South Kansas City’s Animal Advocates

By Kristina Light

Across the metro, a network of rescue organizations, volunteers, and small businesses are proving that the connection between people and animals can heal, empower, and bring communities together. 

Finding Purpose at Wayside Waifs

For 14 years, Debbie Brock has volunteered walking dogs, working the adoption counter, training new volunteers, and connecting animals with families at Wayside Waifs. Brock says the work found her at exactly the right time. She began volunteering after being diagnosed with cancer. Now celebrating 10 years in remission, she says volunteering helped her through one of the hardest periods of her life.

“The memories I made, how I use my time, became the most important thing,” Brock said. “I wanted to make the world a better place. Serving gave me something wonderful to focus on.”

Brock has adopted two dogs and a cat through Wayside Waifs herself. She spends more than 20 hours a week at the shelter, which sits on 50 shaded, treed acres with multiple dog parks. 

Every dog at the shelter gets walked, and each has a written directive for consistency. The trainers and behavior team prepare dogs well before adoption, and new owners receive that information so their pet succeeds at home.

Brock said the resources have helped with her own dogs at home. “They are so good about training,” she said, pointing to the classes and videos the shelter offers for every situation.

That pays off at the adoption counter, where Brock says she finds the most rewarding part of her work. “I love meeting animal lovers and serving that connection,” she said. “You see an animal come to the shelter with a sad story, and you can see them leave with a new family and a perfect fit. I love the happy endings.”

One adoption in particular has stayed with her. Brock recalled introducing dogs to a middle aged woman who had recently lost her husband to cancer after serving as his caregiver for years. The woman told Brock she could not bear another loss, but she connected instantly with a two-year- old chocolate brown Labrador.

When Brock pulled the dog’s records, she learned he had been shot multiple times with a BB gun before coming to the shelter. “She starts crying,” Brock said. “She feels he’s perfect for her, and she needed him as much as he needed her.”

Brock said moments like that happen every day at Wayside Waifs, and the organization follows up with adopters after they take a pet home.

Volunteers at Wayside Waifs  must be at least 13 years old and accompanied by a parent or adult, or age 16 to volunteer independently.

Brock recently got involved in the shelter’s Community Outreach Project, which provides low cost vaccination and spay and neuter services, along with food, collars and dishes for families in need. Information is available at WaysideWaifs.org.

Looking back on her years of service, Brock said, “Making the world a better place became paramount. The people I’ve met through the shelter stand out as much as the animals. In fact, the most wonderful people I’ve met in Kansas City walk through these doors.”

A Girl with a Big Heart and a Bracelet Business

Adalie Schewe, an eleven year old jewelry designer from Belton, is using her entrepreneurial talents to give back. “My love for animals came first for me,” she said. “We have two pet beagles that I love.”

During the pandemic, Adalie found herself with time on her hands and started making clay beaded bracelets, first for herself, then for family and friends. What began as a pastime to fight boredom soon turned into something bigger. Adalie set up a booth in her yard and began selling her homemade bracelets. “I love meeting new customers and hearing their stories,” she said. She has created custom sets for families, veterans, and sports fans, as well as gifts for sick loved ones.

Adalie became Belton’s youngest ever Chamber of Commerce member, promoting her three year old business, “OG Bracelet Kid.” The bracelets are sold under a simple, tiered price list, all under $5. She even takes custom orders, sells at local fairs and events, and offers bracelet making classes at Battle Axes on Main in Belton.

A portion of every sale goes toward supporting animals awaiting adoption through Lily’s Rescue Rehab. “It makes me feel good to know I’m part of the process to help rescue animals who need a loving home,” Adalie said. The Belton-based nonprofit provides individualized training, socialization, and medical care for 15 to 20 animals at a time.

For Adalie, the goal isn’t just profit; it’s proof that a girl with a bag of beads and a big heart can make a real difference in her community.

Support Adalie through her “OG Bracelet Kid” page on Facebook, where she posts updates on new designs, sales, and events.

A Calling for Bully Breeds

Ask Cassie Weber what a “bully breed” is, and she starts with what it is not. The term has nothing to do with the word bully, she said, and it is not a single breed. It is a label for dogs related to pit bulls, such as American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and American Bullies, along with mixed breed dogs that share their muscular frames and blocky heads.

“Mixed breed or pit bull mix is a more accurate description for most of MABBR’s dogs,” said Weber, president of Mid America Bully Breed Rescue. She recalled a litter of 10 puppies that included several breeds, the largest a red hound. “I love our dogs because they melt into your skin,” she said. “They have a giant grin.”

The organization began in 2003, when two pit bull advocates founded Kansas Pit Bull Rescue to save dogs shelters would not place. It became Mid America Bully Breed Rescue in 2005, a volunteer run foster network that has placed more than a thousand dogs.

For Weber, the work has always felt personal. “I feel like rescues have always been a part of me,” she said. “This breed chose me. That first bully was my heart dog.”

Every dog goes through a foster based trial period before adoption. “You have to spend time to really know what a dog needs,” Weber said. Dogs receive standard medical care and are temperament tested with other dogs and cats. 

“Some of our rescues come from damaged or difficult situations and need extra TLC. We test all we can in controlled settings,” she said, “Puppies grow up alongside older foster dogs and “learn to take cues from other dogs.”

None of it makes the goodbyes easier. “I cry every time a dog is adopted,” Weber said. “I get attached, but I know another is waiting.” Many adopters stay in touch for years. Weber herself keeps four dogs, including a foster, the limit allowed in Kansas City. Ownership laws vary widely across the region, she said, one reason MABBR screens adopters carefully.

MABBR’s reach extends past the metro area. “We help a lot of rural areas that don’t have the resources,” Weber said.

Reliable volunteers are hard to come by, and the rescue runs entirely on donations. Foster homes are its backbone, but MABBR also needs help with socialization, boarding walks, and events and marketing. Local partners including KC Paws, K9 Closet, Waldo Grain and Chain of Hope also help sustain the mission.

Applications to foster, adopt, volunteer or donate are available at mabbr.org.

Service Dogs, Real Change

Dog Training Elite, part of a national franchise with more than 45 years of history, opened its local branch in 2021 under local owner Chuck Klingsick. Since then, the team has built a program that goes far beyond basic obedience, offering full service dog training for veterans, children with autism, people with diabetes and epilepsy, mobility support and others whose lives depend on a well-trained companion.

Unlike many training programs that operate out of a facility, Dog Training Elite conducts its sessions in clients’ homes. Elaine Walsh, an administrator with the company, says that approach is deliberate. “A dog may do well at a facility and then comes home and reverts to old behaviors,” she explains. “The owner may not have learned the commands and the different environment makes an impact. Sessions are structured so trainers work with the dog first, then transition to the owner, building that relationship between owner and dog.”

The organization does not breed or sell dogs itself, but maintains relationships with reputable breeders and conducts puppy aptitude testing before matching with service work. Cost can be a barrier for families seeking a service dog, so the company works to make its programs accessible. They connect families to options and organizations like the First Hand Foundation, which helps pay for service dogs for those with financial need.

One of the company’s most requested programs serves military veterans and first responders coping with PTSD. The dogs are trained to recognize signs of distress before they escalate. “We teach commands to watch and alert, so people aren’t startled,” Walsh says. The dogs also perform deep pressure therapy to help calm anxiety and alert to nervous or anxious habits. In recognition of their service, veterans and first responders are offered a discount.

The company’s commitment to veterans traces back to one of its earliest clients. Chuck Klingsick was inspired to focus on veteran support after training a service dog for a veteran whose PTSD was so severe he was afraid to leave his house for fear of hurting someone. The team trained the dog to respond to the command “watch my six,” among others. With his service dog by his side, the veteran was able to return to school, earn his degree, and become a teacher.

Client stories continue to show what that bond can accomplish. Danielle R. began training her German Shepherd, Kiwi, at just 10 weeks old, working up to service work in scent detection for autism support and seizure alert. “Kiwi is the sweetest, most well-mannered, properly trained dog I have ever owned,” Danielle says. Davina B. describes a similar bond with her service dog Gadsden, who provides stability and balance support for her anxiety and agoraphobia. “He’s used for stability, balance, and his presence grounds me into the here and now,” she says, “instead of focusing on the anxiety and agoraphobia I face.”

Each week, the company also brings dogs to nursing homes and rehabilitation centers through a partnership with One Community Hospice. “Watching their faces light up when they see the dogs is special,” Walsh says. Many clients who complete the therapy dog program go on to volunteer their own animals at schools and care facilities, a cycle of giving back that the company actively supports by connecting clients with outreach opportunities.

Staff also spend time educating the public on the legal and practical differences between service dogs and emotional support animals, since only certified service dogs are guaranteed broad public access. That educational role, paired with the hands on training, reflects what the team sees as the heart of its mission. “Our ultimate goal,” Walsh says, “is to help people and their dogs.”

More information is available at dogtrainingelite.com/kansas-city.