THOMPSON FALLS — The Thompson River Animal Care Shelter in Thompson Falls is a small town rescue with a big reach. And it just broke its own record for most adoptions in a year, adopting more than 1,000 dogs in just 2025.
“We just celebrated 20 years,” TRACS Executive Director Shane Booker said. “This started at our founder's home as just a very small volunteer organization and has really grown, obviously, over the years and we hit some major milestones last year.”
In those 20 years, the shelter has taken in more than 15,000 animals.
“Every one of those, it's saving a life and for us it's really a labor of love that we get to rescue these animals,” Booker said.
TRACS works with other organizations to bring animals from all over the state and country. They partnered with Wings of Rescue, a nonprofit that flies at-risk pets, to bring out 56 dogs just last Saturday. Some are already in their new homes.
“Looking at what's going on in some of the larger cities or even rural county shelters that have dogs that they just don't have room for and are going to put down,” Booker said. “And we're able to rescue those and then get them on a flight or on a van.”
Just like the pets, people come from near and far to adopt, often coming from across the state or even the country. Booker attributed the shelter’s reach to their connections in the local and wider adoption communities.
“We've got somebody coming from Seattle this Friday to adopt a dog. We had a couple in New Hampshire that submitted an application for a dog that was surrendered here locally, and they drove all the way out and picked that dog up,” Booker said. “Being a small nonprofit, it's really rewarding that we have so many people that are willing to travel so far.”
They have nearly 130 animals at the shelter right now. Staff and volunteers are caring for them, and getting some ready for an adoption event at PetSmart in Missoula on Saturday.
The number of animals that TRACS takes in grows all the time, but Booker said the impact the shelter makes is much larger.
“That's one of the things I like to share and remind the staff and volunteers, that you're really touching two lives. You're touching the life of that animal and being able to get it into a family with a home,” he said. “And then also those folks that really make that long-term impact when they adopt a dog and make it part of their lives and their best friend.”
