Underdog Rescue and Placement was founded in 2000 by Shannon
McKenzie, its current Executive Director. Having volunteered for
several other animal rescue organizations, Shannon saw a need to
help the dogs and cats
often overlooked by other rescuers, the
"under-dogs." Our very first rescues included a pair of black
kittens named Fenway & Wrigley, a little “Pit Bull” puppy named Lucy
and a tiny Toy Poodle named Lily (who was suffering from a head
injury). No other rescue groups would take Fenway or Wrigley because
black kittens are often overlooked by potential adopters, and, up
until the time we rescued Lucy, rescue groups had not been allowed
to rescue any dog considered to be a “Pit Bull” from Minneapolis
Animal Control.
While in law school, Shannon McKenzie had the anti-"pit-bull"
policy changed, with the assistance of
Attorney, Marshall Tannick. Underdog Rescue continues to
successfully rescue and place 1-3 "Pit Bulls" each week through a
continued partnership with Minneapolis Animal Control.
In the last seven years, Underdog Rescue has placed almost 1850
dogs and cats into loving homes. We could not have done so without
the help of our wonderful foster homes, the amazing work of
Minneapolis Animal Control officers and staff, the incredible
cooperation of Uptown Vet and Hopkins Pet Hospital. Because of our
dedicated volunteers and these wonderful vets with which we work,
Underdog Rescue successfully re-homes 20-30 animals each month!
Click to see our events!
See Our Happy Re-homed Underdogs!
Adoption Event Information
Pet Meet and Greets are held each Saturday from
12:30 - 2:30 pm at
UrbAnimal
in Uptown Minneapolis. To see who is attending the
adoption event, please check each individual pet's profile.
These are updated each week. If you want to meet a specific animal, call ahead to
ensure their attendance (952-929-0777). To expedite the adoption
process, our adoption
applications are available on this website.
If you are hoping to adopt an Underdog(cat) you should fill one out
prior to Pet Meet and Greet.
