Saving senior pets from shelters is expensive and challenging and another area of lifesaving where the need outweighs the amount of available help. Compared to the total number of rescue organizations coast-to-coast, only a fraction focus solely on saving this highly at-risk group of animals.

Senior animals often carry a stigma that they don’t make good pets. Some adopters may believe seniors are “broken” or have problems that can’t be fixed - why else would they be at the shelter in the first place?

This week we talk with Kristen Peralta, co-founder of Vintage Pet Rescue, a rescue organization driven by a mission of helping aging pets live their best lives — regardless of how much longer they may have left.