ROBIN PRESSNALL
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: SMALL PAWS RESCUE INC.
BIOGRAPHY

Robin Pressnall is a singer, an author, and Executive Director of Small Paws Rescue (SPR), a charitable, Federal not-for-profit organization whose mission is to "rescue and supply any Bichon Frise or Bichon-mix, nationwide, regardless of age or medical condition with love, shelter, food, human companionship, medical care, and spay/neuter services through local veterinarians until permanent placement is secured into a pre-screened loving home."

Robin was born in Oklahoma City and grew up in Midwest City, Oklahoma. As an only child who lacked the companionship of siblings, Robin found joy in the many pets that graced her life, whether they were finned, feathered, or furry. Robin also found that she possessed a God-given talent for music, and as a teenager sang and played the piano in church functions and local gatherings.

After attending Oklahoma City University, Robin became a secondary school teacher and later worked as a Realtor. At one time she owned and operated a bed and breakfast called “Robin’s Nest.”

Robin met Dale, her husband of twenty two years while sitting in an airport in New York City. They married and Robin moved to Tulsa where they now reside with their five dogs, all rescues. Dale is an environmental engineer.

Over the years Robin's musical abilities have produced three albums, all fund-raisers for SPR: Someone to Watch Over Me (a collection of favorite love songs), A Very Small Paws Christmas, and It's a God Thing (a collection of inspirational and patriotic songs).

Robin is also a published author with the "Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul" series.

Robin co-founded Small Paws Rescue (smallpawsrescue.org) in September 1998. Currently supported by over 6,000 people in 23 countries and 800 volunteers across America.

To date SPR has rescued, vetted, and re-homed over 7000 Bichons. In 2001 SPR was featured on the cable network Animal Planet, and re-runs continued for years.

That episode told of Small Paws' commitment to obtain medical service for even the most critically ill of Bichons, an eight-week-old puppy who required open-heart surgery. SPR has facilitated the heart murmur repair surgeries of 61 Bichons and Bichon Mixes, most done at Texas A&M University School of Veterinary Medicine.

In January 2002 SPR was chosen as Kathie Lee Gifford's charity of the month.

Robin is often invited to speak at national conferences to educate and inform the public about responsible pet ownership, about the importance of spaying or neutering pets, about the inner rewards of being a rescue volunteer.

In February 2006, Robin appeared on the NBC Evening News with Brian Williams.

Animal Planet featured Small Paws Rescue again, this time in an episode entitled "Dogs 101" which aired originally in the late summer of 2008, and still airs today in re-runs.

Robin also speaks fervently and passionately of her hope that the day will soon come when there is no longer a market for puppies sold in commercial pet shops. Then, and only then, will the suffering endured by thousands of companion animals in the puppy mills of America cease.

To sum up Robin's work with Small Paws, she believes that it isn't just about rescuing the dogs. "Small Paws is really about the people who adopt the dogs and about our awesome God who loves the people," says Robin. "I believe that God has called me to get a message out to a hurting world - that if God will take care of a homeless little dog, a little dog with a life span of only a few years, think how much more God will take care of His human children and their families. Through the power of prayer, I know that when two or three of us are gathered together, God is there also. So when we step out in faith to help those in need, God provides the ways and the means to accomplish those purposes.

"Small Paws always has been and always will be - a God-thing!"

918-638-5854 cell
pup3@aol.com e-mail
www.smallpawsrescue.org