Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab

For our 2021 Design For Good Grantee we selected our first animal care grantee — Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab based in Moab, Utah. You can read more about their work on our blog, but the short of it is that they provide animal care services for the Native American reservation communities in the Four Corners region. These services include offering mobile clinics with low cost vaccinations and free spay and neutering, and fostering and adopting out dogs that are strays or owner-surrendered. They also collect and distribute donations for community members, and work on the ground to foster connection and relationships within the community.

Early on we knew this was a special organization with an impactful story, and we knew highlighting this was important. Plenty of organizations offer animal rescue, but Underdog is also addressing the community and animal health issues that lead to a need for rescue in the first place. They are rescuing animals that may otherwise die of treatable issues like mange or malnutrition, and giving them a second chance at a happy life. 

To help tell their story we conducted interviews with folks who have worked with Underdog and know firsthand the impact they make on the lives of people and animals. We pulled out key quotes from the interviews and feature them throughout the site to provide more depth and insight on what they do. We also cleaned up and reorganized their content, and added new areas like a clinic page and FAQ section, to not only help their audience find what they need but also help their small staff hopefully have less questions to field and more time to devote to dogs. We also integrated their adoption platform, Shelterluv, and made a special menu for “Ways to Help” that makes it easier than ever to get involved from near or far.

Underdog had charming branding with an iconic Underdog mascot, so we used it to inspire a site design and color palette that fit their joyful, desert-tinged personality. Our designer Delaney illustrated a typical “Underdog’s Journey” using the Underdog to help show the long process many of these dogs go through. We also incorporated plenty of images of their Underdogs because the site truly cannot have too many photos of adorable dogs. The Third Sun team enjoyed sharing puppy pictures on Slack — it’s a minor miracle we made it out of this project without one of us adopting an Underdog — it may only be a matter of time.

We loved getting to know this inspiring organization and the work they do. We truly hope that this website helps make their work a bit easier, and helps them reach new dog lovers, donors, and people who may need their help. If you need a new four-legged friend, just want to browse, or learn more about “rez dogs,” look no further than Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab!