Fredon's 'Puppy Mama' fosters rescued little dogs

By Laurie Gordon
FREDON — Jessica Vollero has always worked with animals and rescues in some way or another. In 2013, she became a stay-at-home-mom after her youngest was born.
“I quickly realized that I missed rescue and I missed helping so my family and I made the decision to start fostering,” she said. “Best decision ever. A friend introduced me to the organization with whom I’ve been fostering for the last four years.”
The Vollero family became a part of Road Trip Rescues.
Road Trip Rescues Inc. is a small, home based, not-for-profit rescue. There is no physical shelter, and all of their rescues are in loving foster homes until their adoption. Their rescues are loved as their own while they are with Road Trip Rescue, and live with foster families. For the safety of their rescues and foster families, only approved adopters may visit rescues in their foster homes.
The organization's main goal is to bring together sweet, forgotten adoptable dogs with kind humans who are willing to provide their rescues with forever homes. They work to accomplish this by saving dogs and puppies from euthanasia at kill shelters, assisting owners in rehoming their pets, taking in local strays, and assisting the local animal control officers by finding foster and forever homes for their charges.
Road Trip Rescues first makes sure all of their rescues are vetted and healthy, and then work on socializing the dogs, some of whom may have been very traumatized by their previous life. Their rescues are loved as their own while they are with foster families. Road Trip Rescues is not breed specific, nor do they care about size, age, or disabilities. They love them all and work hard to make up for those who may have wronged these animals. The non-profit evaluates each animal's needs, temperament, and quirks, and use this knowledge to help find the perfect match. Their goal is to find a home for these dogs where they can live out their lives with love and kindness.
“It's wonderful at getting people started off with fostering,” Vollero said, “The rescue supplies all the essentials: bowls, blankets, food, toys etc. Puppies are kept with their foster homes for two weeks to make sure they are healthy before heading to a new home. The fosters usually post pictures on their own social media pages and the rescue advertises the puppies on both social media and Petfinder. We also have adoption events at different locations.
Vollero grew up in Mountainside, New Jersey, and moved to Sussex County in 2001. She has worked at several veterinary hospitals, and was also the Vet Tech at Noah's Ark for several years.
“Every job that I had taught me in different ways and made me a better rescuer and animal advocate,” Vollero said. The reason I picked Road Trip Rescues is because they aren’t just all about the puppies. They help the sick, the old, and the ones with some behavior issues. I’m proud to be affiliated with a rescue like that.”
She added, “Fostering is my passion, but I recently branched out to working with an animal advocacy group helping not only animals but their owners. It’s called NJ Strays. They have several projects such as Barn and Outdoor Cat Project where they help trap, neuter and vaccinate feral cats and then relocate them to barn or outdoor homes if necessary. They also have the Lost and Found Pets of North Jersey Project where they help with reporting lost/ found pets, advertising them, tracking or trapping and also hosting micro chipping clinics to help prevent pets from coming home. My favorite Project is the Owner Surrender Prevention Project. Sometimes owners need just temporary assistance so they don’t have to make the permanent decision to surrender their pet. We help with temporary boarding/fostering, vet assistance, food assistance, training, dog walking etc. It’s a wonderful group with big plans for the future and I’m glad to be on board with that.”
“She is like the Puppy Mamma of Fredon,” said her friend Amy Anne Lobban. At least five Fredon families have adopted her foster puppies. She helps to train them and her three kids help and love them all. We got our girl, Willa, from her about two months ago.”
Anyone who is interested in adopting a puppy can always go to the rescue website at RoadTripRescues.com or check them out on Facebook or petfinder. To help the non-profit by donating items or money, visit: www.roadtriprescues.com/services.html