About Us

BullsEye Dog Rescue is a registered charity in Washington state and a Federal non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Our board members have over 30 combined experience with the Pit Bull "breed" and animal rescue.

Our core value is to provide education about the amazing Pit Bull "breed" to the public, current Pit Bull owners, other rescue organizations and shelters throughout the Puget Sound region. BullsEye is not a shelter. Instead, we are a network of foster homes and volunteers working with pit bull friendly, Puget Sound region shelters to give a handful of Pit Bulls a second chance.

Board of Directors

President and Co-Founder
Lorrie Kalmbach-Ehlers

Lorrie’s life was forever changed in 1989 when she rescued her first pit bull Roxanne. Pulled from the streets where she was abandoned by her previous owner, Roxanne was with Lorrie until the age of 17, but had Lorrie convinced in the first few months that she never again own another breed.  From this love grew her foster parent efforts, which to date have totaled over 100 animals.  Currently Lorrie has two pit bull mixes, two pit bulls and one want-to-be pit bull retriever mix in addition to the numerous foster dogs that come and go.  They peacefully reside with two cats, two goats, one 30 year old tortoise, and three horses, one baby boy that loves them dearly, not to mention her very patient husband.   Of these 13 animals that share their life, only 4 are not from a rescued background.  Besides helping found BullsEye Dog Rescue, Lorrie is also currently the Breed Representative for American Pit bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and American Staffordshire Terriers at Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue.

Lorrie has a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Washington and has conducted research for the Department of Defense and co-produced a publication that appeared in Northwest Naturalist.  In addition, she has been employed by many nonprofit organizations including Kitsap Humane Society where she has shared her animal talents as adoption counselor, foster parent and volunteer and Salish Sea Expeditions as Director of Outreach and Operations.   She currently serves as Executive Director of Coalition: HUMAnE, an organization dedicated to providing the community with low cost, high quality, high volume spay/neuter services.

Secretary
Gretchen Andersen

In 2003 Gretchen and her partner, Jennifer, moved out of apartment life into their first house with the idea of bringing a dog into their lives. Gretchen was thinking small dog (Chihuahua). Jennifer was thinking BIG dog (Great Dane). They compromised and decided a medium dog was perfect! After doing a lot of research on breeds, they decided it was time to meet some Pit Bulls! They went on a meet-n-greet at Lorrie’s home and fell head over heels for two dogs, Kaiser and Dakota. How could they decide? How about adopting both?! Welcome to the fabulous world of pit bulls!

Before Dakota was one year old he passed away due to complications from a surgery. After this devastating experience, Gretchen immersed herself in the world of pit bull rescue and soon found she had a passion for this breed like no other.  When Lorrie and Maggie started up BullsEye Dog Rescue Gretchen soon joined them and has since become the Board Secretary.

Gretchen and Jennifer have two pit bulls, a Shih Tzu (she got her small dog!) and three cats.  All have been rescued. This pack usually includes at least one foster dog (usually two and sometimes three) at all times. Gretchen can never get enough pit bull lovin’!

Treasurer
Dan Stegman

A cat guy among dog people, Dan Stegman is a Certified Public Accountant and partner in an accounting firm, that gives his free time to BullsEye to keep our finances in order. Having seen the transformation of his friend Becky through her involvement in BullsEye, he answered the opening of Treasurer without a hesitation. BullsEye appreciates Dan's "cat guy" perspective and his pragmatic approach to money management. Not to mention he's a good cook and feeds us well at our board meetings!

Board Members
Becky Meigs

Becky first became involved with pit bulls about six years ago when she adopted a puppy that she was told was a Lab/Rottweiler mix. As Oscar grew into an adult dog, it became evident he was a pit bull mix instead. Not knowing anything about the breed, Becky took upon herself (as any good dog owner would) to learn as much as she could.

Two years later Mandy, her dog of 14 years passed away and she found herself looking for another dog.  Becky realized, after searching many shelters and dog rescue websites, that there were more homeless pit bulls than any other breed.  Deciding to focus her adoption on pit bulls, she came across BullsEye Dog Rescue. Becky originally applied to adopt a sweet boy named Rudy, but was turned down because she already had Oscar, another male dog. Lorrie recommended that they consider Zoe instead and it was love at first sight!

Before long, Becky and Zoe became BullsEye Dog Rescue social butterflies, hosting a number of pit bull play dates.  During these play dates, Becky began taking pictures of the dogs and stumbled upon a talent and passion.  Like so many of us dream of doing, Becky has now turned this passion into a career and started her pet photography business-Becky Meigs Photography. The first BullsEye Dog Rescue calendar was published in 2007, a realization of Becky’s hard work, and thankfully she enjoyed so much that it's been an every year occurrence! Becky also is our very dedicated Foster Home Coordinator.

Juli Goodrich

Juli claims love at first sight when she met the pit bull breed eight years ago.  She has lived all her life with adopted shelter dogs so it’s no surprise she heeded the call for help when BullsEye first started advertising for foster homes. Juli and her husband Charlie were BullsEye’s first foster home! All their foster dogs have to past muster with the crazy black cat and Lita and Layla, the adopted Pit Bull girl duo.

After many years of dedicated volunteerism, Juli became our Volunteer Coordinator and then Board member.  She uses her many years in the customer service field, and her positive Pit Bull attitude, to help make all of the newbie BullsEye people feel right at home.

Amanda Hoffman

Amanda was first introduced to pit bulls via her volunteer work with the Seattle Humane Society, where she realized just how many pit bulls were in need of homes – and what fantastic dogs they were, despite their bad reputation. As someone who’s always had a soft spot for the “underdogs” and a PR professional by trade, she decided she needed to adopt pit bull. She was determined to change people’s minds and give the breed a little good PR!

In her quest to find the perfect pittie, Amanda came across BullsEye Dog Rescue, and submitted applications on a couple of smiling goofy boys she thought might make a good complement to her lab mix. That very same weekend she went in to volunteer with the Humane Society and completely fell head-over-heels in love with a sweet block-headed brindle boy. Though she didn’t end up adopting from BullsEye, she was impressed with the organization and knew she wanted to help. She soon began volunteering at special events and helping the group out with press releases and media outreach. She took on her first foster dog in 2009, and was asked to join the board of directors soon after.

As a self-described “girly girl,” Amanda loves the look of surprise she gets when she tells people she has a pit bull - and not some fluffy purse puppy! Even more so, she loves the minds she’s opened and feelings she’s changed in leading by example. Amanda lives with her husband Dave, lab mix Maggie, pit bull Stewie, and the occasional BullsEye foster in West Seattle.

Deserae Kuring

Deserae had wanted a dog for a long time, so when she and her partner Nils bought a house at the end of 2007, she started researching different breeds online to find the perfect dog.  It did not take long before she began to only frequent websites that advocate on behalf of pit bulls and educating herself about their true nature.  She realized that a pit bull was the kind of dog she wanted most of all.  Fate stepped in soon after, when an emaciated and homeless pit bull puppy met her at the mailbox and followed her home.  Much to the horror of the cats, the puppy waltzed into the house as if she had always lived there!  For Deserae, it was love at first sight, and Lucy soon became an integral part of her family. 

Lucy should be credited with changing Deserae’s life.  A few months after her arrival, Deserae had found that educating others about pit bulls was a very personal and important calling.  She joined the local group Families Against Breed Bans, and this is where she heard about a need for volunteers for a pilot program that BullsEye was starting up with the Tacoma Humane Society.  The Adopt-A-Bull program is how Deserae first began her involvement with BullsEye, but soon she started volunteering for every event.  To her intense pleasure and honor, she was recently invited to join the Board of Directors.

In her spare time, Deserae is completing her Masters Degree in Special Education (her other calling).  She loves openly talking about her pit bull with the students and staff, educating those around her every chance she has.

Ryan Walston

Advisory Board

Event Coordinator
Jennifer Andersen

Jennifer feel in love with a pit bull named Harley while volunteering at P.A.W.S in Lynwood. Once Jennifer and her partner Gretchen bought their first home the hunt was on to adopt their own pitties. They adopted Kaiser and Dakota who were being fostered by Lorrie Kalumbach-Ehlers through SPDR. Over the years Jennifer has fostered many pit bulls young and old.

Jennifer has worked in the multi family housing industry for over nine years, as a licensed real estate agent and now has her dream job as owner of a dog walking at pet sitting business, Muddy Paws.

Co-Founder
Maggie McDowell

Maggie began doing dog rescue work in 1999 following her good citizen rescue of three pit bulls from a neglectful situation.  In an effort to educate the Seattle community about the breed, she began photographing families and their adopted rescue dogs.  The photography series, Pit Bull Project, became the name of an organization she co-founded with long-time pit bull advocate, Anne Holte, one year later. Her desire to focus on dogs in shelters and community outreach led Maggie to create BullsEye Dog Rescue with Lorrie Kalmbach-Ehlers in 2004. Maggie’s home includes two rescued pit bulls, Buffalo Sky and Chaney. She and Buffalo Sky are certified by Delta Society as an animal assisted therapy dog team. 

In addition to being a board member of BullsEye Dog Rescue and a Breed Representative for Seattle Pure Bred Dog Rescue (SPDR), Maggie’s professional life also includes not-for-profit work. After graduating from the University of Florida with Bachelor degrees in Economics and English, Maggie moved to Seattle in 1994 to attend the University of Washington where she completed an MFA in Creative Writing and became a PhD candidate in English. She left academic life to pursue her passion for business and technology. Maggie is currently a Program Manager for Getty Images.

Webmaster
Wayne Seward

Wayne always had infinity for animals but centered his interests around snakes at a young age, filling his house with rattlers much to his mothers dislike.  He entered the world of dogs in 1989 when he acquired his first Rottweiler named Rex.  Wayne was soon hooked on this working breed and joined Team Rottweiler in 2002 after adopting his beloved Julie.  Wayne became the Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue Representative for Rottweilers in 2005.

Wayne served as a professional photographer for the United States Air Force.  He then moved to Alaska, where he became a bush pilot by summer and computer geek by winter.  This winter trade became his life’s career, and he has worked for Boeing, and now Alaska Airlines as a Senior Web Systems Specialist.

Wayne became a pit bull lover and owner by default when he decided to experience other breeds by fostering a pit bull - a pit bull that was blind no less!  Crazy Ivan, as he became affectionately called, worked his way into this Rottweiler household and is now there to stay as a permanent member.  Ivan believes it’s his lot in life to bring excitement to their lives!