Mastering Love Rescue Enters 2025 With Financial Strain But Supportive Volunteers And Big Goals

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Since the Sentinel last covered Mastering Love Rescue (MLR) in 2021 (see the Dec. 15, 2021, issue), the Mansbergers have completely transformed their home into a cat rescue facility, but along with the growth of the rescue, expenses have grown.

At the end of 2024, Debbie Mansberger shared an update with MLR’s Facebook followers, explaining that it was a tight year financially for the nonprofit, and while she wasn’t throwing in the towel yet, the future of the rescue is uncertain.

When Mansberger started MLR in summer 2021, it wasn’t to fulfill a life-long dream, the rescue wasn’t well-funded, and Mansberger hadn’t spent months planning and preparing. Instead, she saw a need, so she took action. She said, “There was a need in Dade County. None of this was what I intended; it was not my dream to have an animal rescue.”

Fast forward to 2024, and the rescue is now a 501(c)(3), has found homes for 130 cats and kittens, and works with a network of volunteers. The Mansbergers have also rescued a handful of dogs, goats, and chickens over the years, but cats are the primary focus.

Mansberger rescued 28 cats in her first season running MLR. In early January of this year, 78 cats and kittens lived at the rescue, awaiting permanent homes but assured of sanctuary at MLR as long as needed.

The Mansbergers started the rescue using a shed on their property, but with the increasing number of cats, they needed more space. They built a home on Sand Mountain and fully converted the cabin where they had been living into an animal sanctuary. The plan was for MLR as a nonprofit to pay rent for the cabin, but in 2024, the nonprofit couldn’t afford rent.

Therefore, “It’s coming out of our pocket, and it has been a huge financial strain,” said Mansberger. MLR doesn’t charge an adoption fee, so the nonprofit is entirely supported through donations, grants, and the Mansbergers’ own funds. Before they started MLR, they planned to rent the cabin as a vacation rental. Then, they planned for MLR to cover about half of what they would have earned from the rental, but the nonprofit couldn’t cover it in 2024.

Mansberger never wants an adoption fee to be the barrier that prevents someone who wants a cat from getting one. “We always want to give everyone the opportunity to save an animal,” she said, adding that animals are therapeutic and can provide companionship to people who find themselves isolated.

However, almost everyone who has adopted from MLR continues to support the rescue, whether through donations or volunteering to help.

As just about everyone in the area knows, finding animals in need of homes isn’t the problem; finding homes that have space for animals is the problem. Mansberger has found that most people who do want animals already have multiple, while others don’t want or can’t afford animals.

She said, “The model of rescue is not working. We know millions of animals are being euthanized every year, and I cry every day about it.”

Like the Dade County Pet Project, Mansberger believes that spaying and neutering pets is the way to reduce euthanasia. “Think about how many litters would’ve come just from the cats here currently! Spaying and neutering is the ticket, but we don’t have a low-cost clinic in Dade County.”

When asked if she’s witnessed any positive movement locally regarding overall animal welfare—from puppy mills to dumped animals to unspayed/unneutered pets running loose—Mansberger answered honestly, “I’d like to say there is, but what I’m seeing is the influx. I’m inundated, and they keep coming. The Dade County Pet Project is still pretty new, so I think it’ll take more time to see the impact of that work.”

As for the planned county/city animal control facility, Mansberger said, “It’s not a bad thing, but it’ll be full quickly, and they’ll have to euthanize for space.”

Mansberger doesn’t euthanize for space. Animals have a home at MLR for as long as they need one, and Mansberger doesn’t send the animals to other shelters/rescues, instead working to find permanent homes.

Her plan is to start a program called “Community Rescue” that would help both the cats needing homes and families for which owning a pet is cost prohibitive. Mansberger said, “There are families who would love to have a pet but don’t have one because they know they can’t afford it.”

The program would give these people a pet, but MLR would retain ownership, provide medical care, food, and weekly check-ins, and in general help handle the costs and responsibility of owning a cat.

Mansberger is thankful for the many volunteers who have come alongside MLR. One volunteered to work on grants, which Mansberger said is a big deal and could make a major impact on the future of the rescue. An accountant offers services to MLR voluntarily, and a vet offers the rescue discounted spaying/neutering (but only in small batches at a time).

Another volunteer is helping Mansberger with social media posts to raise awareness and help cats find homes. Other regular volunteers help feed, clean, and care for the animals. Mansberger said, “Since I put out that post about not knowing if we can keep our doors open, people have been reaching out. Donors always make sure we have food and litter.”

While donors step up in emergencies to cover immediate needs, this isn’t a sustainable model, and MLR still needs to cover medical and spay/neuter costs. Mansberger is always thankful for donations.

Another need is more volunteers. Mansberger’s normal workday is about 14 hours as she cares for all of the animals and takes them to vet appointments. She hopes to have more regular volunteers who can be split into morning and afternoon shifts.

She doesn’t have an age limit requirement for volunteers, and some homeschooling families have helped during the week. This could be a great opportunity for kids who want to be around animals but whose parents don’t want to own one.

Even with the needs and challenges, Mansberger said she is thankful and hopeful as she looks toward the rest of 2025. She has plans to improve operations, and she envisions making the cabin more accessible and welcoming so visitors can come have tea, read a book, and relax with the cats.

She shared stories about some of the cats, like Duke who had been in a cat fight. By the time someone found him, a bite wound on his neck had turned into a gaping, maggot-filled abscess.

Mansberger recalled, “His blood count levels were so low that the vet couldn’t even believe he was still functioning.” The vet suggested euthanasia because Duke needed a blood transfusion that would cost thousands of dollars, and he was FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) positive.

Luckily, a friend told Mansberger about a vet who could do the transfusion for only a couple hundred dollars, so Mansberger saved Duke from euthanasia. She spent months caring for his wound, and now, he’s very content. Because he’s FIV positive, he has to stay in his own kennel, but if Mansberger finds another FIV cat, he could have a friend.

Mansberger also shared about Wobs, a cat with cerebellar hypoplasia. This neurological condition affects balance and coordination, hence her name. She would need a special home where she wouldn’t need to climb stairs and with an owner who could provide a little extra care, but Mansberger is hopeful that she will find a happy home.

Mansberger said, “I tell a lot of people that having a rescue isn’t really fun. It’s very emotional. There are highs, like the joys of an animal being adopted, but it’s a lot of hard, good work.”

The MLR website is still a work in progress, but anyone interested in adopting, donating, or volunteering can contact Mansberger through the “Mastering Love Rescue and Sanctuary” Facebook page.

When asked what she wants the public to know, Mansberger said, “Just that we’re here. It’s amazing to me that people will still dump animals. They don’t have to. There are people who really are trying to address the animals that are out there. In most cases, if you reach out, someone will help.”