6-year-old inspires Project Freedom Ride, saves over 700 dogs

He’s just 6 years old, but Roman has already saved the lives of more than 700 dogs.

It began a couple of years ago in Texas, on Roman’s fourth birthday. Instead of toys, he asked for donations for the local animal shelter. And, he wanted to volunteer.

“We would go into the shelter and make videos and take photos so people could see that certain dogs there were kid-friendly and things like that. Things that would help them get adopted,” said Roman’s mother, Jennifer.

The following year the family moved back to Jennifer’s home state of Washington and started Project Freedom Ride.

The non-profit takes dogs out of over-crowded shelters in Texas, bringing them up to rescue groups in Washington state.

It’s a three-day trek across 2,000 miles. Volunteers chauffeur the dogs in a climate-controlled trailer, taking them out at least twice a day for exercise and meals.

Their latest pack will arrive on Tuesday; more than 100 dogs will either go directly to their new families or be transferred to Humane Societies from Port Townsend all the way to Tacoma.

Jennifer says they’ve done it all strictly with donations and volunteers.

“It sounds cheesy, but we feel the love that people have for us. That is so motivating and definitely pushes everybody, even on the Texas side,” Jennifer said. “To see these dogs go into these amazing families (…) is really rewarding for them.”

Jennifer’s military husband is being reassigned to Georgia this summer. Rather than putting an end to their efforts, she says this is just another opportunity to grow Project Freedom Ride and help even more dogs around the country.