is rarely a completely easy decision.
So stop judging rescues for only taking certain breeds, sizes, medical cases, or behavioral cases unless you have truly been in the trenches and had to make the tough decisions every day of your life.
*Note... The above was posted and reposted from Facebook
Regulations and Accountability
The animal welfare system doesn’t need more fraudulent slogans fed to the average animal lover…..it needs regulation and accountability.
We are in the middle of an animal crisis unlike anything I’ve seen in 16 years of rescue. And instead of facing it honestly, people are clinging to narratives that don’t match what’s actually happening on the ground.
Let me be very clear:
Keeping a dog alive at all costs is not the same as helping that dog.
Right now, the entire system has been bottlenecked.
Our shelters and rescues are clogged with dogs that people simply are not stepping up to adopt. And I’m going to give you real situation from my own rescue:
Most of the dogs getting adopted in rescue are small, cute, fluffy dogs.
The others…including dogs with perfect temperament—sit. Some for years.
So let me ask you:
What do you want our FULL city shelters to do?
Send them to hoarders?
Place them in unsafe situations?
Adopt them out to unqualified homes just so a statistic can say the dog “left alive”?
Because that’s where this pressure leads.
And I don’t believe any true animal lover wants that.
What’s happening right now is this:
Dogs are being warehoused.
Dogs are deteriorating mentally in kennels.
Dogs are being pushed out without full transparency.
All so we can protect a number on paper.
But here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud:
Being alive does not mean a dog is safe.
Being alive does not mean a dog is living.
And in many cases, prolonging suffering is far more inhumane than making a hard, responsible decision.
Meanwhile, the real issue continues to be ignored:
We are not stopping the flow.
Stray populations are exploding. Shelters are overwhelmed. Rescues are full. Communities are calling about public safety.
And there is nowhere for these animals to go. If the dogs are large with any questionable history…..even if they are adoptable…. Who is lining up for these dogs? The list is small compared to the need.
We also need to say the quiet part out loud:
Expanding space is not the solution. It’s part of the problem.
Every time we build more kennels, open more facilities, or “make room,” we are not solving the problem…..we are accommodating it.
We are making it easier for the crisis to continue.
Because you cannot build your way out of overpopulation.
You cannot adopt your way out of overpopulation.
You have to stop it at the source.
Until we stop accommodating the symptom, and start addressing the root….
this will never change.
This didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of corrupt self serving policies that prioritized optics over animals ….without addressing the root problem:
Too many animals. Not enough responsible homes.
Until we fix that, nothing changes.
The only real solution is:
➡️ High-volume spay/neuter
➡️ Relentless, widespread education
That’s it. That’s the fix.
Not pressure. Not slogans. Not pretending we can adopt our way out of a population crisis.
Other countries have proven that when you regulate breeding, prioritize education, and control population, the system stabilizes.
We could do the same….if we’re willing to be honest.
Until then, we will stay exactly where we are:
Over capacity.
Out of options.
And failing both animals and our communities.
Accountability isn’t cruelty. Pretending this isn’t happening is.
*Note... the above statement is a repost taken from Facebook.