Andrea C. Kelly, President and Treasurer
Andrea Kelly has been involved in the Bullmastiff breed since 1990, and specifically with rescue since 1995. Until the formation of Bullmastiff Rescuers, Inc., she was the Regional Coordinator for the Rescue Service of The American Bullmastiff Association, responsible for New Jersey, southern New York State, the five boroughs of New York City, and Long Island, the eastern half of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. She has spearheaded fundraising efforts, and worked diligently to develop and nurture relationships with municipal and private shelters in this area, as well as with other rescue groups. Under her guidance, the ABA rescue group was one of the first accepted and approved by the NYC Mayor’s Alliance for Animals, and she has maintained a close working relationship with that organization. As regional Coordinator, she oversaw the acceptance, foster care, and evaluation of 100+ Bullmastiffs annually, and coordinated their vet care and ultimate placement with their adoptive families.
As a Bullmastiff owner and breeder, Ms. Kelly has owned, bred, and/or personally trained several history-making dogs. Her pets not only compete in the conformation ring, they are active and successful competitors in agility, obedience and rally, some have worked as therapy dogs, others have expanded their skills to include water work and sheepherding. Several have appeared in TV commercials and/or print advertisements, and several have been featured in training books and videos as well. Ms. Kelly is an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and has judged sweepstakes at a number of regional specialties across the country. She has co-chaired national specialties and regional specialties on several occasions. She has long-standing relationships with local vets and has worked hard to obtain premium vet care at discounted rates for rescue dogs, not only from “general practitioners” but from board certified specialists as well. Because of her presence in the “working arenas”, she has access to many well-regarded trainers and behaviorists too, so there are many professionals she can call upon for help and advice in the event of a medical, training, or temperament problem with a dog in the care of our rescue organization.
Prior to moving to a small horse farm in New Jersey to pursue an equestrian lifestyle, Ms. Kelly was a Vice President in the Institutional Money Management area of US Trust, and before that she was a Vice President and institutional portfolio manager at the private investment firm of Scudder, Stevens & Clark. In each of these positions, she was responsible for devising and executing investment strategies for institutional portfolios worth several billion dollars.
Andrea Kelly has been involved in the Bullmastiff breed since 1990, and specifically with rescue since 1995. Until the formation of Bullmastiff Rescuers, Inc., she was the Regional Coordinator for the Rescue Service of The American Bullmastiff Association, responsible for New Jersey, southern New York State, the five boroughs of New York City, and Long Island, the eastern half of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. She has spearheaded fundraising efforts, and worked diligently to develop and nurture relationships with municipal and private shelters in this area, as well as with other rescue groups. Under her guidance, the ABA rescue group was one of the first accepted and approved by the NYC Mayor’s Alliance for Animals, and she has maintained a close working relationship with that organization. As regional Coordinator, she oversaw the acceptance, foster care, and evaluation of 100+ Bullmastiffs annually, and coordinated their vet care and ultimate placement with their adoptive families.
As a Bullmastiff owner and breeder, Ms. Kelly has owned, bred, and/or personally trained several history-making dogs. Her pets not only compete in the conformation ring, they are active and successful competitors in agility, obedience and rally, some have worked as therapy dogs, others have expanded their skills to include water work and sheepherding. Several have appeared in TV commercials and/or print advertisements, and several have been featured in training books and videos as well. Ms. Kelly is an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and has judged sweepstakes at a number of regional specialties across the country. She has co-chaired national specialties and regional specialties on several occasions. She has long-standing relationships with local vets and has worked hard to obtain premium vet care at discounted rates for rescue dogs, not only from “general practitioners” but from board certified specialists as well. Because of her presence in the “working arenas”, she has access to many well-regarded trainers and behaviorists too, so there are many professionals she can call upon for help and advice in the event of a medical, training, or temperament problem with a dog in the care of our rescue organization.
Prior to moving to a small horse farm in New Jersey to pursue an equestrian lifestyle, Ms. Kelly was a Vice President in the Institutional Money Management area of US Trust, and before that she was a Vice President and institutional portfolio manager at the private investment firm of Scudder, Stevens & Clark. In each of these positions, she was responsible for devising and executing investment strategies for institutional portfolios worth several billion dollars.
Joan (Joni) Cavanaugh, Vice President
Joni’s love of the bullmastiff breed stems from owning her first bullmastiff Dasher. After thoroughly researching the breed to determine suitability to her lifestyle and researching breeders in the state of Michigan, she purchased Dasher in 1996 from a reputable breeder. Joni was quickly and forever enamored with the breed. Two months after Dasher’s death due to complications with diabetes in 2004, she adopted her first rescue bullmastiff Shadow from Andrea Kelly. Shadow was rescued from an abandoned car in New Jersey and Joni drove from Michigan to New Jersey to adopt her. Shortly thereafter, Joni became actively involved in rescue and has fostered over 70 dogs in her own home in addition to serving as Great Lakes Regional Coordinator for two bullmastiff rescue organizations.
As Great Lakes Regional Coordinator, she is responsible for the processing and approval of all adoption applications; coordinating the intake and foster placement of dogs coming into rescue from owner surrender situations or shelters; monitoring veterinary care of dogs in rescue and placement of dogs ready for adoption into appropriate home environments. Through her coordination efforts she has helped saved the lives of well over 400 bullmastiffs by locating appropriate foster homes for them, coordinating transport plans to get them safety or to their adoptive homes, screening potential adopters, and provide countless hours of guidance to adopters.
In addition to her rescue activities to rehabilitate and rehome bullmastiffs in need, Joni also donates her time to transporting for The Liberty Train, all volunteer organization dedicated to rescuing, transporting and re-homing animals in need. The Liberty Train works with a network of individuals to pull animals from high-kill shelters and transport and place animals with responsible, fully screened rescue groups.
Joni’s love of the bullmastiff breed stems from owning her first bullmastiff Dasher. After thoroughly researching the breed to determine suitability to her lifestyle and researching breeders in the state of Michigan, she purchased Dasher in 1996 from a reputable breeder. Joni was quickly and forever enamored with the breed. Two months after Dasher’s death due to complications with diabetes in 2004, she adopted her first rescue bullmastiff Shadow from Andrea Kelly. Shadow was rescued from an abandoned car in New Jersey and Joni drove from Michigan to New Jersey to adopt her. Shortly thereafter, Joni became actively involved in rescue and has fostered over 70 dogs in her own home in addition to serving as Great Lakes Regional Coordinator for two bullmastiff rescue organizations.
As Great Lakes Regional Coordinator, she is responsible for the processing and approval of all adoption applications; coordinating the intake and foster placement of dogs coming into rescue from owner surrender situations or shelters; monitoring veterinary care of dogs in rescue and placement of dogs ready for adoption into appropriate home environments. Through her coordination efforts she has helped saved the lives of well over 400 bullmastiffs by locating appropriate foster homes for them, coordinating transport plans to get them safety or to their adoptive homes, screening potential adopters, and provide countless hours of guidance to adopters.
In addition to her rescue activities to rehabilitate and rehome bullmastiffs in need, Joni also donates her time to transporting for The Liberty Train, all volunteer organization dedicated to rescuing, transporting and re-homing animals in need. The Liberty Train works with a network of individuals to pull animals from high-kill shelters and transport and place animals with responsible, fully screened rescue groups.
Kristy Leigh Ruiz, Managing Director and Secretary
My name is Kristy Ruiz, an addition to the Bullmastiff Rescuer's Inc. family in 2013. My background is in nursing; I am a trained Oncology and Chemotherapy/Biotherapy nurse, although I spent most of my time in Gastroenterology, and more recently with a Covid-19 response team. My nursing career helps me assess and care for my personal dogs as well as offering support to foster homes and their foster dogs.
I have never felt as fulfilled in my life as I do now, putting forth great use of my time by doing all I can and learning all I can for Bullmastiff Rescuer’s, Inc. It is so important to me that my children know there is more to life than them - there are other living beings who are out there waiting to be rescued. Whether they be animals or people, I want my children to always stop what they’re doing to help someone/something in need.
My role is to coordinate adoptions by working with applicants and foster homes. I also help write the bios for our dogs who are being posted for adoption, offer support to foster homes, and follow up on past adoptions. While this is only the beginning for me, I know I have found my true life’s work. I hope to continue to learn from all of my experiences with BRI, and eventually become an expertise in the bullmastiff breed. My goal is that the knowledge and time I put towards our rescue group will continue to save dogs and help place them with forever families, support foster homes and offer them a line of communication, take on any new tasks needed by the senior board members, and most importantly - help lead BRI into the next generation.
My name is Kristy Ruiz, an addition to the Bullmastiff Rescuer's Inc. family in 2013. My background is in nursing; I am a trained Oncology and Chemotherapy/Biotherapy nurse, although I spent most of my time in Gastroenterology, and more recently with a Covid-19 response team. My nursing career helps me assess and care for my personal dogs as well as offering support to foster homes and their foster dogs.
I have never felt as fulfilled in my life as I do now, putting forth great use of my time by doing all I can and learning all I can for Bullmastiff Rescuer’s, Inc. It is so important to me that my children know there is more to life than them - there are other living beings who are out there waiting to be rescued. Whether they be animals or people, I want my children to always stop what they’re doing to help someone/something in need.
My role is to coordinate adoptions by working with applicants and foster homes. I also help write the bios for our dogs who are being posted for adoption, offer support to foster homes, and follow up on past adoptions. While this is only the beginning for me, I know I have found my true life’s work. I hope to continue to learn from all of my experiences with BRI, and eventually become an expertise in the bullmastiff breed. My goal is that the knowledge and time I put towards our rescue group will continue to save dogs and help place them with forever families, support foster homes and offer them a line of communication, take on any new tasks needed by the senior board members, and most importantly - help lead BRI into the next generation.