By Freyaa Chawla
We were lucky enough to adopt Olive from the Humane Society when she was six and a half years old. For the next eleven years, our entire home was built around her. People often use the phrase “family pet”, but that never felt quite right to us. Olive was simply part of our household, a quiet, steady presence at every dinner, riding along in the backseat on weekend errands, and waiting patiently by the front door whenever someone came home.
Because she was so deeply woven into our daily lives leaving her behind when we had to travel was heartbreaking. Like many families, we relied on traditional boarding facilities, but the anxiety never left. How could a chaotic kennel housing dozens of barking dogs provide the gentle, personalised patience an older rescue dog needed? The breaking point came the day Olive came home injured. Later, when Leo joined our family, the worry returned with the same sharp clarity. It wasn’t just bad luck anymore; it was an obvious, unresolved gap in how we care for the animals that depend on us.
My cousins and I decided to build a better answer. We created OlivCare—named in her memory—to replace institutional boarding with trusted, community-rooted care. The idea is simple: instead of dropping your dog off at an overwhelming facility, you can connect with neighbours, friends, and local families whose homes are already spaces of comfort. Pet parents can browse vetted profiles, read genuine reviews, and communicate directly before ever handing over a leash.
As the platform took root, an unexpected second mission emerged. We noticed how many homes were filled with gently used, high-quality supplies—crates, clean beds, leashes, toys, and surplus food—sitting forgotten in closets while local animal rescues struggled for basic necessities.
To bridge that gap, we launched our “Paws for a Cause” donation drives. What started in 2024 as three modest drives supporting 15 animals quickly gathered momentum. By last year, five drives helped over 50 animals, and this year, seven drives reached more than 100 dogs and cats. Today, our drop-off network extends from the YMCA O’Brien Center in South Bend and nearby Granger all the way to partner centers in India, including Noida, Pune, Jaipur, and Bengaluru. Recently, a shelter director caring for abandoned and injured animals wrote to tell us that our regular deliveries are keeping their doors open. Reading that note meant more to our team than any user statistic on our platform.
The global reach is deeply personal to me. My grandparents live in Dehradun and have cared for dogs their entire lives. Growing up visiting them, I began spending time at local grassroots shelters across India. The caregivers I met were working quiet miracles on shoestring budgets. In those environments, a single crate of clean bedding or medical supplies isn’t a small donation—it changes whether an injured animal survives the week. Being able to channel excess resources from local neighbourhoods directly into the hands of those caretakers is the most meaningful work we do.
Here is a note from Aastha Animal Hospital in Noida, Delhi:
“I really want to thank OlivCare for donating the items to our shelter. At our shelter, we care for dogs, cats and injured animals. Your support means a lot to us and truly helps us continue our work.”
OlivCare began around our living room table, as I worked with my family to solve a problem for one rescue dog we were so fortunate to love for eleven unforgettable years. Anyone can join our community for free at olivcare.com—whether to host, find attentive care for your own companion, or drop off supplies at our next drive. Olive showed us the difference that a loving, rescue-centred home can make; we’re just trying to pay that forward.
