The Animal Retreat, formerly Meridian Canine Rescue, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Subscriber Hub payments are not tax deductible
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The Animal Retreat, formerly Meridian Canine Rescue, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has been serving the Treasure Valley in Idaho since 2008. We moved to Emmett in 2024 in order to expand our capacity to help more at-risk animals who urgently need placement and specialized care.
01/09/2026
Little update on Gracie: as she ages, her megaesophagus symptoms have changed. She can tolerate eating more foods now, and she doesn’t have to be in her Bailey chair to consume everything.
She’s also the heaviest she’s ever been, maintaining a healthy weight for months and months now. It used to be such a challenge to keep her body in good condition, but those days are seemingly over.
Now the challenge is making sure Gracie’s not sampling the little “presents” left behind by the neighbor’s goats when they come to visit.
01/04/2026
Can you spare 30 minutes to help us raise $5,000?
For the month of January, you can provide feedback about your favorite brands and HundredX will be donating $1.60 per feedback until we reach $5,000!!! All the proceeds we make will be to cover our 2025 over due vet bills so we can start fresh in 2026 🙏🏻
You just need to sign up here and pick The Animal Retreat 🩷
The holidays, the gifts, the dining out got a toll on your pockets, we get it. That is why our January fundraiser doesn't cost you anything but your time. From January 1st through February 3rd we are receiving donations every time you complete a survey at HundredX with more than 3000 brands to pick from you will be helping us raise $5,000.
You only need to provide your email and some demographic information (no name, DOB, or address). For each survey you complete we will receive $1.60 and you can complete up to 75 surveys during this month. So you can be donating to us $120!!!
It's super easy and your email won't be sold to other third parties! Please share this link with friends and family as we need at least 50 sign ups to reach our goal!! https://programs.hundredx.com/voice
12/28/2025
🎄🎁12 Days of Christmas Day #8 🐶🎅
Approximately 600,000 shelter animals are euthanized in the US each year. Rescuing animals and finding home is not enough. We are BEYOND RESCUE: our goal is to help people help animals. To do that, we’ve developed a number of free and low cost services for our community. If you are struggling to care for your dog or rabbit, we’re here to help you. We need to solve a problem not only deal with the outcome.
We offer:
Behavior consultations - 1 hour online meeting with our trainer Jennifer where we can learn more about your situation and provide resources to help improving your dog's behavior.
Behavior helpline - 30 minutes with our volunteers/trainer where we can give you resources for a particular question or behavior concern you may have.
Classes - we provide free or low cost classes at businesses, library , etc about dog behavior, this is not your "obedience" typical class but discussions about real problems like loose leash walking, excessive barking and so much more.
You can book our services here (ALSO IN BIO): https://www.animalretreat.org/services
Or email us for more information [email protected]
Share our services so we can stop the cycle of pet homelessness and keep dogs in their homes not in shelters.
12/28/2025
Do you receive our email newsletters? You can always subscribe and get all our updates on the animals at the farm and our events!
We are deeply grateful for your support of our December 21st fundraiser. Because of your generosity, we raised over $800! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. Your continued support means the world to us.
12/28/2025
🎄🎁12 Days of Christmas Day #7 🐶🎅
Bentley is one of our resident, we keep working with all our residents to see improvements on their behavior and the hope they can place safely on a forever home. Here is his story...
Surrendered to our organization by a local family, Bentley initially joined our prison dog training program, EPIC. He struggled in that environment, and we pulled him from the program in order to provide him with a quieter housing setup at our main location. Bentley has difficulty meeting people, he’s protective of his resources, he has vision and hearing impairments, and he suffers from skin problems and anxiety. Due to the complexity of his care at the moment, Bentley is a resident at the farm where he works closely with our staff.
Here some posts about Bentley: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BM31bcmU7/ https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17KYXqJmaa/
12/27/2025
🎄🎁12 Days of Christmas Day #6 🐶🎅
We are a little behind in our posts but we will continue showing you about our residents dogs before the year ends! Our little grumpy Coco...
When we first met Coco, he was terrified of us. So scared, in fact, that he did everything he possibly could to make us go away. Like many dogs experiencing extreme fear, Coco’s distress presented as aggression. Over time, we’ve been able to earn Coco’s trust and to help him feel safer in the world. He’s learned valuable skills — things he should’ve learned as a puppy but never did. Coco’s backstory is all too common, as dogs who are left in a yard with little care often struggle to cope with the world at large.
If you would like to support Coco's care, you can sign up here: https://www.animalretreat.org/support/p/coco
12/27/2025
Christmas is over but we are still receiving donations at some of our local partners, we want to thank KidStrong Meridian for hosting a tree for us at their two locations in Meridian and KidStrong Boise There is nothing better to see our kids growing healthy and strong! Go check them out!
12/25/2025
We wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best to your families 🎄
Thanks for all you do for the animals at The Animal Retreat, we couldn’t be here without you! Thanks for liking our posts, commenting, sharing, donating and so much more 🎅🐶🎁
12/23/2025
Our Giving for Paws campaign is a success thanks to all our local partners that host a Christmas tree for us. It is a true partnership as we also promote these local businesses so our followers also visit them and hopefully they gain new customers! We want to thank petwantsmeridian for hosting a tree for us again this year!
They provide small batches of fresh dog food, treats, toys and so much more! Go and check them out and check our ornaments our dogs would love their products too!
12/22/2025
🎄🎁12 Days of Christmas Day #5 🐶🎅
Resident dog Gracie 🩷
A permanent foster due to her complex behavioral and medical issues, Gracie has been lovingly cared for by our organization since 2016. Gracie has a condition called canine megaesophagus, which affects her ability to eat and drink. She is on a well-managed routine now that enables her to maintain a healthy weight and avoid most of the typical side effects related to this condition. As of spring 2025, Gracie is also suffering from a complete cruciate rupture, which was mostly repaired this past fall.
Gracie is a big fan of plush toys and tennis balls. She enjoys morning naps right after breakfast, and she’s a total snuggler with her fosters.
Thank you to her foster moms that go above and beyond for her and to all of you for supporting her care 🙏🏻 you can see her enjoying the farm, hikes and also during her surgery 🩷
12/21/2025
Our volunteers and visiting rescue dog, Vinny, are hard at work wrapping presents for donations at the Boise Towne Square mall today. Stop by to get a present wrapped or just to pet Vinny.
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Meridian Canine Rescue is a non-profit, no kill canine rescue dedicated to giving homeless and owner surrendered dogs a second chance. Too often shelter animals are not given the time to find new families and guardians because of overcrowding. It is our goal to reduce the number of homeless and owner surrendered dogs in shelters, both locally and regionally, without the need for euthanasia.
Our first step to meeting this goal is to act as a rescue. We provide an alternative to kill shelters; where guardians can surrender their pets without fear of euthanasia. We also continue to develop relationships with overcrowded shelters so that dogs under threat of euthanasia can be transferred to our facility and have more time to find their forever homes.
Secondly, we serve as a resource and educator to the public. Through our relationships with dog trainers, the pet industry, and the veterinary community, we can educate and provide resources to help guardians find ways to keep their family members at home and out of the shelter system. We also work to educate potential adopters to ensure that they are well prepared for dog guardianship prior to adoption.
Finally, through our various volunteer programs and community outreach activities we are able spread awareness to the plight of pet overpopulation and encourage more individuals to choose adoption.
