 JANUARY 28 • 2021 | 21

A

s no-kill animal shelter Detroit 
Dog Rescue nears its 10th anniver-
sary on Feb. 1, it has big plans for 
its future.
The goal is to move into a new 
11,000-square-foot facility on the West Side 
of Detroit in the Old Redford neighbor-
hood that is nearly five times the size of its 
current East Side location.
Detroit Dog Rescue executive director 
Kristina Millman-Rinaldi says that one day, 
she received a call from a veterinarian hos-
pital with 10 practices that planned to close 
down a location. Instead of shuttering it, the 
hospital offered it to the no-kill shelter.
“I was shocked and so grateful,
” Millman-
Rinaldi recalls. “We had gotten to the 
point at our first location where we had 
issues with our laundry room not being big 
enough. We didn’t have a training room. 
There were so many things missing.
”
The new headquarters, which Detroit 
Dog Rescue is currently raising funding for, 
will fill those voids. The shelter plans to add 
a brand-new kitchen area, training facility, 
a puppy preschool for socializing young 
dogs and a maternity (spelled “mutternity”) 
room for pregnant mothers. But it’s not an 
easy process.

The building’s interior hasn’t been 
revamped since 1962, requiring a major 
overhaul. Millman-Rinaldi estimates the 
completed project to run about $1 million, 
with the shelter about halfway to its fund-
raising goal. Her hope, she says, is to move 
in by October.
“We have started the process of demoing 

the inside,
” Millman-Rinaldi explains.
Once finished, Detroit Dog Rescue’s new 
headquarters will be able to house 68 dogs 
in its facility, which is 40 more than its cur-
rent location. But the old center won’t shut 
down, Millman-Rinaldi says.
Instead, it will be turned into a low-cost 
spay, neuter and vaccination clinic.

‘PET PANTRY’
“We’re also going to have certain days where 
people can come and get resources,
” she 
describes, “kind of like a pet pantry.
” This 

will help people in the community support 
their dogs so they don’t have to turn to sur-
rendering them, she continues.
“If all you need is some vaccinations for 
your pet, a dog license and six months’ 
worth of food, if it gets you through and 
you love your dog, we’re going to help you 
with that,
” Millman-Rinaldi says. “We want 
you to keep your pet.
”
Detroit Dog Rescue, which partners with 
numerous Jewish organizations in the area 
such as BBYO and AZA community ser-
vice projects, says the past decade has seen 
immense growth for its program. Now, the 
new headquarters brings it one step closer 
to its mission of helping keep Detroit’s dogs 
safe and off of the streets.
“Here we are 10 years later, sustaining 
and learning,
” Millman-Rinaldi says. “
And 
that feels really good. We started as a ren-
egade rescue, and we grew Detroit Dog 
Rescue as a group of people who wanted 
change.
” 

Detroit Dog Rescue celebrates 10 years 
with a new 11,000-square-foot headquarters.
New Digs for Dogs

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Kristina Millman-

Rinaldi gives a tour to 

Tyler Bertuzzi of the 

Detroit Red Wings.

A rendering of the new 

Detroit Dog Rescue 

in Detroit’s Old Redford.

DDR

“I WAS SHOCKED 
AND SO GRATEFUL.” 

— KRISTINA MILLMAN-RINALDI

