The gentle, playful barks of puppies of all shapes and sizes could be heard throughout the halls of MAMCO Rescue Saturday afternoon.
MAMCO (Moms and Mutts Colorado) Rescue’s weekly adoption event allowed local dog lovers to come to the shelter in Englewood and play with puppies, falling in love with the potential pets.
But MAMCO’s mission goes beyond the big-eyed puppies that so many people fall head-over-paws for. The shelter and foster rescue focuses on the mothers that brought those puppies into the world. The dogs often overlooked by both shelters and adopters alike.
“We rescue pregnant moms and pups. Not a lot of rescues go for pregnant moms. A lot of times, kill shelters actually euthanize the pregnant moms and puppies,” Emyli Walter, an employee at the shelter and daughter of owners Erin and Rob Jones, said.
Erin and Rob Jones started the rescue in 2016 and began rescuing pregnant dogs from Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma — states where overbreeding and overpopulation are significant issues.