Holly Dool

Holly Dool is the Founder and President of CAMO Rescue, a specialized dog rescue organization that offers dogs a safe haven and housing. With an annual budget of $1.2 million, the organization rescues approximately 1,200 dogs a year from the streets and high-kill shelters. Dool said she never intended to work in rescue, but sometimes you never know where life will lead you.

In 2013, she moved to Odessa, TX. During her second week there, she stopped by personally to the city shelter to introduce herself as a rescue person and offered to volunteer. She said she was met with indifference by the staff, and as she walked through the shelter, she was dismayed to see an overcrowded and outdated facility. A particular terrier caught her eye — she was shaking and trying to hide under the elevated bed amidst four other dogs. Dool adopted the dog with the intention of vetting and rehoming her. And that’s how CAMO Rescue began.

The Odessa city shelter offered its animals no vet care or vaccinations, leading to rampant disease, an inhumane gas chamber, and an inexplicable 83% euthanasia rate. Dool felt the shelter was failing the animals, so she decided to step in. She regularly visited the shelter, adopted dogs, nursed them back to health, and found them new homes. Her home quickly filled with dogs waiting for their new families. She officially launched CAMO Rescue as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2013. Not content in just saving lives, Dool wanted to make meaningful change. For two years, she sat on the shelter’s advisory board and lobbied for shelter reform.

In 2016, Dool moved back to Houston and expanded the rescue. CAMO networks with volunteers, shelters, and rescues all over the state of Texas. Many of CAMO’s dogs come from disadvantaged areas in the Rio Grande Valley. To date, CAMO has rescued and rehomed close to 12,000 dogs. CAMO has over 200 foster families who care for the dogs while they’re waiting to be adopted. It takes a village, and there’s a lot of hard work and sleepless nights that go on behind the scenes. They rely heavily on donors, volunteers, and adopters. They often rescue the less-adoptable dogs: the injured, ill, and seniors. Dool says that seeing the transformations is truly amazing and rewarding. Thanks to the generosity of CAMO’s supporters, the organization purchased two acres in Magnolia, Texas, and built a kennel that houses roughly 75 dogs while they wait for vetting and adoption.