One day, as fate would have it, my wife and I found ourselves driving along a rural highway in Montana behind a van from a shelter in Northern California, a kill shelter. It was full of dogs heading north. We soon found that the person driving the van had picked up 34 dogs from kill shelters in the Central Valley, some just hours before being put down, and was dropping them off at foster homes, fur-ever homes and no-kill shelters along the way.

This ONE person had been doing this for years and had saved over 4,000 dogs by herself! Even more shocking, she had used the transport van from the kill shelter to do it!

This was the proof and the inspiration we needed. One person could and did make a difference, a HUGE difference, especially to those 4,000 dogs.

Finding Cara meant one thing. There had to be others. There must be more people and more dog rescues doing extraordinary things with very limited resources and against all odds to save dogs.

What began as a desire to fund transports soon grew into so much more, a network of love united behind a single cause, to make the world a better place for dogs.​

From supporting animal shelters and additional transports to funding medical treatments, spay and neuter clinics and missions to underserved communities in rural Mexico, our impact has grown beyond anything we could have imagined.

Now, thanks to our incredible community, aka "The Packo”, the We Love Doggos Charity is able to make a difference in the lives of 2,000+ dogs a year. That number is set to grow to a staggering 10,000+ dogs rescued by the end of 2025.

Every project we support through our charity partners, called Packo Partners and Packo Pals, helps a local shelter, provides emergency transportation, funds a life-saving medical treatment, or otherwise supports a dog or dog welfare organization in need. 

The final piece of this puzzle is perhaps the most unbelievable. As we started to find and support other truly amazing dog rescues charities, we shared the stories of their rescues with our community, The Packo.

Soon we were receiving messages, A LOT of messages, from community members asking how they could help and The Dog Rescue Heroes Club was born.

What started out as a small group of friends pulling together funds to support individual projects and dogs in need has turned into over 10,000 dog lovers making a meaningful impact on dog rescue across the United States.

So what about Cara and The Underdog Railroad, the charity that started it all?

In April 2024, The Dog Rescue Heroes Club helped The Underdog Railroad purchase its own transport van and has gone on to sponsor dozens more life-saving dog transports.

The trips are called "Freedom Rides" and serve as a shining example of how we can all work together to make the world a better place for dogs!