Before moving to Memphis, Ranise was involved in rescue in Chicago for a little over 5 years. She started out doing events and raising money, then moved on to volunteering with handling and dog walking, and eventually became a board member for another rescue for more than 2 years. She then became a foster coordinator for ALIVE. Ranise took what she learned in Chicago and has started our very first “branch” to help reduce the extensive overpopulation problem in Memphis. Ranise shares her home with Zelda, the very first dog rescued by ALIVE Rescue Memphis, and has two other foster failures from the program in Memphis, Patty and Sprout. Ranise’s previous dog, Anita Riot, was her inspiration for getting into rescue.

“Perfect” Patty,
Asst. Dog Test Coordinator

Patty aka perfect Patty was the second dog ALIVE Rescue Memphis saved in 2015. She was originally “fostered” by our director Ranise, and never left the couch. It’s impossible to think of how many dogs Patty has helped by showing them the ropes through fostering, or helping with temperament tests. The rule goes-if you can’t get along with Patty, sadly you probably can’t get along with any dog.