The woman who can't stop.

Meredith Trout did not plan a life in dog rescue. Nobody does. You help with one transport, you foster one dog "just for the weekend," and ten years later you're the person three counties call when a blocky-headed stray shows up with heartworm and a great personality.

It started at the vet clinic. Meredith worked at an animal hospital as the veterinarian's right hand, which is a polite way of saying she did everything: held the scared ones, prepped the surgeries, learned what care actually costs and what corners can never be cut.

700 dogs

In 2017, she co-founded a rescue of her own in Colorado. Foster-based. No shelter, no building, no budget worth mentioning.

That first year, the rescue placed 700 dogs.

Why Velvet Hippo isn't a rescue

The rescue world is full of brilliant operators who are funded like a bake sale. Meredith lived that math. She knows what it's like to choose between the vet bill and the transport, and she knows the difference between a rescue that stretches a dollar until it squeaks and one that just photographs well.

Velvet Hippo is the budget line they didn't have.