Monica "Mo" Ailey

With Husband Jamie - Are Parents to Five Canine Kids (All Rescues) and is a Devoted Volunteer and Foster Parent to Animals in Need!

Tamra Monahan reports
Photo by Kristina Bowman Photography

The desire to save dogs is a passionate fire that burns bright in Monica Ailey, a fire that sparked into life when she was four years old. Her best friend, a Shepherd mix named Muttley, was ill and had to be put down. Monica's last memories of her beloved dog are sitting in front of their house waiting for the local pound to pick him up, promising Muttley she wouldn't let anyone take him. But she was powerless.

As the truck drove away, Monica ran after it crying, a heartbroken little girl who has never forgotten the dog she couldn't save. Th at day, an unwavering desire to rescue helpless dogs was born - a desire that has shaped Monica's life and saved many dogs.

"As many times as I think I don't even make a dent in the grand scheme of things, I look back and realize that one person can make a huge difference," Monica says. "I keep giving back because it brings me joy to see how I can change the life of a living being with my efforts. When you see them with their new families thriving and happy, it makes your heart smile. This is what keeps me going."

As a volunteer for numerous animal welfare organizations, such as Animal Rescue Corps, Homeward Bound Animal Rescue, Love Our Local Animals, United Animal Nations, and The Humane Society of the United States, Monica's mission is to promote adoption as a humane alternative to buying a dog from a breeder or pet store. She also works tirelessly to shut down puppy mills, and Monica's inspiration for this endeavor was her Rottweiler, Sandy, purchased by her father from a pet store. Monica wanted to return Sandy because she knew the dog had probably come from a puppy mill, but she decided to save the cute little puppy and as many other dogs as possible from the horrors of puppy mills.

Although Monica has rescued hundreds of dogs, one event changed her life forever: Hurricane Katrina. After watching television reports of helpless animals being left behind, she and her sister decided to act. In New Orleans, what they found was more devastating than they could have imagined. So many animals left to die; so much work to be done. But in the midst of these deplorable conditions, Monica found hope and intensifi ed her fi ght for those who had been abandoned.

"Our first trip to New Orleans was more than I expected," she says. "We were pulling animals out of homes left and right. The conditions they had survived in for weeks were astonishing, but his trip felt like a huge success. It was by far the hardest I have ever worked on such little sleep, but I was ready to wake up and do it all over again day after day. This is where I realized my strengths lie in handling animals in distress."

From a small spark, Monica's passion to save to animals in the Dallas/Fort Worth area has grown into a wildfire, one that will never be extinguished.