VT Dog Rescue continues its work after founder’s death.

By Jackie Spinnell, for the Community News Service

Ten months after Brigitte Thompson’s death, the dog rescue organization she founded has continued to thrive.

Still, it takes four people to fill the role that Thompson once held single-handedly at VT Dog Rescue, said Kristen Orlando, part of the group’s leadership team.

“Brigitte just worked so hard,” Orlando said. “She was truly a remarkable person, and she is dearly missed.” Thompson unexpectedly died on Feb. 18. She was 55 years old. 

A dog isn’t just a pet, it is family, and no one understood this more deeply than Thompson. She was a family-oriented person, with a love for all living beings around her, Orlando said.

Thompson spent her life in greater Burlington, attending St. Joseph’s Elementary School, Burlington High School, Rice High School and Champlain College. She married Keith Thompson in 1989, and together they raised three children — Sarah, Jacob and Katherine.

Thompson had an entrepreneurial spirit. She launched a bookkeeping business in 1991 and worked as a website designer, freelance writer, and medical transcriptionist. She wrote several published books. (Thompson also worked for the Burlington Area Newspaper Group, of which the Citizen is a member.)

In 2015, Thompson founded VT Dog Rescue out of love for animals and a passion for making a difference. At the time, she and her family owned eight dogs, and despite juggling a full-time job, her role as a wife and being a mother of three, Thompson cared deeply about each one of them. 

VT Dog Rescue is a canine adoption organization dedicated to rescuing dogs from across the country and providing them with loving homes. The organization is run entirely by volunteers.

In the past nine years, VT Dog Rescue has saved hundreds of dogs and fostered a community of people who care deeply for this cause.

Orlando said Thompson was devoted to each dog’s life, as well as to cultivating a family bond among people in the organization. “She created this rescue on the basis of truly personal compassionate care, and that was for not only the dogs but also the people,” Orlando said. “That is something that made her truly special and makes the rescue truly special.”

Thompson made every decision in each dog’s best interest, Orlando said.

“Our dogs already had a rough start to their life and a rough transition being transported up north, so Brigitte prioritized their best adoption match possible so that they could have the best rest of their life as they can,” Orlando said. 

“She created the VT Dog Rescue process to be very thorough, and she created the dog matching process to be very personal to each dog, each foster parent and each adopter,” she said.

Thompson had a soft spot for dogs with special needs because those are the ones typically left behind in traditional animal shelters. Her philosophy was that every dog matters, so even transporting one dog was worth it if that dog got to live.

Thompson was an incredibly hard working and caring person, Orlando said, responding to emails through the night and sending each coworker an e-card on their birthday.

For the past several years, Thompson was primarily homebound due to medical issues. Still, she continued to organize transportation, set up foster and adoption matches and provide support to people and dogs who needed it.

On her obituary page, people shared stories of her influence on their lives, thanking her for pairing them with their dogs.

“Brigitte found the perfect dog for me, who has brought so much joy into my life,” wrote Monica Raymond. “Her tireless work running VT Dog Rescue has saved the lives of countless dogs and made so many human lives happier and more fulfilled.”

ia Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on assignment for The Citizen