Meet Jamie Benfield of Rockstar Rescue in Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie Benfield.

Jamie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My first experience with animals, aside from having nearly every pet imaginable as a child, was when I studied abroad as part of my Marine Biology Undergrad program at the CEDO Intercultural facility in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. With my emphasis being Cetology and the study of Whale and Dolphin language and behavior.

I then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Arizona State University in Psychology with an emphasis in Animal Behavior. And continued to earn a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Leadership.

My passion for animal behavior isn’t in training, but in attaining a deep understanding of their behavior in a relatable way and guiding them to overcome their issues concerning the psychological traumas they’ve endured.

I initially started Rockstar Rescue to rescue dogs, but later fine-tuned my area of interest into a more focused cause. Today Rockstar Canine Rescue & Sanctuary is a decompression & recovery facility specializing in dogs with extreme fear, injuries or illnesses on euthanasia lists at County shelters, with special focus given to hoarding situations, seniors and over-bred dogs.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Rescue is never a smooth road. Our biggest issue has always been funding and the hustle that it takes to continually garner donations through various platforms.

Please tell us about your organization.
Rockstar Rescue is a decompression & recovery facility specializing in dogs with extreme fear, injuries or illnesses on euthanasia lists at County shelters, with special focus given to hoarding situations, seniors and over bred dogs. We make it a point to “Stay small and rescue Big!” by housing only seven to ten dogs at any given time to provide a more attentive and concentrated level of care. This method combined with rehabilitation through healthy diets, needed medications, love, affection and behavior modification when necessary, have all proved beneficial to the recovery and re-homing of over 350 dogs to date.

As a No-Kill facility, our focus is on re-homing but in 2016 the title of “Sanctuary” was officially added to our name for those dogs unable to rehabilitate and those not sought for adoption, ensuring lifetime and end-of-life care could be provided.

The homeless community and their dogs are also a focus of our organization with our “Rockstars on the Road” program. The free alteration, vaccinations, microchipping and other veterinary services, as well as dog boarding to selected individuals suffering hardship via hospitalization or temporary incarceration, is provided to homeless persons wishing to care for and stay with their loving dogs. Additional items such as collars, leashes, toys, bowls, and food have also been provided to those homeless persons in need. Continued monitoring of these dogs has helped ease the burdens suffered by the homeless within our community.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
There’s nothing I could have done differently. In rescue, you’re always at the limits of your donations. So I’ve always done what I could when I could, and that’s still what I do now.

Contact Info:

• Address: 530 E. McDowell Rd #107-269 Phoenix, AZ 85004
• Website: rockstarrescue.org
• Phone: 8588762558
• Email: info@rockstarrescue.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockstarRescueAz/

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