On Sunday, August 25, 2024 something wonderful happened. Nine eight-week-old puppies and 25 human beings shared a Yoga class together. The result? A time of laughter, a little bit of Yoga, and quite a bit of love.

Puppy Yoga was created to draw attention to Emotional Rescue LLC, located here in Hastings, MN, and run by Hastings’ native, Shannon Tarr. Shannon’s story was featured in an article published in the Hastings Journal a few weeks back, describing Shannon’s life as a dog rescuer, and all that entails.

It goes without saying that many animal rescues rely on donations from the public to provide and care for the lives that come to them. The dogs that come to Emotional Rescue are hard cases. Some have been shot, paralyzed and left for dead, hit by vehicles, starved, mangy strays, abused, dumped, or abandoned. They all require medical care, and some are feral, needing to learn how to interact with humans. The donations Emotional Rescue receives are dedicated to getting dogs medical care, food, shelter, and a soft place to land as they heal emotionally and physically.

Shannon has learned how to become creative in developing ideas for donation campaigns. Currently, Emotional Rescue has a GoFundMe campaign called, “Nature Heals” that will fence in Shannon’s yard to allow the many dogs staying with Shannon a place to roam and play. There is also the “Five Dollar Friday” campaign which allows Emotional Rescue’s social media followers to donate this amount each Friday, and followers can also send “Starts” via Facebook to contribute to the rescue. And now Puppy Yoga

It was a given that any type of formal Yoga class would not be possible with 9 adorable puppies roaming about. But the Puppy Yoga class was just the ticket to bring people face to face with real puppies that came from a desperate situation on a reservation with a starving mother dog who didn’t have much left in her to stay alive, let alone nurse and raise her litter. Participants in the class got to hear the puppy’s story first hand from Shannon. Participants also learned what it’s like to be a rescuer, and why donations are so important.

Emotional Rescue partners with the Hastings Veterinary Clinic for medical care, with volunteers who transport dogs from reservations and out of state areas to Emotional Rescue, and volunteer foster families where needy dogs learn that life will be so much better than the conditions they came from.

Thanks to Puppy Yoga participants both for the in-person class, and those who followed the class on Emotional Rescue’s Facebook page (Emotional Rescue LLC), over $600.00 was raised to help Emotional Rescue continue its mission, or as Shannon would say, “To every dog I haven’t rescued yet, I’m coming for you.” Emotional Rescue is grateful to those who took part in the class, and to all the folks who donate, follow Emotional Rescue’s social media updates, and adopt

To contribute to Emotional Rescue either with monetary gifts, or items such as paper towels, dog food, soap, trash bags, etc., or to learn how to volunteer, foster, or adopt, please go to www.emotionalrescuedogs.org, or follow Emotional Rescue on Facebook.