Atlas Animal Rescue

Atlas Animal Rescue appears in the new Santa Barbara Giving List book for the first time under the clever headline “A New Leash on Life.” But one can’t help wonder: What is a dog rescue agency located up in Paso Robles doing in a book connecting philanthropists with local nonprofits, especially when there are any number of shelters and other services for the abandoned, abused, and otherwise unwanted animals? 

That’s actually an easy one. Atlas has carved out its own niche, one that has attracted attention in our community more than 120 miles away. 

Here’s why.

Atlas is a foster-based organization, one that at the moment doesn’t even have a shelter facility, although they’d like to change that soon. All of the dogs they rescue from a wide area both north and south of Paso are ones that are facing euthanasia, typically animals that are on the “kill list” at high-risk shelters or have otherwise been deeply affected by abuse or neglect. And the nonprofit successfully rehomes all of them, which is the most amazing part. 

“They’ve been selected for euthanasia for any number of reasons, from medical needs, difficult behavior, or simply just overcrowding because there’s just not enough space in most shelters,” explained Emily Everett-Nelson, who launched Atlas at the height of the pandemic after spending time volunteering at her local shelter and across the world at a shelter called Slaughterhouse Survivors in China. “We go and rescue those dogs that desperately need it.”

But Atlas doesn’t just plunk the dogs in a cage and hope that someone will want to take them home. Rather, the organization has a list of foster homes with people who want to care for the animals while they undergo a rigorous process of rehabilitation. 

“They’re vet techs, trainers, or even just average people that really want to help a dog in need,” Everett-Nelson said. “We have a list of pre-approved fosters that we contact when we’re ready to go to a shelter and rescue dogs and we find out who might be able to help save them.” 

Which means all of Atlas’ dogs – currently about 25, and four times that many over the course of a year – live in foster homes where they’re getting that one-on-one time, learning everything like potty training, leash work, and medical help. 

“It’s a better way to kind of get them decompressed after the stress of the shelter where everything’s so high anxiety, an environment that can set dogs off. It gives them that clean slate to decompress and for us to kind of get to know them a little bit better, their personalities, their medical needs, and spend some one-on-one time with our vets for in-depth treatment.”

Atlas’ process for rehabilitation is a rigorous one that includes working one-on-one with a trainer, complete temperament testing, and almost concierge-like medical care including a battery of bloodwork and X-rays. 

“They get as deep of medical attention as you could imagine, because I want to make every adoption a good experience,” Everett-Nelson said. “We bust our butts for our dogs. They get the basics of potty training, crate training, everything else. And we really get to know them, learn their triggers, their temperament, their personality, everything that sets our adopters up for success.”

Eventually, the dogs are adopted out to their permanent homes, which is every shelter’s dream but Atlas’ approach and individualized dog care – not to mention some smart use of social media – results in a 100 percent success rate.

“It’s such a great tool because we can share our dog’s stories,” Everett-Nelson said. “When people see the transformations we’ve been able to accomplish, we can show people what fostering can do. They get to see how this dog that was going to have their life ended has become a happy, thriving animal. Because we’re such a small mom-and-pop shop, we’re able to pull at the heartstrings of people who have maybe been teetering the idea for a while.” 

But given the current issue of overcrowding at shelters everywhere that has only exacerbated since the pandemic, Atlas isn’t willing to simply rest at their current level of achievement. There are two main goals for 2026 that, given Everett-Nelson’s passion and purpose-driven innovative ideas, might come true sooner than later. 

“We really want to set our eyes on fundraising or finding another way to get a sanctuary shelter space,” Everett-Nelson explained. “I get probably 50 urgent calls a day, ‘This dog’s going to die today.’ Having a shelter would allow us more time to say yes to dogs with special needs, to coordinate the fosters, and also serve as a safety net if a foster has an emergency. But it wouldn’t be a typical dog shelter. All of our dogs would get the same care they do now, with large runs, lots of walks, and training sessions every day. We’d get to see how they’re going to be good with the other dogs. We’d use it for educational purposes, too, to bring in more people that would want to foster and learn how and what we do.”

In the meantime, there’s also a more urgent matter, one regarding the Atlas van, which ironically, unlike the dogs, needs to go on to its greater reward. 

“It’s a huge tool, but we’ve had it for 10 years and she’s starting to kick the bucket,” Everett-Nelson said. “That happened on a trip to L.A. to rescue some dogs off the kill list when it started to break down with eight dogs in the back on the way back in crazy traffic. It made it home, but that poor van has 250,000 miles on it. We need a new one.”  

Visit www.atlasanimalrescue.org