Our Story
In 2004, a young beagle stray was running free in our Kent neighborhood. Since no one in the neighborhood had ever seen or heard of him before, I rounded him up and called the Kent Police to give him shelter until the owner could be found. He was taken to the city dog pound on a Sunday night. If the owner couldn’t be found by Friday, he would have been turned over to the county to be put up for adoption, or, if no one adopted him, he would be destroyed.
I told the dog warden if no one claimed him by Friday, I would take him and try to find him a home. The city advertised in the local paper, I put up posters and called every dog warden and shelter in the area to see if anyone was looking for a lost dog. No one was.
It became apparent that no one wanted this little guy. But after turning him over to the local pound, I visited him a couple times and began to bond with him. On that Friday, I took him home and named him Willie. Further attempts to find him a home were fruitless. My wife and I already 2 beagle-Bassets at home, but we figured one more wasn’t too many dogs to have.
We loved Willie for 11 years before he passed in 2015. He gave so much love and affection, and our lives would have been so much poorer without him. Yet he came within days of being destroyed. Knowing how many other “Willies” were destroyed before they got to become a member of someone else’s family and knowing how much love they took to their graves with them was the inspiration to start the Madonio Family Animal Welfare Trust.
All members of my family, wife Nancy and sons and daughter, Andrew, Patrick and Erin and their spouses and children, share my profound love of animals. We all have dogs and cats that are important members of our family. Collectively, we wanted to make an impact in as many animals’ lives as we could. In addition to house pets, we also share a love of all animals — horses, livestock, and all the rest.
With the proceeds of the trust, we hope to someday make it possible for every animal to have a chance. Anything you contribute to the trust will produce money — every year forever — to help us reach our goal. All money contributed goes into the trust. Operating costs, including creation and maintenance of this web site, will be paid for by the Madonio family. We thank you for your interest and hopefully, for your contribution.
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