President; Temperament Test  & Independent Adoptions (IA) Advisor

Bill Lawton

Bill has been involved in dog rescue for a number of years, with Humane Societies, Animal Control facilities and Rescue groups. He has worked with some of the more difficult dogs in order to get them to the point of being adoptable and able to live in a forever home with a loving family.  Dog rescue is his passion. 

Bill started with SSRR at the beginning of 2013 while volunteering for a local animal shelter. He started working with a boy named Apollo since it seemed to him that none of the staff knew Rottweilers very well and most of them were scared of Apollo due to his size and pushiness. One of the staff members actually said he was watching her, trying to figure out ways to “kill her.” Bill knew that Apollo was watching in an attempt to learn and figure out what was going on, as Rottweilers do. When he took Apollo out, Apollo immediately started pushing and pulling and wanted to do what he wanted until Bill corrected him. After a few days, Apollo knew the routine and willing went along without any further “attitude”. Bill contacted SSRR to try and get Apollo into rescue since he would not make it out of the shelter any other way. Unfortunately, the response he received was that there were only 3 fosters in Virginia and they were full so they could not take in Apollo but if Bill were to foster him then they may be willing. Bill filled out a foster application, had his application processed, had a home visit done and then a few days later went to the shelter where he ran into a friend of his, who had recently lost his Rottweiler, while walking Apollo. His friend met Apollo and fell in love with him. They spent about an hour together and he was ready to adopt. Bill received his approval to be a foster for SSRR later that day. But why stop at fostering he thought. Why not get more fosters for Virginia?

Bill volunteered with SSRR processing applications, performing home checks, assisting with temperament tests and transports. He went on to serve as Lead Intake Coordinator prior to being elected as President of SSRR on November 26, 2013. Bill has been accused of placing our dogs above people and to that he says he is guilty and will continue to run SSRR with that guiding principle front and center. As Bill said, “I truly believe it’s up to each and every one of us to speak up for and help those who cannot help themselves.”

Treasurer, Grant Writing Advisor

Linda Whigham

Linda is a very proud mom of two former SSRR kids, Valley and Riggs, adopted in 2015 and 2017. Linda started volunteering to drive transports going to or from Texas through to Arkansas. And the rest, as they say, is history. She was approached to be the grant writer and eventually the Treasurer. Linda has held these positions since 2012.

Linda’s full-time (paying) job is as the Supervisor of a laboratory in the Pathology Department of a University Medical Center. They use a laser beam and antibodies to classify blood and bone marrow cancers. She’s a medical technologist by profession and has spent my entire working life paying attention to details. Not a bad habit for someone responsible for the “purse strings” so Linda is somewhat suited to her SSRR position.

People say that rescued dogs are so grateful for their adopted families, and we all know they are, but Linda says she is so grateful to Valley and Riggs for sharing their lives with her and to the folks at SSRR who placed them with her.

Linda’s favorite part of volunteering with SSRR is seeing all the happy endings; being the last leg of a transport and actually witnessing  the family and their new dog meet for the first time.   

Secretary; Director

Tara Campbell

Director, Intake; Director, Transport

Cheryl Shaw

Cheryl's love of Rottweilers started over 20 years ago when her husband talked her into getting one. She first became involved in animal rescue when she offered to help a friend with a transport five years ago.  She was hooked after that and started transporting almost every weekend. She has helped various rescues with transporting, performing home visits, fostering and fundraising. When SSRR had an opening for a transport coordinator in 2016, she decided to try her hand at that.  She hasn't looked back since!

During the week, Cheryl is employed full-time as a Human Resources Manager for a local College where she lives, in Port Orange, FL.  She's a proud Mom to a daughter, son-in-law and son.  She's also a proud dog Mom to Rotties Apollo, Bentley and Mercedes and a Great Dane, Karma.  She also fosters for SSRR.  In her spare time, she also volunteers with Relay for Life of Port Orange and in her professional life, serves on the Florida Chapter Board of CUPA-HR. 

Her reason for volunteering with so many organizations is her love of the Rottweiler breed and of her community. She believes Rotties are one of the most misunderstood breeds, so in addition to volunteering, she tries to help educate people on the breed.  She really enjoys her work with SSRR and loves to just make a difference in this world.

Director, Communications and Social Media

Angela Maldon

Angela started with SSRR in early 2014 working mostly behind the scenes as our Information Coordinator and Web Designer. Angela co-owns a successful Networking/Web Design business and was tasked with coming up with a new, much more functional, website than what we had. She was also tasked with coming up with a new records retention system that would be as automated as possible. This resulted in the website and forms that we still use today.

Detailed records are kept for each dog that comes into SSRR until they are adopted. This is the reason we do most everything through email and not through social media. Our social media platforms are use for posting Rottweilers in need that are looking for fosters, adoption notices and general information, etc.

Angela lives on the oceanfront where her and her family enjoy the beach every day. She has 3 Rottweilers, 2 males and 1 female, named Apollo, Zeus and Athena. If you are wondering whether or not Angela is a fan of Greek Mythology, she is.

Director, Adoptions

Amy Yejo

Amy’s love for animals started at a very young age with the encouragement and support from her parents. She grew up with an albino mouse, cats, rabbits, birds, fish, and medium to large breed dogs. After moving from Ohio to Atlanta in 1998, Amy was looking for her first, non-family dog, that was a medium-to-large breed, affectionate, loyal, confident, and easy to train. After doing her research and talking to the AKC, she got her first Rottweiler, and she was hooked on the breed. Enza lived with Amy in Atlanta, Honduras, and Atlanta again, and passed away in 2014. Since then, Amy has welcomed 3 more Rotties into her home. Luna came from a breeder in Georgia, and Brutus (R.I.P.) and Dallas were both adopted from SSRR.

In addition to adopting 2 Rotties from SSRR, Amy got involved with SSRR by participating and bidding in their fundraisers (auctions, t-shirts, and businesses that support SSRR), calling adoption references, serving as a Foster Coordinator, and now, Director of Adoptions. She is a champion of the breed and supports spay and neutering. Amy also donates to other Rottweiler rescues across the US.
 

Amy’s full-time (paying) job is Business Development Manager for an international, food commodity trading company. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her Rotties, traveling, and wine.

Director, Foster Care

Stacie Sheil

Stacie originally fell in love with Rottweilers while in college with a friend’s dog. She adored Bubba and would visit just to spend time with him. As soon as she had her own place, she was able to adopt her first Rottweiler in 2002 and the love story begins. They spent a lot of time together training and earned both CGC and Therapy certifications. She was an amazing advocate for the breed and loved vacationing on the beach and playing with her Akita-GSD sister.

Since learning about SSRR in 2016, Stacie has participated in fundraisers, assisted with home visits, and fostered for the organization. She has volunteered on boards for other non-profits, but found she wanted to do more for SSRR and the dogs. This was after fostering Carly and experiencing firsthand the love and dedication this organization devotes to each dog and the support provided to each foster parent. She has also fostered 2 puppies for SSRR; one of which was a foster fail and part of her current pack. She loves working with this committed team of volunteers and finds it so rewarding to be a part of saving lives.

Stacie’s household migrates between Southeast VA and the Outer Banks of NC throughout the year and consists of a Firefighter husband, 2 teenage boys, 2 Rottweilers, 2 GSDs and 2 cats. As a family, their favorite activities include swimming and taking boat rides with the dogs at the beach. During the weekdays, Stacie loves her job directing the Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) team and managing HR processes/data for a global movie theatre. In her spare time, you can usually find a kindle in one hand and either a cup of coffee or glass of wine in the other.

SSRR Official Veterinarian and Board Advisor

Dr. Prudence Walker, DVM

Founders :

Renice Zimmerman & Judy Marion