Who We Are

We are Traveling Tails & Ragamuffin Rescue, a foster-based 501(c)(3) non-profit animal rescue. Our mission is to help cats and dogs find foster and adoptive homes.

We are based in the Utica (CNY) area and the Albany area (Capital Region) of Upstate New York.

Our rescue is run entirely by volunteers, donations, and a lot of caffeine!

Our Rescue's Founding

In 2021, during a life-changing journey through the Four Corners region, Jordyn encountered stray dogs who would forever alter her path. Unable to leave them behind, she brought them home and dedicated herself to finding them loving families. This experience planted a seed that would grow into something far bigger than she imagined.

Together with best friend Raven, and a combined decade of non-profit experience, they worked together to start Traveling Tails & Ragamuffin Rescue. Despite facing skepticism about their age, both founders remained committed to their vision of creating an inclusive rescue that breaks down barriers and builds community.

Aided by friends, family, and kind strangers their dedication paid off when in July of 2023 Traveling Tails & Ragamuffin Rescue achieved 501(c)(3) non-profit status, officially establishing their foster-based rescue as a testament to what young people with determination and heart can accomplish.

Our Rescue's Mission

Our rescue is dedicated to saving animals from abuse, neglect, and dangerous situations. We help community members with owner surrenders or behavior support when we are able, and work to support local stray and community cat populations.

We provide the pets that come into the rescue with comprehensive vet care and support before helping them find their new loving homes. Through partnerships with shelters and other rescue organizations, we also welcome transferred pets into our care. We aim to help pets, their humans, and our community.

We recognize that this mission is bigger than any single organization, which is why we actively build and maintain strong partnerships with other animal rescue groups. By working together, we can create a more compassionate community for all animals in need.

Board of Directors

Jordyn, the rescue's founder, with long blond hair, glasses, and a red shirt poses with her adopted dog Poptart. She is grinning widely. Poptart is a dark brown with light brown patches, she has upright ears, and a brown eye and a blue eye (heterochromia). Poptart is holding a red dog toy

Jordyn Bucci-Mooney, Co-chair and Co-Founder

Jordyn's pup Poptart is a rez dog she picked up from a gas station in Arizona and is a large part of the inspiration for this organization. Her family dog, Porter, has been a great big brother since Poptart arrived and is Jordyn’s favorite hiking buddy.

Jordyn is currently a grad student at Utica University studying physical therapy and working as an EMT. She enjoys travel and has been passionate about animal rescue from a young age.

Raven is the dog and cat rescue's co-founder, they have brown hair and are smiling with their eyes closed at a young tabby kitten.

Raven Stein, Co-Founder, Secretary

Raven currently has three adopted cats: Stormy, a polydactyl Maine Coon mix, Rosie, a black DSH, & Caroline a former feral tabby DSH from TTRR! She also shares lots of love & treats with her dad’s 113-pound black mouth cur, Brutus.

During the day, Raven works at a local doggy daycare. She is also the owner of S&R Pet Care, providing overnight pet-sitting, daytime drop-in visits, in-home cat grooming, and animal Reiki. In her free time, she enjoys writing, spending time in nature, & hanging out with her friends.

Jeni is the dog and cat rescue's outreach coordinator, she has long blond hair and is looking at the camera while she kisses the top of a grey and white cat's head. The cat is Misty, one of the adopted cats from the rescue! Both are looking at the camera.

Jeni Yager, Acting Adoption Coordinator

Jeni currently has a cat named Misty, a leopard gecko named Scoot, and a crested gecko named Ducky along with several tropical fish. She also enjoys visiting the pets of her family and friends and any wild critter or creepy crawly that will let her close enough, as every animal in her life is special to her.

Jeni works as a Business Analyst and enjoys using her varied skills to help people and causes that she cares about. When not working on animal rescue tasks, she enjoys music and video games.

Jess is the animal rescue's treasurer. She has long brown hair and wears glasses. She and her family dog MJ are both looking into the camera. Jess is smiling. MJ is dog-smiling with his tongue out and upright ears half flappy. He looks happy.

Jessilyn Pereira, Treasurer

Jess's family dog MJ is the light of her life, and she has been very lucky to have the pets of friends to pet sit and give her love to when she has to be away from home. She looks forward to having a pup of her own one day.

Jess has a degree in Communications and Media from Utica University and wants to become a stage manager. She loves singing, puzzles, and taking LOTS of silly pictures of all the animals in her life.

Heleen is the animal rescue's co-chair and behavior director. She has medium brown hair and is smiling widely into the camera. She is holding up a small brown and white puppy wearing a blue harness. The dog is Cinnamon

Heleen VS, Co-Chair, Training & Behavior Director

Heleen is an easy-going training and behavior nerd who embarked on an unexpected journey in 2016 when her partner wanted a dog. And as they say... the rest is history. Her philosophy for both training and rescue work is prioritizing welfare of pets and their people. She trains for and participates in multiple dog sports. During her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, and playing board games.

Person with brown hair and glasses looks at the camera- Jeremy is our Social Media Coordinator board member

Jeremy Noelle Jett, Social Media Coordinator

Jeremy currently has three adorable, cuddly meows named Hunter, Emira, and Echo. He has been a cat lover all his life and has been rescuing cats off the streets since 2016 and adopting from shelters throughout his childhood. His very first cat was a black and white tabby named Jasper at 8 years old. He looks up to Jackson Galaxy and has learned a lot through both personal experience and watching the Cat Daddy himself and through reading his books.

When not fostering cats or feeding strays at his apartment, Jeremy enjoys the delights of coffee, writes fanfiction, working on his first book, is an avid movie watcher with impressive actor and actress trivia knowledge, and a casual gamer. His favorite holiday is Christmas, and is never without a good LGBTQ+ or Young Adult book in his hands.

A person with long brown hair smiles brilliantly at the camera. Jasmin is the newest board member of the cat and dog rescue in Upstate NY.

Jasmin Marie, Event and Fundraising Coordinator

Jasmin loves all animals. Though she doesn’t have pets of her own yet, she is surrounded by animals from her friends and family that bring her so much joy.

Jasmin has a teaching degree from Skidmore College. She wants to create an art-based nonprofit with accessibility to art materials; new and up-cycled.

Jasmin is a children’s book author and enjoys bringing literacy inclusion to all. In her free time she enjoys drawing, writing poetry, singing, and trying out new art ideas!

She enjoys puns and taking pictures of animals being goofy.

Traveling Tails & Ragamuffin Rescue is dedicated in honor of

A woman in a grey sweatshirt and jeans holds a dog on a leash, enjoying a walk together.

Mary Holstein

"Mary has and continues to be a wonderful mentor and inspiration to me. From my infancy on, she has instilled upon me a deep love and compassion for all animals. From rescue dogs and cats, to horses, to bird sanctuaries and wild animal preservations, Mary has an understanding and connection to animals big and small. Our trips and vacations as children always included some sort of volunteering or educational adventure with animals, and my first introduction to the rez dogs out west was at fourteen, where the highlight of our two week trip was three days of volunteering at the largest animal rescue in the country. Thank you, Mary, for building my foundation and love for these animals. I hope to continue to learn from you and share this passion with others."

Jordyn Bucci-Mooney, President

Paul H. Yager III

Whose compassion for animals and support of our mission will always be remembered.

"My dad is a big part of the reason why I'm such an animal lover. He taught me how to love our pets unconditionally and for the entirety of their lives, because to our pets we are their everything."

Jeni Yager, Board Member

Reviews

Hear what our community has to say about their experiences with our rescue. From families who've welcomed cats and dogs into their homes, to dedicated foster parents, and passionate volunteers who make our mission possible. If you would like to leave a review yourself please go here: Google Form or Facebook.

Fripp a black and white medium sized dog tilts his head. Fripp was adopted by a lovely family in Connecticut!

Fredd Fishman (03/2025)

"They are great. Not only was the interview process easy and thorough but they were super nice. They also follow up to make sure everything is okay. Including some resources for those of us less experienced people"

A sweet orange cat was helped by a kind stranger until Traveling Tails and Ragamuffin Rescue was able to take him in!

Amor Mo (02/2025)

"The absolute best organization ever! They came and picked up the cat nugget and were so professional and filled with care we got through it all in one day and since I’ve been getting updates abt nugget per my request. I would 100 percent recommend this organization to friends and family and I’m so glad nugget is safe."

Calico FELV+ kitty Tilly is sweet as can be with bright green eyes. She was being fostered in CNY

Kai An (09/2024)

"[see the whole review here]...I could write an essay about all the ways that TTRR differs from others, but what is most important to know is this; they are transparent in how they can help you, they actively respond to inquiries and concerns with little to no wait time, they do not judge, and they actually take the time to listen to those who reach out. If you’ve ever rescued or tried to rescue an animal, it goes without saying how important that last bit is. Even if they cannot directly help, they make sure to listen to your story, take note of your worries, and point you in the right direction. They know its not possible to save every unfortunate animal out there, but they sure as heck try.

Tl;dr - I would recommend TTRR even if I was not a part of the family. Being on the inside has only proven my gut instinct upon first hearing about them; these are people that indiscriminately care about you and your situation, whatever it might be or what might have caused it. If you are looking for a rescue family to join or adopt from, or you just need help with your current animal situation, you truly need to look no further than these ragamuffins."

Senior tabby cat Milo up for adoption in Upstate NY

Tonya Stephenson (01/2025)

"I am a foster for Traveling Tails and Ragamuffin Rescue. They have been extremely easy to work with and I’m so impressed with how passionate they all are about rescuing and providing all of the care necessary for every cat and dog that they’ve taken in. If you are on the fence about fostering or adopting this is the organization to work with to find a good fit for a deserving cat or dog.🐕😻"

Brown and white patched medium sized dog was adopted by Lauren in Upstate NY

Lauren-Riley Beckingham (08/2024)

"Not only have I loved volunteering with TTRR, but I rescued my first dog of my own from them last summer. My dog has brought me so much joy. It has gave me experience with working with and taking care of a rescued dog. Traveling Tails and Ragamuffin Rescue made the process easy and communicated clearly all of the dog’s needs and her background prior to her arrival. I’ve grown up with dogs all my life, but never a rescue and I can’t recommend this organization enough!"

A large heeler mix cuddled up with her dog foster mom.

Jillian Jones (07/2024)

"I have volunteered with TTRR as a transporter twice and it was amazing both times. I have always wanted to foster animals, but I have a few too many of my own already to introduce anymore at the moment, so transporting these babies is the best option for me! It makes me feel like I’m still able to help out in the recuse community! Each time I transported, the people that I messaged and met with were extremely patient, kind, and genuine. The first transport I had been a part of, I had listened to how each of the rescuers went above and beyond to rescue a momma cat (moon) and her babies. I am extremely grateful to be a part of this community and would recommend them to everyone!"

A brindle medium sized dog looking at the camera. Blizzy was adopted from traveling tails and ragamuffin rescue in Upstate NY

Alec Pease (10/2023)

"TTRR is doing amazing work. They are a small but might crew who put so much love care and effort into finding fur-ever homes for animals in need! They placed Blizzy with my Papa, Lee Strout, as a foster pup just after his most recent dog Rosie passed away. She has been a blessing of a companion for him and a great learning experience for me as I am helping train her. He has since adopted Blizzy and we are so glad she is in our lives. Both the foster and adoption application were smooth and easy, and they were very responsive to any questions and follow ups we had. If you are looking for a new companion or furry friend that needs your help this is the local rescue for you!"

Young tabby cat who was up for adoption via Traveling Tails and Ragamuffin rescue a cat and dog rescue in the Capital Region New York

Zaya Koegel (2024)

"TTRR helped me out in an emergency situation with my cat Cheddar. When I was completely lost on where to bring my cat in an emergency situation, a member of TTRR helped house him for a short term. They sent pictures of my cat going from a bit off-put (new place what’s going on) to enjoying all the love and attention! This is what community looks like. Spotting someone in need (an animal, a human) and making it easier for them in whatever way is possible. Thank you TTRR for peace of mind this week 🙂 I recommend this service as they do really care about and care for animals."