MAR- Mercer Animal Rescue & Sanctuary

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Memphis, TN
MAR- Mercer Animal Rescue & Sanctuary

Mercer Animal Rescue purpose is to rescue, socialize, rehabilitate, and find forever homes for abused, neglected, abandoned and unwanted southern dogs.

We find forever homes for them in the Northeast and Midwest.

09/04/2026

Some of you will recognize the dog in the first photo. For two years he was the bone-thin tan dog living in the woods behind the bank — everyone posted about him, but he wouldn’t let anyone get close. He ate off the concrete of a parking lot, whatever anyone left him. Last month, we finally caught him. He’s no more than three years old, which means he spent most of his life out there.

He’s up to 64 pounds from 58, but he’s still bone thin, and he’s heartworm positive — we can’t treat that until he’s stronger. And he’s still afraid. In 20 years and thousands of dogs through our doors, we have never seen a dog this traumatized.

But he’s inside now, on a cool bed with a fan, instead of out in this heat. And every so often there’s the smallest tail wag. That’s him in the second photo — when he goes outside, he passes up the grass and lies in the dirt. We don’t know why. Maybe it’s what he’s used to.

We don’t know if he’ll ever be ready for adoption, but he always has a place with us.

The one thing he truly loves is Freshpet, and we’d feed him as much of it as he wants. If you’d like to help keep his bowl full, a bag from Chewy, Walmart, or PetSmart shipped straight to us goes right to him — message us for the address. 🐾

09/03/2026

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Winifred is heading to her new home on Long Island today. She had a quick vet visit this morning to make sure everything looks good before the trip, and she’s all clear.
Of course, a vet visit always means a stop for a pup cup afterward — that’s the routine with all our dogs.
Huge thanks to her foster family for taking such good care of her this past month.
Safe travels, Winifred — we know you’re going to be loved in your forever home.

09/02/2026

🐾🐾 Five dogs dumped. Fourteen dogs rescued. 🐾🐾

Somebody had five little scruffy dogs, and one day they drove them out to a road in Marshall County, Mississippi, and left them there. All five of them — two females, three males, none of them big enough to fend for themselves. All little scruffy house dogs.

They got lucky. An animal advocate found them and took them in, and at the vet came the surprise: both females were pregnant. Nine puppies on the way.

She kept all of them through pregnancy and nursing, and those nine puppies are with us now — safe, healthy, and every bit as cute as their parents. The moms will be spayed and placed in loving homes of their own. (Third photo)

The puppies have a few weeks of vetting ahead before they’re ready for adoption. We’ll keep you posted.

09/01/2026

Summer
6 lb toy poodle

09/01/2026

Meet Oakley
Oakley showed up dumped on a backroad outside of Memphis. She’s 2-3 years old, spayed, heartworm negative, and already on preventative, so she’s ready to go. She’s never lived in a house but she’s not using the bathroom in her kennel run, which is a good sign.
She’s social and playful and needs to go to a home with another dog — she genuinely loves everybody she meets. Blue eyes, sweet face.
We can only bring her into the rescue if we find her a foster in Memphis, Chicago or the Northeast. If you’re able to foster, or know someone who might be, send us a message and we’ll get you all the details.

08/31/2026

ADOPTED IN CHICAGO !!

This gorgeous girl is a purebred Great Pyrenees puppy, 6-7 months old, about 50 pounds — and somehow she’s still available.

April was adopted back in July. Her adopter was going out of town, so they asked us to hold her for a month until they got back. We don’t normally do that, but we agreed. Her foster family kept her, and we took her off Petfinder.

Then last Thursday morning — the morning she was supposed to leave for Pennsylvania — we got an email. Their cat was sick. They couldn’t take her.

A whole month where nobody knew she was available. And this week her sister Winnie, who lives in the same foster home, leaves for her new home on Long Island.

April is being raised in a busy foster home with a toddler and three adult Pyrenees, and it shows — she’s about as well-socialized as a puppy can get. She’s ready for just about any family.

Share her, please — somebody is going to be so lucky to get this dog.

08/30/2026

❤️ THE DOG NOBODY ASKED ABOUT JUST GOT ADOPTED

It’s been a rough week. Our play yard was destroyed, so the dogs have nowhere to run. The van needs real work. And every day we get asked to take dogs we have to turn down — we can say yes to about one in ten, and the other nine deserve help just as much.

You showed up for the van. We so appreciate you. You know who you are - thank you 🙏🏻💙

And then this happened, and it made our week, our month, maybe our year. Truman has been adopted.

This photo is his first day in Chicago. He’s grinning at me, and that’s his foster dad behind him, leash in hand, about to take him on what he thought was an adventure. Turned out to be the rest of his life.

Truman came to us from Memphis Humane a year ago. We asked them who needed out the most and they said Tru. He’d come in as a 26-pound puppy and grown up there, most of his life in a kennel. He was on anti-anxiety medication and antidepressants for kennel stress. Memphis Humane is a terrific organization. They work hard, they work well with rescues, they take good care of their dogs and find them good homes. But no dog is built for a kennel. No dog should spend their life in one.

Then a year with us. The dog nobody asked about. And he is, no exaggeration, one of the best dogs we’ve ever had — top ten out of thousands. Heart of gold.

He’s staying with Gabrielle and Dennis, his fosters, who fell for him the way everyone does. He’s got a pittie sister now too — Freya, who’s a bit of a celebrity in Chicago.

The video is the two of them playing at Dennis and Gabrielle’s restaurant/bar. Truman is the official greeter there now, so if you’re in Lincoln Square, stop into The Atlantic on Lincoln Ave and say hello.

08/29/2026

MAS (Memphis Animal Services) has already taken one dog from this property, and we are terrified he won’t make it out. If mom and her babies end up there too, they will very likely be euthanized as well.
Our focus for the past year has been keeping dogs out of the shelter, because if we can’t save the ones already inside, we can at least try to save the ones still out on the streets. Memphis still has no spay/neuter program in place, and it doesn’t look like that’s changing anytime soon.
This sweet mama and her four 2–3 month old puppies are living on an abandoned property and desperately need a rescue to step up. We are beyond full, with 11 puppies arriving this weekend, eight dogs in boarding, and our play yard destroyed, but we will do everything we can to help a rescue that can take them, including helping with transport and coordinating what is needed.
If your rescue can help this family, please message us.

Please share with everyone you know — there has to be a rescue out there that can help.

08/29/2026

Our van needs help. 🚐

Our van needs $4,814 in repairs — rear brakes, the air conditioning, wipers, and two new tires. The dealer’s paperwork is in the photos. The good news: generous animal advocates have already donated $2,625. Thank you!! ❤️
We need help with the last $2,189.

We are completely full right now. Our fosters are full, we have dogs in boarding, and we’ve had to close intake until the van can carry dogs to Chicago again. Stray, homeless puppies in Mississippi are waiting, and a well-known Chicago rescue is ready to take them as soon as we can drive.

This van has been ours for five years, and we love it dearly — thousands of dogs have ridden in it to their new home. We know we ask a lot of you, and you show up every time.

If you can give $2, we so appreciate it. If you can share this post, we so appreciate that too. Every dollar goes straight to the repair bill.

VENMO: Mercer-AnimalRescue
ZELLE: 901-651-6322
PAYPAL: [email protected] 🐾

08/28/2026

This sweet mama and her four babies are living on an abandoned property in Memphis, and they desperately need a rescue to step up for them.
Her puppies are only 2–3 months old. One dog from the property has already gone to MAS, and we are terrified the rest will be next.
Normally we would take them ourselves, but we have 11 puppies arriving this weekend, eight dogs already in boarding, and our play yard has been destroyed. If your rescue can help this family, please message us.

Please share with everyone you know. There has to be a rescue out there that can help.

Address

Memphis, TN

Website

http://www.merceranimalrescue.org/

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