About Us
Underdog Pet Rescue is an all-breed companion animal rescue based out of Dane County, Wisconsin. Our mission is to find permanent homes for animals in need, and to enrich lives by strengthening the connection between animals and people through community services and outreach. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
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WI DATCP Licensed Rescue #281765
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Meet the Staff
LAUREN BRINKMAN
Executive Director
Executive Director Lauren Brinkman founded Underdog in 2012 after volunteering with other humane organizations throughout Wisconsin for about 10 years. Lauren’s deep care for animals led her to form a rescue and vet clinic that helps the neediest of animals, while providing a quality experience for our adopters, volunteers, and clients. Under Lauren’s leadership, Underdog has grown to save thousands of lives through our 150+ foster homes with support before, during, and after adoptions take place. Lauren and her family live on the north side of Madison with their rescue cat, Snax.
DR LENORE
Veterinarian
Meet Dr. Lenore! She grew up in the Fox Valley area in Wisconsin and absolutely loves Madison. Her main passion in life is to reduce the number of unwanted animals, and provide a good quality of life for the animals she cares for. This is why she's very excited to be a part of the Underdog team. In her free time, she is always with her dog Olive (who's a street dog from the Caribbean), doing outdoorsy activities or agility.
DR TEETER
Veterinarian
Meet Dr. Linda! She worked in private practice for many years, but always had a passion for helping shelter and rescue pets. She loves implementing creative solutions to help save animals. Dr. Linda's fun-loving personality and veterinary skills have resulted in clients driving many miles to continue receiving her care. She loves to travel and spend time with her family.
JENNY LIA
Events & Outreach Coordinator
Jenny Lia Events & Outreach Coordinator - Originally from San Diego, CA previously living in Los Angeles for 13 years before moving to Wisconsin. She is dog "Maw" to Kane, Rilo, and Rocky alongside their Dog "Paw" her Husband Andrew. She has 5 years working in the non-profit sector, planning events, coordinating volunteers, and fundraising. She is passionate about pet rescue and pet care and is looking forward to increasing the success of Underdog Pet Rescue of Wisconsin.
KAITLIN JENKINS
Foster Coordinator
Kaitlin Jenkins is Underdog's Foster Coordinator. She has been working in the animal rescue field for the last 20 years. Kaitlin began fostering with Underdog upon moving to Madison in 2018, and eventually joined our volunteer application processing team as well. She enjoys working closely with our foster homes to ensure that both our foster families and adoptive families have a wonderful experience adopting from Underdog.
JOLENE ZIMBAL
Mobile Clinic Scheduling/Administrator"
Jolene Zimbal has always been an avid animal lover. She grew up working at horse stables, competing in horse shows and dog shows as well as fostering dogs for her local shelter. Jolene
graduated from Madison College’s Certified Veterinary Technician program in 2014. From there she began her CVT career in Large Animal emergency medicine at the University of Wisconsin.
Though she truly enjoyed working with horses, cattle, pigs and more, the overnight shifts were becoming too much. For the next year, she spent her time as an assistant manager of another clinic before making her way to Underdog in the fall of 2019. Not only does she work within the rescue but also assists in the vet clinic with her CVT experience. Jolene married Zachary in 2020 who she met at Madison College and he is also a CVT. Together they have three dogs; Douglas, Armando and Charlotte as well as a horse named Ruby. Jolene competes with her
Chihuahua, Armando, in a sport called Barn Hunt regularly. Her goal is to begin competing with her horse
LUCY CHIARO
Veterinary Assistant
Lucy Chiaro joined the Underdog team in August 2021 as a Veterinary Assistant. She helps keep the clinic clean, wraps surgical packs and assists with appointments. She enjoys working at Underdog because she gets to learn new things everyday. She has spent the last 6 years working with animals, and has loved every minute of it. When asked why she wanted to be a Vet Assistant, this is what she said. “The animals in my life have always been there for me for comfort and support, without me ever asking. I want to return the favor by making sure they are taken care of just as well as they took care of me.” She currently has 2 cats, 4 rats, 2 guinea pigs, a chinchilla, a tarantula, and a gecko. In her free time she likes to be outdoors camping, foraging, and drawing.
FRANCE
Veterinary Assistant
France began working with Underdog in 2020 as a receptionist. She has two dogs and two guinea pigs. Being an animal lover, France has had many dog-related jobs. After high school, she began working at a doggy daycare and currently France also works as a groomer for Grooming Tails. All these dog-related jobs helped encourage France to join the Underdog team.
Board of Directors
MELISSA BURCHELL-DOGRA
Board President
Melissa Burchell-Dogra, Board President, has loved animals since childhood. She began fostering with Underdog after her rabbit passed away; the apartment was too empty without a pet, but it was too soon to adopt again. She and her husband have two rescue dogs, a "foster fail" cat, and always have at least one foster dog, cat, or bunny living with them. Melissa is an attorney by trade and enjoys applying the methodical side of her brain to organizing and process improvement behind the scenes of Underdog. Fostering is her principal hobby; it brings a lot of joy to be able to pull an amazing foster animal, who through no fault of their own was in a shelter without options, and then see them feel confident and loved.
TRACY BUGLASS
Tracy Buglass, a Madison native, has worked in the nonprofit fundraising and development industry for the past 20 years. Tracy says that while she enjoyed helping people in need throughout her career, her passion now that she is retired is to help pets find their forever homes. Tracy and her husband Bill live in Deerfield with their 8 horses, one dog, and several rescue cats. She has loved animals as long as she can remember and growing up was constantly asking her parents for another cat, hamster, bird, and even a horse. She now looks forward to working with Underdog to help in any way she can.
AMY CALLAHAN
Amy Callahan, board member, started as a foster with her partner in 2020. She is also an application processing and a mentor for new fosters. Amy is a clinical social worker with years of program management experience, including skills in process improvement. She and her partner have 3 dogs-all UPR alums, Miss Tilly Mae, Oliver and Manny.
SIGRID FANALE
Sigrid Fanale, Board Member, joined Underdog in 2016 as a foster. She has previous vet clinic and grooming experience. Sigrid continues to foster all kinds of animals with her three mixed breed dogs adopted from Underdog.
MIA HICKS
Mia Hicks, Board Member has always been a pet lover. She also does follow ups with recent adopters, and enjoys helping out at Underdog events and with volunteers. She is a former kindergarten teacher who is now getting her PhD in education. She hopes to help teach children and the community about rescues, pets and how to take care of them Mia lives in Madison with her husband and her rescue dog Waylon.
HOLLY JAEGER
Holly Jaeger, Board Member and Social Media Coordinator, has been with Underdog since 2018. Her witty personality and enormous love for animals shines through her social media posts. She devotes her fostering efforts to 'bully breeds' to offer as much support and training to the dogs who are the most discriminated against. Holly has worked as a veterinary technician, admissions supervisor at a humane society, and has trained service dogs. She also has a lot of experience working through behavior difficulties. She lives in Madison with a quirky cat and 3 dogs, including the famous Underdog Barketing Manager Quinn.
DUANE McELVAIN
Duane McElvain, Board Member, is an IT professional with 20 years of experience largely in the finance industry. He is a life-long volunteer for causes ranging from music education to STEM advocacy. Always the animal lover, he married a veterinary technician and was quickly lured further into the animal rescue world. He was adopted by Lucy, a 13 year-old “Tennessee Brown Dog” and a one year-old polydactyl cat named Biggs Darklighter. Duane hopes to use his decades of volunteer experience and technical skills to further Underdog’s mission.
STEVE TICKNOR
Steve Ticknor, Board Member, is a nonprofit professional who has worked in fundraising, corporate and community engagement, & development operations for the past seven years. He discovered his love of rescue animals when he started fostering cats with his partner in 2019. He then officially became a "cat guy" after foster-failing his first-ever pet, Luci. While his home is full (per his lease), his heart is not, and he continues to help Underdog's mission by focusing on development and fundraising efforts.
JENNIFER WHETSTONE
Jennifer Whetstone, Board Member, joined Underdog in 2016 as a foster and has gradually added puppy application processing, intake coordinator and board of director member. While dentistry is the daytime passion, the animals in need and rescue are near and dear to her heart.