Once upon a time, on a sunny October 23, 2019, my friend approached me with an urgent plea for help. She had discovered a backyard breeder on Craigslist and needed assistance convincing him to give up his animals. Before I knew it, I had chatted him into giving us ALL the hamsters AND the cages! That day, we took in over 60 adorable dwarf hamsters, and just like that, the rescue was born. Though that friend is no longer part of the rescue, I wouldn’t be here without her initial encouragement and support. (Thanks, Sam!)
Initially called Tiny Tracks, our rescue has grown leaps and bounds over the past nearly five years, helping countless hamsters and their owners. In 2023, I changed the name to Snow White's Rescue Cottage to better reflect my personality and the happily-ever-afters we strive to create.
Since then, our journey has been filled with incredible stories and highlights, including:
The Great Hamster Hoarding Case of 2021: We were contacted by a social worker and asked to assist with a hoarding case involving over 200 hamsters. It was an elderly woman and her daughter at risk of losing their home to eviction due to the number of hamsters. Worse still, once all the babies were born, the number soared to more than 300! We quickly separated the hamsters by sex, took in 150 to the rescue, and set the family up with bin cages, bedding, food, and supplies. This was our first adventure into pet retention, and it was a resounding success!
The 2023 Shelter Rescue Mission: With less than 24 hours notice, we sprang into action to save 36 hamsters from euthanasia. Not only did we get them all to safety, but we also transported several to their new homes across Southern California, hosted an Adopt-A-Thon to find more of them loving homes, and worked with a transporter to get more adopted across the US. A month later, we did it all again with another 24 hamsters!
The 2024 Hamster Haven: We were contacted by a sweet single mom who had "too many hamsters to count." She wasn’t kidding! There were over 200 hamsters in total. Despite being full for intakes, we made the two-hour drive to help. We separated the hamsters by sex, took in multiple medical cases, and provided free cages and supplies to make things easier for the family. We even returned two more times to sex and separate the final litters of babies and drop off more supplies. In the meantime, we hosted a fundraiser, providing hundreds of dollars worth of supplies and $300 cash for the ongoing care of the animals.
Alongside these grand adventures, we celebrated earning our 501c3 nonprofit status on January 17, 2024! Our journey as Snow White's Rescue Cottage has been nothing short of magical, and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish next.
We encourage everyone to support and join us. We always need more people on our team to help spread our message of hope and help far and wide. Please visit our "Get Involved" page to learn more! Together, we can continue making a difference, one tiny paw at a time.
