ROSA FOND
Lifelong Animal Rescuer, Advocate, Photographer & Writer
For Rosa Fond, animal rescue isn’t a hobby, a career she stumbled into, or something that began with social media. Rescuing animals has been part of her life for as long as she can remember—and it is what she is known for. Long before viral posts, media coverage or Humans and Animals United, Rosa was helping animals. Rescue has been woven into her life for decades and has shaped the person and advocate she is today.
Her lifelong love for animals and nature also led her behind the camera. For years, Rosa has pursued animal and nature photography, capturing the beauty, vulnerability and individuality of animals and the natural world. Her photography has received widespread attention.
Rosa is also a writer. Her writing has reached people around the world and reflects her belief that a few thoughtful words can inspire compassion and change the way people see animals. Through both photography and writing, she has documented the animals she encounters and helped bring their stories to a wider audience.
Today, Rosa is a driving force behind Humans and Animals United (HAAU), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping animals facing euthanasia, abandonment, neglect, abuse and serious medical challenges. Rosa and HAAU have become especially known for stepping forward for the animals others may overlook — the seniors, the injured, the abused, the medically complicated and the dogs facing euthanasia when nobody else has stepped forward.
For Rosa, getting an animal out of a shelter isn’t where rescue ends.
It’s where the responsibility begins.
Rosa remains committed to the animals through the difficult medical cases, rehabilitation, fostering and the long road toward a safe and loving forever home. Beyond individual rescue cases, her advocacy also extends to supporting the humane treatment of animals and responsible policies that protect animals and the people who care for them.
LEARNING, GROWING & CHOOSING TO DO BETTER
A lifetime in animal rescue has taught Rosa lessons that could never have been learned from the sidelines. Experience has taught her when to fight, when to walk away, when to speak up and when taking a thoughtful step back can sometimes be the strongest statement a person can make.
She doesn’t claim that every decision she has made throughout her life in rescue has been perfect. She has learned, evolved and grown. And at a certain point, Rosa had to decide what kind of person she wanted to be. She wanted to do better.
She wanted to become a better advocate — A better leader — A better human being.
WHAT RESCUE MEANS TO ROSA
Animal rescue should be about saving animals and treating people with compassion along the way. Rosa believes that the people who pledge, foster, adopt, donate, volunteer and share animals are a community of people choosing to come together to save lives. After everything she has experienced, Rosa has chosen to focus on growth, purpose and the animals who need her rather than allowing outside circumstances to determine who she becomes. She has chosen growth over retaliation.
Purpose over drama – Rescue over revenge – Animals over internet wars
Through difficult medical cases, photography, writing, legislative advocacy and countless animals who have crossed her path, her purpose has remained remarkably simple:
“Help the animal in front of you.”
Long before social media knew her name, Rosa was rescuing animals. Before there were followers, viral posts or headlines, she was already rescuing animals. And long after today’s online controversies have disappeared, she will still be rescuing animals. Because animal rescue isn’t something Rosa chose to become known for.
It is simply who she has always been.
LIFELONG ANIMAL RESCUER & ADVOCATE
ANIMAL & NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER
WRITER
FEATURED NATIONALLY & INTERNATIONALLY
Saving the forgotten. Fighting for the voiceless. Learning from the past. Choosing to do better. And refusing to let cruelty — toward animals or people — define the future.
Rosa Fond — Founder