From the time our founder Harleigh was able to walk and talk, she was passionate about animal welfare. Harleigh rescued her first animal at the age of ten when she convinced her grandma’s neighbors to sell her 2 pitbull puppies that they were neglecting. That early experience of rescue combined with her love of animals lit a fire in her soul and set her on path to advocate for animal welfare. Harleigh volunteered over a thousand hours in local no kill shelters all through high school gaining invaluable experience in many different positions!

In late 2019, when traveling with her family to Riviera Maya for a wedding, Harleigh witnessed first hand the enormous amount of stray dogs and cats in the area, some of whom were in terrible condition and decided to see what she could do to help and reached out to a no kill shelter in the area of Puerto Morelos. While her initial plan was to see how she could perhaps raise donations, and find homes, that quickly changed when she was told of a puppy who had been dumped in the jungle in a box with his sister.

Harleigh decided she would bring the puppy home, and after checking into all the rules for transporting a dog from Mexico, made arrangements to fly him home, and find him a loving home, because she herself already had 7 dogs and many other pets! However, that little boy had other plans and Harleigh fell in love with him and adopted him, naming him Taco, who is the mascot, ambassador and inspiration for Border Tails Rescue.

Harleigh founded Border Tails Rescue in December of 2019, while simultaneously pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish. She believes that we must educate on the importance of spaying and neutering our pets, which helps control over population and directly affects the stray population. Harleigh and her husband have fostered over 50 dogs, many of those were nursing moms and puppies and medical cases. They foster-failed their 10 year old Chihuahua Chloe and their medical puppy, a sheltie named Xam after seeing him through a massive heart surgery and recovery.

Harleigh is currently 25 years old and currently resides in Barrington Hills, IL with her husband, Rafael and 3 dogs, Taco, Xam & Chloe and her Cockatiel, Tulsa!

Harleigh’s biggest passion is rescuing tough medical cases,Pitbulls, seniors, and dogs from Mexico, - if it’s an underdog, it’s calling her name!