Our history

Timeline

2013- Formed all government documents needed to form a non-profit organization
2014- Rescued our first dog! Ended the year by saving over 100 dogs. Started to build our small team.
2015- Received our non profit status from the IRS. Started growing our team of volunteers and fosters. Began hosting community events.
2016- Continued our foster based program and started developing plans to open a public rescue center. Really focused on grants and community partnerships.
2017- Opened our first public Rescue Center and doubled our foster program and our volunteers!
2018- Increased our community reach, obtaining more volunteers than ever before. Rescued over 500 dogs for the year, and continued to make improvements to the Rescue Center.
2019- Branched the rescue out of state, to Kentucky!

Board members

Staci Ventura

Staci is the founder of Adoption First Animal Rescue and the current President. She was raised in California and has lived in North Carolina for the last few years. She has a passion for dogs and wants to help the community, educate the public, and lower euthanasia rates in public shelters.

Heidi McLaughlin

Heidi joined the Adoption First team after being a customer. She adopted her dog from Adoption First in 2014 and has taken a more active role in the organization. She currently is the Vice President and wants to share her experience with others.

Breanna Perry

My journey with adoption first started when we adopted "Sun" now Khaleesi December 3rd of 2016. My dog of 13 years passed away on our move across country on June 8th 2016 so I had been looking to fill the giant hole he left. She was the perfect fit and while fiesty she loved playing with dogs. I saw a post on the Facebook page asking for temporary fosters in March of 2017 and decided to take in my first foster. I LOVED it! It spiraled after that! I asked Staci what I could do to be more involved and started doing all the vetting around September 2017. It continues to spiral as I seem to get deeper and deeper daily but I can say I have truly found my passion. I have worked with animals all my life and this is the most rewarding "job" I've ever had!

Sabrina Adams

Sabrina started with Adoption First in 2016 and strived to make Adoption First more active in the community. She is the Grant Writer and Event Coordinator. With her help the rescue has secured many grants and hosted community events.

Val Burrola

I have been a foster with Adoption First since 2014. Caring for these incredible souls makes everything worth it. Some days are heartbreaking but watching a scared dog become confident and free from previous pain is the best thing anyone could experience. I love being part of this rescue family.

Dakota Fultz

I’ve been with Adoption First since may of 2017. I started fostering, because I wanted to make a difference. I love that I can pull a dog from the shelter, all curled in a ball terrified of life, & watch their personalities grow and become trusting ❤️ It’s amazing watching the happiness & smiles from everyone around, truly dedicated to saving dogs. I have since moved to my home state of Kentucky and am starting a second location of Adoption First Animal Rescue.

Catalina Kesler

I am an active duty Marine and when I was stationed in Jacksonville, NC I was a volunteer at the local animal shelter. I became involved with AFAR when Staci helped me pull a dog from the local shelter that was at risk of being euthanized because he was so stressed at the rescue he could not pass his personality test. After AFAR saved my beautiful boy Tank, I became a regular volunteer and foster for them. Aside from the enjoyment of giving dogs an opportunity for a better life, I immensely enjoyed the human connections that AFAR enables its volunteers to forge. I made life long friends through AFAR and I know other volunteers have done as well. After volunteering for almost three years, I humbly accepted the opportunity to become a board member for AFAR so that I can help make a bigger impact in the lives of dogs that need our help and the families that choose Adoption First when growing their family with a four legged fur baby.