Ask anyone who has adopted their pet and they can tell you how rewarding an experience it was.

Pet Rescue, one of Westchester's most successful pet rescue groups, is based out of Larchmont and is dedicated to finding homes for dogs, cats and other critters.

Unlike animal shelters, Pet Rescue relies on foster families in the area that take in dogs until they find a qualified home to adopt. Since 1982, the non-profit organization has found homes for more than 10,000 cats and dogs with a noticeable increase in adoptions and volunteers in the past six years.

Realizing the benefits of rehabilitating animals in a home environment, the organization was created by Sue Kamell of Larchmont, who was unsatisfied with the conditions at animal shelters.

"By not putting them in shelters, they're in our homes and within a week we have a handle on the dog," explained Elaine Fier, a volunteer from New Rochelle. "We get to learn if they are housebroken, how they eat and if they get along with other dogs."

Pet Rescue transports dogs from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, where they made networking connections with other rescue groups who saved the animals from high-kill shelters.

"We have saved dogs that were used for target practice where we had to take out the bullets and others we had to surgically repair or amputate limbs who were injured in car accidents," said Paula Krenkel of Larchmont.

One of the dogs Paula and her husband fostered and eventually adopted is a beautiful cocker spaniel named Peter. He was discovered with mange, warts and a hernia. Pet Rescue had to remove one of his his eyes due to an infection but with love from the Krenkel family, he now goes hiking everyday and even enjoys a good swim.

"This is a dog any other shelter would have euthanized because he looked horrific," said Krenkel as the pup took a nap under the table. "He is now the best dog imaginable, we love him."

Pet Rescue has been fortunate with opportunities to promote their organization, including a calendar where they teamed up with the New York Giants for a photo shoot with their dogs. The calendar was sent all across the country to football fans, helping to get the word out on the cause.

On July 31, Pet Rescue was able to showcase some of their dogs up for adoption on a live segment of the Today Show. They were invited onto the show by Lucas Hoge, a country singer who was promoting his new animal rescue reality show on the Animal Planet called "Last Chance Highway".

Check out our video to learn more on Pet Rescue and meet some of the beautiful dogs the organization has rescued.

For more information on adoption and fostering, please visit their website at www.ny-petrescue.org.