National Mill Dog Rescue was established in February 2007, in honor of a forgiving little Italian Greyhound named Lily. Theresa Strader, NMDR’s Founder and Executive Director, rescued Lily from a dog auction in Missouri. Prior to that day, Lily had spent the first seven years of her life as a commercial breeding dog, a puppy mill mom. Determined that her years of living in misery would not be in vain, Strader started NMDR, giving a voice to mill dogs across the country.

Strader brought Lily and 12 others home from the auction and declares that even for a seasoned rescuer, the following months were the education of a lifetime in rehabilitation. That she would take up the cause for the mill dogs was never in question and National Mill Dog Rescue was underway. Since 2007, NMDR has been supported by hundreds of volunteers and rescued more than 11,434 dogs.

Run almost solely by volunteers, NMDR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, pledged to ending the cruelty of the puppy mill industry. Our mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome discarded breeding dogs and to educate the public about the cruel realities of the commercial dog breeding industry and promote adoption from shelters and rescue groups across the country.