Barbara De Groodt

Barbara shares her life with a Rottweiler, two senior dogs, one a little red-headed terrier and the other an oversized Yorkie and a young Chihuahua.

Barbara has been involved with animal rescue and volunteering for as long as she can remember. She used to run a private Rottweiler rescue, and she has been a volunteer with POMDR since its inception, helping with dog evaluations, transportation, dog training and behavior counseling.

Barbara has a keen interest in animal behavior, and she holds certificates from multiple training seminars. Barbara has worked with trainers in India, New Zealand, Thailand, Spain, several other countries and all over the United States. She has worked with the Venezuela airport drug detection dogs. Barbara was awarded Trainer of the Year at a Westminster pre-show event. With all her excellent experience, Barbara is a natural choice to join the POMDR Advisory Council!

Barbara earned a Bachelor's degree in Animal Science, and she is slowly working on a Masters degree from University of Edinburgh.

Meet the whole team

Also on the Advisory Council.

• Monica Rua Co-founder/Non Profit Consultant More about Monica
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  Monica Rua

  Co-founder/Non Profit Consultant

  Monica currently shares her home with three rescue dogs from POMDR: Zeta, Zorro and Katmai. She is usually fostering one or two POMDR dogs also.

  Monica has devoted over 27 years of her life to animal rescue. She first worked with dog and cat rescue groups in the Bay Area. In 1998 she co-founded AFRP in Pacific Grove, where she served on the board for 11 years, with 8 of those years as Board President. Monica oversaw and actively participated in all aspects of the organization’s operations, including educating the public, fundraising, volunteer database management, animal tracking, and fostering many dogs and cats. She was also instrumental in helping foster families with dog behavior issues.

  Monica was on the POMDR board from 2009, when she co-founded this organization with Carie Broecker, until June 2024 when she moved to the advisory council.

  Monica has been studying animal behavior and positive reinforcement techniques for 20+ years. She brings her knowledge to POMDR to help with behavior assessments and troubleshooting dog behavior issues with staff, fosters, and adopters. Monica also helps with photography, graphic design, web design, communications, and strategic planning.

  Before launching into animal rescue, Monica was the Education Director of Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose. Prior to that, she worked as a software engineer for NASA Johnson Space Center, Lockheed, and Sun Microsystems.

  Monica holds a Master of Science in Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a minor in Philosophy.

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• Patrick Casey Legal Consultant More about Patrick
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  Patrick Casey

  Legal Consultant

  Patrick became involved with Peace of Mind Dog Rescue in February of 2012 when he and his family fostered and then adopted a sweet little Pomeranian/Terrier mix. They currently share their home with Autumn, another POMDR "foster keeper." He joined the POMDR Advisory Council in 2017.

  When he is not acting as a member of the POMDR Advisory Council, Patrick keeps busy as a practicing business attorney. He has been with the L+G law firm for over 17 years, where his CPA license and 24 years of experience allow him to effectively represent clients in complicated real estate deals, corporate negotiations, and closings.

  Patrick has a variety of nonprofit volunteer experience as well. He served the YMCAs of Monterey and San Benito Counties on the Board of Directors, and in various aspects of community campaign support over two decades. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Grower Shipper Association Foundation and for the Monterey County Barristers Association.

  Patrick is a graduate of the Leadership Salinas Valley program, and the AgKnowledge program. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Albion College and a JD degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

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