Friends of Rowlett Animals (FRAs) is a 501(c)(3) all volunteer non-profit organization founded in 2004. Their mission is to provide resources, programs, and education to promote adoption and care of homeless pets in Rowlett and the Lake Ray Hubbard area. FRAs' vision is a world where every companion animal has a safe and loving forever home. 

It all started off with 4 volunteers that wanted to support the Rowlett Animal Shelter. These volunteers sponsored one or two pets per month and reduced their adoption fees in an effort to increase adoptions for the Shelter. After the devastation of the December 2015 tornado they distributed supplies directly to pet owners through the generosity of businesses, other non-profit organizations, and citizens both near and far, with their volunteers even going into the disaster areas with supplies.

Their organization has grown to 200 volunteers and while the Rowlett Shelter is not an official No-Kill shelter, FRAs has helped the Rowlett Animal Shelter maintain a 90% or better Live Release Rate since 2014! No-Kill Shelters must only maintain a 90% or better to be considered No-Kill.

In 2020, FRAs officially began assisting Garland Animal Services by marketing their pets in need, assisting with emergency care and sponsoring one dog each month for heartworm treatment. They have now grown to managing the volunteer program and helping more pets in need of emergency care & heartworm treatments.

In 2016, FRAs began a cat rescue program where cats were able to be adopted from PetSmart in Rockwall. Cats are vaccinated, spayed or neutered and microchipped prior to adoption. Currently, FRAs has cats for adoption at PetSmart in Rockwall and Rowlett, adopting out 400 cats in their fiscal year 2022!

FRAs has not only grown in volunteers, but they have grown to meet the needs of our community. They are able to host multiple off-site adoption events, sponsor heartworm treatments for dogs in the Rowlett & Garland Shelters that test positive for heartworms, manage the volunteer program, and so much more!

Learning from leaders in the animal welfare community like Austin Pets Alive! and Best Friend, they have been able to continue to expand the impact of our organization to communities close to Rowlett and beyond! Helping struggling shelters by narrowing down the most at risk animals and showing them best practices, has allowed Friends of Rowlett Animals to influence policies for success.