Northwest Working Breed Rescue

Northwest Working Breed Rescue began the way many rescue journeys do — with one dog and a simple decision to help.

In June of 2023, Alecia volunteered to foster a dog named Kiara, who arrived at our home that same evening. Within days, it became clear that Kiara wasn’t temporary. She bonded instantly with our dog Luna, and fostering turned into adoption.

We assumed that would be the end of our fostering journey.

A few months later, after moving onto an acre and a quarter of land, Alecia came across a post about six puppies found running along a highway in Eastern Washington during triple-digit temperatures. The rescue we had adopted Kiara from didn’t have available foster homes. Alecia asked if they could help — and then asked if we could foster three.

We ultimately took in five of the six puppies.

That experience pulled us deeper into rescue work. Over time, we began helping with dog transports, social media, website rebuilds, and eventually implementing new shelter and CRM software. We spent months supporting rescue operations behind the scenes and learned firsthand what works, what breaks down, and where rescues struggle to scale.

Along the way, we began asking an important question:

What would a rescue look like if it combined compassion with strong systems and thoughtful processes?

Most people in rescue are driven by enormous hearts — and rightly so. We share that heart, but we also bring a business-minded, data-driven approach. With Alecia’s background in sales and relationship-building and Martin’s background in technology and systems, we set out to build a rescue that could help more dogs while improving the experience for fosters, adopters, and the dogs themselves.

That vision became Northwest Working Breed Rescue.

Our mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome working breed dogs while prioritizing:

• Thoughtful, responsible adoptions
• Foster support and collaboration
• Clear processes and standards
• Long-term sustainability

Our adoption process includes multiple checkpoints — application review, veterinary reference checks, phone screening, and meet-and-greets — because we believe the right match matters. We value foster insight and operate as a team, always keeping the dog’s best interest at the 

center of every decision.

We are proud partners of Northwest Rescue Collective, supporting independent rescuers across Washington State, and we are actively working toward our 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Northwest Working Breed Rescue is still young, but our foundation is strong — built on experience, intention, and a deep commitment to doing rescue thoughtfully and responsibly.

This is only the beginning.