Operation Underdog

Neighborhood resident Stephanie Jehle used to spend her free time visiting animal shelters and volunteering, all the while wishing she could do more. “Then I asked myself, ‘Why can’t I?’” says Jehle, and Operation Underdog was born. She started rescuing dogs one by one from shelters around town. As her fledgling organization was getting off the ground, the unthinkable happened — Hurricane Katrina. Jehle and other volunteers spent the next six months traveling between Dallas and New Orleans to help the animals left behind in the disaster. While caring for the distressed creatures, she built up a network with other animal rescuers, even learning basic veterinary treatment from them. Many of the forlorn pets she helped to save now happily call Dallas home. And the organization’s focus is right back where it started: finding adoptable dogs in shelters around town and placing them in foster homes while they wait for the right families to claim them. Operation Underdog is doing just what its title suggests — fighting for animals that need help the most.