Two years in the making, dog rescue opens adoption center in Palatine

After a two-year search and months of renovation, a nonprofit dog rescue has opened a dog adoption center in Palatine.

Second City Canine Rescue was able to buy the building at 570 N. Smith S. in Palatine thanks to a bequest from a donor, said founder and board President Jacquie Cobb. The 3,500-square-foot property used to be the site of the Fortune Kookie restaurant that closed about five years ago, she said.

The building can house up to 12 dogs, but it will hold only up to five dogs in November - currently there are four - and up to 10 dogs starting in December, as per the permits approved by the village of Palatine, Cobb said.

The renovation work, for which the rescue raised about $500,000, included soundproofing, she said.

The nonprofit was founded in 2011 and has seven employees, all part-timers, Cobb said. It gets rescue dogs from Chicago Animal Care and Control - which typically has pit bull-type dogs - and from partner animal shelters in places like Kentucky and Alabama, which typically have a variety of breeds, Cobb said.

The nonprofit has a volunteer network of about 100 foster homes plus about 400 individuals who do the fundraising, scheduling of veterinary appointments and more, she said. Typically it rescues about 500 dogs per year, but this year the count already is at 600, she said.

"Typically we have between 30 and 50 dogs in our care, but with COVID-19 it's been a lot less, because as soon as they go in they get adopted. So many people are adopting right now, it's wonderful," she said.

The nonprofit used to hold adoption events on Saturdays at PetSmart in Schaumburg. With the new building, adoptions visits can be held seven days a week, Cobb said. The agency settled on Palatine because its volunteers are mostly within a 10- to 15-minute drive, said Cobb, who lives in St. Charles and just opened her private veterinary practice in Elgin.

Cobb said she started Second City Canine Rescue with the help of two friends after volunteering for another organization. "We felt the need for a different type of rescue, one that made really responsible decisions both financially and with the dogs in our care," she said.

Christine Nendick, who works as adoption coordinator assistant for Second City Canine Rescue, said she started as a foster parent for the organization, and also has fostered dogs and cats for others. Second City Canine Rescue is a "fantastic" rescue, Nendick said.

"They are extremely supportive of their fosters. They give their foster everything that they need: food, bedding, toys and all that. They are also very supportive in term of being responsive in terms of their fosters. You always know who to reach out to. They always do good by their dogs. They make sure the animals are taken care of."

Cobb said the nonprofit closed on the Palatine property just two weeks before the stay-at-home order in March, which put a damper on the capital campaign for the renovation work. The group hopes to raise $100,000 more to expand the building's play yard, she said.

For more, visit sccrescue.org or call (847) 807-5364.