Roman The Rescuer

Good News Good Planet

For more delicious news, go to www.GoodNewsGoodPlanet.com, and scroll to bottom for more ways to find the feel good stuff!* ROMAN THE RESCUER Roman McConn of Augusta, Georgia is not your typical seven-year-old. Every weekend, he visits animal shelters with his mother where he gets to know unwanted pets. He then makes videos with them and uses the internet to introduce the animals to potential owners, urging people to adopt them. The idea started in 2016 when Roman was just 4 years old, and he noticed dogs in need of adoption outside of a PetSmart and wanted to do something more. That "something more" has grown into ‘Project Freedom Ride’, an organization that rescues pets from high-kill shelters in Texas and Georgia, and matches them to forever homes in the Pacific Northwest. The process from kill-shelter to final placement typically takes about a month. Local rescue groups pull at-risk animals from kill-shelters and collect strays off the streets. The animals are then placed in foster care and put through health and behavior assessments to ensure that they're fit to adopt. Once cleared, they can be matched to loving homes through direct adoption, or transferred to no-kill shelters in the northwest. Funded entirely by donations, Project Freedom Ride spends $25,000 a month transporting dogs across the country. So far, over 1500 dogs and over 50 cats have been saved. Every single animal Roman has made a video with has been adopted, including one guinea pig named "Nibbles." Roman was recently recognized by the SPCA as "Kid of the Year." He was also a guest on the Ellen show, where he received a $20,000 donation. Roman is very optimistic. "I want to get every dog in the world adopted," he said. "I think we might be able to do it in the next 15 years or so." While a dog may be known as man’s best friend, we now know, that a homeless dog’s best friend, is a kid named Roman. #### *Hungry for more of the Good Stuff? Search "Good News Good Planet" on YouTube, Instagram, Patreon, Alexa and wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.