New Beginnings Animal Rescue Coming To Royal Oak

The organization that takes in homeless pets is without a home. But that won't last for long.

New Beginnings Animal Rescue (NBAR) has been around since 2010. The Michigan pet adoption organization has been working to save animals locally but didn't have a building and had to offer volunteers' homes as shelters for animals.

Not anymore. NBAR has a building in Royal Oak that they are remodeling for their purposes at 2502 Main Street.

"We are in Southern Oakland County and based in Royal Oak, but we also go into Berkley and have adoption events in Birmingham. And, we are looking to get into Ferndale next year," Jennifer Fritz, vice president, said.

The Royal Oak address will be the NBAR's adoption center.

"We just bought it in October and we have to get it up to the requirements of the Department of Agriculture. We have to have a different ventilation unit and the floors have to be sealed and there has to be drainage in the floors. We  have contractors coming in and bidding on those. We hope to open in March but once we finish the requirements we have to pass an inspection from the Department of Agriculture and get our certificate from them."

The organization's mission is to rescue - primarily cats, but also dogs - and is foster based with volunteers taking the animals into their own homes.

"Animals come from overcrowded shelters or shelters with time limits. And, we take animals who can't stay with their families anymore due to moving or the owners getting elderly," she said.

NBAR helps owners who are hurting financially by supplying food for pets. They also hold pet adoption events at different pet stores in the area. The next one is on January 5 at Napiers Kennel Shop in Birmingham.

"We can get into the big ones like PetCo but we are looking to expand and get into other areas this coming year," she said. "We've rotated through Pet Supplies Plus, Community Pet Supplies and we've had events at Berkley Animal Clinic. We are trying to get out in the community and rotate into more stores."

The non-profit organization accepts financial donations but also has a need for plenty of pet items including food and materials for the building, such as cleaning supplies and disinfectant wipes.

"With adoption fees, we basically break even," she said."We're not picky about the items we take. We'll take any pet food, even if its open or recently expired. We can use that for our foster pets or in our pantry."

There are a dozen volunteers currently working with NBAR.

"We try to keep everything very positive but it can be emotionally difficult. We try to keep it fun and people really get behind our pantry," she said. "People were giving up their animals because they couldn't feed them. We've given out 20,000 pounds of food since last year. We've fed hundreds of animals and have kept those animals in their homes."

You can learn more about NBAR at NBARMichigan.org.