Our Rescue
Airedale Rescue Group is dedicated to rescuing and rehoming purebred Airedales. We are committed to providing a safe and loving environment for Airedales in need, ensuring they receive the care and attention they deserve before finding their forever homes. Our priority is to match Airedales with loving families who will provide them with a happy and nurturing environment. From thorough health checks to compassionate rehabilitation, we are devoted to preparing Airedales for a smooth transition into their new homes. If you're ready to welcome a new furry family member, explore our available Airedales for adoption today!
ARG was founded in 2000.
Meet The Team
Christina Prange
I decided to volunteer with Airedale Rescue Group (ARG) after having my rescued Airedale, Rosie for one year. Rosie had been surrendered twice in her life and I was her final forever home. I wanted to give back to an organization that helped me find my wonderful friend.
Volunteering with ARG allows me to help Airedales find new loving families. My volunteer role is assisting with transport and making connections with volunteers and adopting families. Dogs come from families under stress from divorce to unexpected moves; to shelters with new puppies to very sick adult dogs. My reward is the first message I get from a new forever home upon receiving their dog. It can be a long journey.
Jo-Anne Bates
I bred and showed Paint horses half of my life. Got into breeding and showing Jack Russell's while I had the horses, so I have had Terriers a long time. I adopted a Wire Fox Terrier named Alex, which led me to assist Wire Fox Terrier Rescue Midwest. I joined Facebook, met Airedale people, and got my first Airedale, Wally Tucker in 2012, and the obsession began. My mission was to get involved helping Airedale. So, four Airedales and 13 years later, I am fully committed to helping the Airedale and WFT breeds.
I help other rescue groups in my spare time and compete in AKC event such as Fast-CAT with my boys. For twelve years now, I have organized a terrier walk and fundraiser in Bradenton FL. This event is a big success and terrier people from all over the country and world have attended.
Pat Hairston
I’ve been owned by Airedale since the first one entered my life in the summer of 1988. Bajun Caribee was a sweet, loving, friendly, and silly Airedale. Little did I know at the time it would lead to an over 30-year love affair with the breed. Many (15 as of this writing) have shared my life, some from breeders but most from the rescue.
I first was introduced to Airedale Rescue in late 2003. I was looking for a new member of my family and completed the application and home visit then decided a third “big” dog might be too much in my little house. Instead, I found a little terrier mix who spent almost 17 years ruling the “king of terriers”.
I would help ARG with transports as I could and if a home visit was needed nearby I would do that for ARG. In late 2019 I was asked to help with applicant reviews and took on some additional duties in the background. I love sharing the joys and frustrations of this breed.
Today, my husband Rick and I share our home and hearts with 2 Airedales all ARG Alumni; a rescued Labrador and a Havanese.
Past Directors
Jackie Cash 2000-2025.
I got my first Airedale in October 1999, a 7-old puppy named Dudley from breeder Ellen Barfield in Ripley, TN. He brought immense joy into our lives and showed us the beauty of having an Airedale as a companion. Over the years, we often reflected on how we had lived without an incredible friend. Dudley was with us for almost11 years before he tragically passed away from a heart on June 17, 2010. Heartbroken, we to Airedale Rescue Group, knowing we would find wonderful dog to help heal our loss. When Dudley was about 3, we took in a foster dog, Hunter, an Airedale-mix who had been surrendered to a shelter for killing chickens. Although he didn’t quite resemble an Aired, he was a timid boy needing care. Hunter became the perfect companion, accepting his role as the Omega in our pack. After Dudley’s death, Hunter felt lost without his best friend. While we took our time to find Airedale, we discovered Boone in South Carolina. Abandoned in a backyard, he was rescued by one of our volunteers. We named him Vincenzo, or Vinnie, and he quickly became a beloved member of our family. Sadly, after being diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, we lost him in July 2014. With Hunter now alone, we allowed him to enjoy his final years the Alpha dog, passing peacefully at home in October 2014. Following this heartbreak, we Hawkeye, born November 26, 2015, into our lives after rescuing him from a situation that could have led to his abandonment. This journey of love for Airedales drives us to help them find their forever homes Airedale Rescue Group.
Barbara Yager, 2000-2021.
Since I was a child, I dreamt of having my own farm. As a little girl, I rode Shetland ponies round and around on the Atlantic City beach until my parents returned from a stroll on the boardwalk. My brain was imprinted with the smell of horses early on. Later, I spent pre-teenage summers at a friend’s riding stable caring for horses and riding Western-style. As a young mother, I took up riding English-style, another discipline. After college, I began stadium jumping horses I leased. Today, my passion lies with dressage, the equivalent to ice-dancing on horses in a sand arena. In Pennsylvania, I rode with Jane Cory at Pleasant Hollow Farm and scribed for the best dressage judges on the East Coast often at the USET Center in Gladstone, New Jersey.
In 2003, my husband and I bought a small farm outside Charlotte, North Carolina, where we care for our horses and rescue Airedale Terriers. In 2012, we built my dream barn based on all of the humble and spectacular barns I had ever visited.
My characters reflect the simple, basic emotions we face each day; those we cherish and those we wish we never knew. Up to retirement, I lived a private life requisite by working in the banking industry. Let’s face it, that ship has sailed.
I am the President of the Charlotte Writers Club, and a member of Charlotte Lit, South Carolina Writers Association, and North Carolina Writers Network. Short stories can be found in anthologies Foiled Spring 2025, Now or Never Spring 2024 and Sooner or Later Fall 2023 published by Daniel Boone Footsteps. I was honored to receive a writer award in the Ruth Moose Flash Fiction Contest.