Who We Are
Three Little Pitties Rescue is a non-profit, 501c3 all-breed dog and cat rescue dedicated to saving animals out of desperate situations, primarily in the Houston, Texas area. From 2018 to 2024 the rescue has saved 13,000+ animals and delivered them to better lives up north.
Our mission is to change the lives of humans, dogs and cats through adoption, transport and community outreach.
Our hope is that by adopting out our rescued pets to northern regions, we offer relief to our Houston-area shelters who are flooded with homeless dogs and cats. We encourage the Houston community to adopt from an area shelter. The animals brought into our program are adopted out to regions that do not face the same severity of overpopulation as Houston.
The organization is run by passionate employees, contractors and volunteers. We depend heavily on donations to cover all of our expenses associated with saving these precious animals.
The animals need all of us to work together for them. We’re an army that walks right around obstacles. We will not stop until the dogs and cats are no longer suffering here. We are a voice to the voiceless and a lifeline to many.
Alayna Matranga Goodson is a founder and Executive Director of Three Little Pitties Rescue (3LP). She resides in a suburb of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two young children, and furry family member, Hoosier.
The idea for Three Little Pitties Rescue bloomed in late 2017 when three friends decided they could no longer ignore the enormity of the suffering of dogs and cats in the Houston area due to overpopulation, abuse, and neglect. The number of abandoned and unwanted animals is staggering, and they knew they had to do something about it, no matter how small the effort felt.
Since receiving nonprofit status in 2018, the mission of Three Little Pitties has been to create pathways to permanent, safe, and loving homes through spay and neuter services, transport, and adoption. The over 2,000 animals rescued each year come from the streets, overcrowded local shelters, and even more desperate situations like hoarding and neglect.
3LP posts dogs and cats for adoption in northern regions to find the best fit for each pet. Once the interview and adoption process is complete and finalized, the adoption coordinator books the pet to ride on a semi truck or van transport up to that family! We are told that arrival day is “better than Christmas” for these receiving families, and an amazing start to a new life for these precious rescued pups and cats!
We are a foster based program, but we do have limited space to board dogs and cats at our new two acre property in Friendswood, Texas. The existing building has been renovated to include intake and reception areas, a medical suite with surgical space and recovery room, and x-ray and isolation spaces. The rescue provides routine, in-house and out-of-house medical care, including spay/neuter, immunizations, diagnostic labs and x-rays, heartworm treatment, and care for illnesses and injuries that include life-saving surgery. There is also a behavior and intake office with yards for intake assessments. An on-site barn has been converted to a kennel space and a "colony" style cat house has been constructed. In addition, we have two “nursery” barns for pregnant and nursing dogs.
Our new location has several large, fenced play yards with shady spots and small pools for water play. Since attending specialized training, the Behavior Team now directs play groups to socialize both boarders and fostered dogs as well “Fancy Footwork” classes to work on basic training. Volunteers work with the dogs daily to improve leash skills and manners. We have also implemented a program called "Doggy Day Out." Trained volunteers take approved dogs out for the day for fun off property - many lucky pups get a bath at the dog wash and a puppuccino from the local coffeehouse!
Three Little Pitties Rescue also collaborates with dozens of local shelters, veterinary clinics, and other animal welfare organizations in the greater Houston area to save dogs and cats, as well as support mobile and in-house spay/neuter services for owned and feral animals and free immunizations for animals in underserved neighborhoods. In addition to saving lives and providing medical services, we are educating owners and the community about responsible pet ownership with frequent street outreach, bringing supplies and services straight to their door.
Our amazing and resolute staff, volunteers, and fosters work 24/7 to rescue dogs and cats from dire conditions and find them loving forever homes. As the need grows, with your help, so will we… and continue our life-saving mission.
Board of Directors
Tammy Allison
Tammy has been a small business owner for 35 years with two businesses she built from the ground up, property tax consulting and commercial real estate development. She has been involved in dog rescue for more than 30 years, a founding member of Lone Star Basset Rescue in 1999. The years she has had in business, her personal experience in finance and real estate, and finding solutions to help this phenomenal organization grow, are the assets she brings to her position on the board of 3LP.
On behalf of the other board members, Michelle Boswell, Erik Olsen, Chris Leslie, and Alayna Goodson, we thank you for your interest and support of our mission.
Michelle Boswell
Hi I’m Michelle, I’m the mother of 3 grown children, and Gigi to one amazing grandson. You could say I’ve been in rescue my whole life. I rescued my first Pit Bull from a chain when I was 14 yrs old, that was 41 years ago. Twelve years ago, I started volunteering with the Pasadena Animal Shelter in Texas. This is when I first realized the magnitude of the stray problem in the Houston area. Along with other shelter volunteers, I formed a group called the Pasadena Animal Advocates at Work - PAAW to support the Pasadena Animal Shelter in saving animal lives. I became involved with Three Little Pitties Rescue in 2017 and joined the board in 2018. Along with my volunteering, I’m on a shelter advisory board. I’ve attended America Pets Alive conferences, trained with Dogs Playing for Life, Tail to Tail Training, and attended Lucas Agnew Workshops. I foster, advocate and spend every day saving unwanted animals.
Kathy is a Marketing and Operational Director with a passion for helping people navigate difficult situations. She has over 10 years of experience working in the fertility space, assisting patients achieving their goals of parenthood. In 2018, after moving to Texas from Maryland, Kathy saw a need to help Three little Pitties Rescue via a Facebook post. She volunteered to take in a pregnant mama dog who gave birth to 8 beautiful pups.
After that, she was a devoted foster and was asked to be part of the rescue at a higher level which led her to a position on the board.
Kathy Houser
Chris is a 20 year veteran of the NASA community nearby at the Johnson Space Center. Chris is a former member of the International Space Station Mission Control team for expeditions 1-10 and then was named as the technical liaison to the Russian Space Agency for mission planning. Chris is now on the Artemis Program where he and his team are working to define mission objectives and priorities for the coming moon missions where the US will send astronauts back to the lunar surface.
In the early part of the Three Little Pitties story, the semi transport truck and initial few missions to Seattle had a lot of problems so Chris stepped in to create a preparation checklist and a set of contingency plans so the transports could safely make it back and forth to the Pacific Northwest. He continued on in that capacity and was named to the Board of Directors soon after. Chris' focus now is to make sure the long range strategic plans are aligned with the current budgets, capabilities and challenges the rescue faces all in an effort to sustainably grow and make an impact in the greater Houston rescue community.
Chris Leslie
Suzanne Pilsner
Suzanne spent 38 years in education as an elementary teacher and Instructional Coach where she learned the importance of building and maintaining relationships through collaboration. After retiring she continued this work by consulting on high need campuses for several years. Several years ago she began volunteering with Three Little Pitties. She began onboarding volunteers through orientations and mentorships and eventually took the position of Fundraising and Events Lead which involves leading fundraising and community engagement through events.
Suzanne enjoys using her professional experiences as she continues her work as a board member and believes that through collaboration, reflection, and flexibility, Three Little Pitties will become even more successful in positively changing the lives of the dogs and cats in Texas.
I have a long-standing passion for animals and working with 3LP provides a perfect way for me to help improve the lives of so many of our local animals that are unable to help themselves. Since retiring from a Houston based oil & gas company, I have increased my commitment to serve our community, including as a
volunteer at Friendswood’s Animal Control facility, a board member on the West Ranch Management District, and currently as a Friendswood City Councilmember. Our dogs at home are rescues.
Joe Matranga
