Sanctuary can be found in the most unlikely places.
Like in a Detroit industrial area, where an abandoned railroad lot once harbored debris and danger, that is now home to animal rescue and advocacy organization
Rebel Dogs.
It is a lifeline for both the city’s abandoned, stray and neglected dogs – and for community members navigating the city's complex challenges.
Rebel Dogs was founded in 2018 by Juniper Fleming and Johan Aermann (Fleming’s then-husband), who had moved to Detroit so Fleming could finish her MFA at Cranbrook. But their Detroit journey took an unintended detour.
“We were animal lovers, but certainly did not think we were on the path to become animal welfare advocates in any capacity,” says Fleming. “We bought a house and were renovating our home, falling in love with the city.”
As they navigated Detroit neighborhoods, they encountered stray dogs. “We were naturally trying to problem solve, and we were catching them.”
They soon learned that metro Detroit’s rescue and shelter landscape was frustrating. There was stigma associated with dogs that had been stray in Detroit – and many of the organizations simply didn’t accept Detroit strays or place them in foster homes.
Engaging neighbors and friends
Fleming and Aermann thought they could do the work more efficiently and move dogs more quickly through the street-to-home pipeline. Fleming enlisted neighborhood friends to help.
They learned as they went. “It wasn’t like we had a nest egg. We had nothing.” Yet within four years, they opened a physical shelter location on the northwest side of Detroit. Today, it’s a comprehensive, rescue operation.
Rebel Dogs has adopted out more than 2,000 dogs; maintains a network of 250 foster homes; and operates a shelter that serves as a hub for resources, training and support for community members and would-be fosters and adopters.
Given those DIY origins and a commitment to doing the boots-on-the-ground hard work, it’s no surprise that over its six-year existence Rebel Dogs continues to operate with a distinctly Detroit ethos – scrappy, resourceful, and deeply integrated within the neighborhood.
Case in point: Fleming and Aermann acquired their headquarters and shelter’s current location near Livernois Ave. and Joy Road through the city’s
Land Bank, after digging in to local zoning laws and realizing that their site needed to be zoned “industrial.” Fleming counts them lucky since, at the time, industrial-zoned land was being snapped up in a seller’s market.
The shelter's location itself also is pure Detroit: situated on a dead-end street. Fleming says: “You have to go the wrong way on a one-way to get there!”
Once they secured the property, they began transforming the lot from an old coal depot and illegal dumping site into what is now Rebel Dogs’ shelter and operational HQ. That transformation has made Rebel Dogs a beacon for animal advocates in a city where extreme poverty continues to drive an epidemic of strays.
It’s also a trusted, close-to-home resource for dog owners in the neighborhood. Fleming says that neighbors know the organization and come in for dog food as needed: “It’s part of the reason why we exist exactly where we are.”
Helping people and pets
Fleming wonders why more organizations don’t have facilities in Detroit to better service areas where resources are needed most. She sees demand throughout the day, with people asking for medical consultation, dog food, shots for their dog, or advice about behavior.
The organization's approach goes far beyond simple animal rescue, says Fleming: “We’re constantly engaging.” Once the neighborhood realized what Fleming, Aermann and their volunteers were trying to build, they embraced Rebel Dogs. Since then, they've become a critical community resource for residents struggling with pet care.
Rebel Dogs confronts the harsh realities of urban poverty head-on. "The level of poverty some Detroiters are living in is something other people wouldn't accept," Fleming says candidly.
This understanding shapes their entire operational philosophy. When someone receives free dog food from Rebel Dogs and potentially sells it to meet other urgent needs, Fleming refuses to judge. "It's a system that has failed them," she emphasizes.
Part of their quiet, revolutionary approach is that Rebel Dogs’ rescue model takes the idea of sanctuary very seriously and quite literally. Instead of the traditional shelter approach that euthanizes dogs deemed unadoptable, Rebel Dogs operates more patiently, empathetically.
"Our bar is not adoptability, our bar is quality of life," Fleming explains. “Dogs that would be immediately euthanized elsewhere – like former street dogs or those who have lived their entire lives chained up – are given compassionate, long-term care.”
Prioritizing mission over margin
The organization has faced significant challenges, particularly during the post-COVID period when national dog adoption rates plummeted. Yet Rebel Dogs remains committed to its mission, relying entirely on donations, community support, and an incredible network of volunteers.
Social media and online fundraisers have played a helpful role in raising awareness and dollars, but the day-to-day work of saving dogs taxes the organization’s budget in ways that ad hoc appeals can’t help.
For example, notes Fleming, “We get so many dogs who have who come off the street, and it turns out they've ingested trash. It can sit in their stomach and not irritate them for weeks, and then all of a sudden, it will shift and then it will start killing them, and we have to operate, and it's a few thousand dollars.”
As one might expect, they stretch every dollar, with just three full-time and two part-time employees, and a core group of 35 dedicated volunteers.
Veterinary expenses run into hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, yet Rebel Dogs continues to provide comprehensive medical care for every rescued dog – funded solely by individual donations and fees from adoptions. Fleming hopes to make headway with grantmaking, but daily work on the streets and at the facility is the most pressing priority. It is a macro challenge that rewards as much as it exhausts in a city like Detroit with many overlapping problems.
Indeed, what makes Rebel Dogs truly special is its holistic understanding of rescue. It's not just about saving dogs, but about addressing systemic issues of poverty, neglect, and community resilience. As Fleming puts it, "We're trying to understand the intersectional nature of serving both the lives of community members and the dogs we rescue."
In a city often misunderstood and overlooked, Rebel Dogs stands as a testament to Detroit's spirit – resourceful, compassionate, and unwaveringly committed to lifting up those who need help most, whether they walk on two legs or four.
This story is part of the Nonprofit Journal Project, an initiative focused on nonprofit leaders and programs across Metro Detroit. This series is made possible with the generous support of our partners, the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, Michigan Nonprofit Association and Co.act Detroit.