Madison’s Mission: No Mutt Left Behind

AWI Scholarship recipient Madison Kossow founded Mission Mutt Dog Rescue to tackle the pet overpopulation crisis one pup at a time.

For Madison Kossow, the greatest benefit of attending virtual high school during the COVID-19 pandemic was that the less demanding schedule freed up her time to foster more than 30 cats, dogs, and rabbits. As a former volunteer with Good Karma Pet Rescue in South Florida, Madison logged over 900 service hours drafting engaging social media posts for adoptable animals, meeting with potential adopters, tracking donations, preparing supplies, and assisting with vaccinations, blood draws, and pre- and postoperative care. She also became the youngest mentor at the organization tasked with teaching foster parents how to best prepare dogs for their forever homes.

“Knowing an animal needs help is reason enough for people to aid in their rescue,” Madison wrote in her 2023 scholarship application to AWI. The scholarship program, now in its sixth year, recognizes high school seniors in the United States who are actively involved in helping animals in their schools or communities and plan to continue working on behalf of animals in college and beyond. As one of 14 recipients that year, Madison was awarded $3,000 to help her pursue a major in criminology at Florida State University.

Such recognition from a national animal advocacy organization was a huge motivator and, as Madison tells it, “brought legitimacy” to her plans for opening a nonprofit, foster-based rescue organization before finishing college. “That extra push really inspired me to start the rescue,” she said.

Initially inspired by Lee Asher, who founded The Asher House animal sanctuary and now has a huge following on social media, Madison began designing her future rescue on PowerPoint during summer breaks from high school. After arriving at the FSU campus in Tallahassee, she used $500 earned from various pet sitting jobs as seed funding to launch Mission Mutt Dog Rescue to save abused, neglected, and abandoned dogs.

In the summer of 2024, Mission Mutt took in its first two puppies, Coconut and Kiwi, from the British Virgin Islands. Since then, the organization has facilitated 49 adoptions across the country through a network of 57 fosters (including 20 college students) and nine volunteers. Madison, now a college senior, hosts virtual and in-person fundraising and education events, drumming up community support for dogs like Ranger, a black mouth cur puppy who was found with scars all over his body, a bowed front leg, and severe nutrient deficiency.

Dogs in need of rescue come from a variety of circumstances. People who are moving or in financial difficulties may surrender their dogs. A litter of sick puppies might also end up at a shelter. Other dogs are simply abandoned—a Florida community known as the Redlands is a notorious dumping ground for dogs used in dogfighting.

Mission Mutt recently started a program to keep dogs with their families while the rescue facility pays to get them medically ready for adoption. Madison also plans to hold a reading event for children and foster pups, using donated AWI books Kamie Cat’s Terrible Night and Pablo Puppy’s Search for the Perfect Person.

Growing up with three dogs (including her personal pup, a skittish Havanese named Austin), Madison said she did not realize that shelters were being forced to euthanize healthy, adoptable dogs. Today, Florida is among the top five states for animal shelter deaths. In 2024, more than 600,000 animals were euthanized in shelters nationwide, (a 2 percent decrease from one year prior, according to the ASPCA).

On a recent afternoon, Madison fielded pleas to rescue a total of five dogs dumped on two different highways in Florida, and was fretting over a recent rescue, a dachshund with a missing eye, who likely needs the other one removed, along with several teeth. During her time working in animal rescue, Madison has lost only one dog—a tiny hound mix puppy named Big Foot, who suffered from seizures and could not be saved. Black dogs and senior dogs are the most difficult to get adopted, she explained, though one black pitbull-lab puppy did find a home with a caretaker of a ranch belonging to legendary singer Neil Diamond.

“Madison has always been a go-getter,” said Janalle Sommer-Trigo, president of the For the Love of Satos animal rescue in Puerto Rico, who worked with Madison at Good Karma and has since transferred several dogs to Mission Mutt. “She is confident in her passion to help animals and get things done.” Regina Terlau-Benford, director of AWI’s Humane Education Program, is thrilled by what Madison has accomplished so far. “When AWI launched our scholarship in 2019, the goal was to support students whose drive and compassion would help improve the lives of animals,” she said. “Madison embodies exactly that spirit. From volunteering at her local shelter in high school to now running her own rescue, she continues to make a remarkable impact.”

Within 10 years, Madison hopes to have room for 90 dogs on her own large plot of land—perhaps in Colorado, where there is more adoption demand than down south. Until then, she handles urgent intakes at her off-campus apartment, balancing final exams with a feeding frenzy at dinnertime, while her slightly perturbed Havanese struggles to grab his bowl and relocate it to another room.

She would never trade the chaos, however, for a typical college experience that lacks the inspiration and comfort of canine companionship. “No matter how bad your day is,” she says, your dog “wakes up and goes to bed happy. Even though they can’t speak to you with words, they’re just always there for you.”

Visit Mission Mutt Dog Rescue to learn more and donate. Learn more about the AWI Scholarship for high school seniors. 

See more AWI Quarterly articles about: Companion Animals, Responsible Acquisition and Care

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