Purpose
Great Tails Animal Rescue is dedicated to providing temporary shelter and veterinary care for stray, abandoned, and surrendered animals of Itasca County, Minnesota and surrounding areas, with the purpose of finding loving, permanent homes.
Mission Statement
Our goal is to advocate for domestic animals in our community by promoting spaying and neutering, providing education and resources, encouraging essential veterinary care, and finding loving, permanent homes for these animals.
Shannon Anttila, President & Co-Founder
Shannon comes from a family of animal lovers, and animal rescue was something she grew up with. Her late mother volunteered and fostered for Heartland Animal Rescue Team (Brainerd). Shannon’s background is in administrative and budgetary support for private and government entities. She has volunteered and fostered for other local animal shelters and served as secretary for the Deer River Chamber of Commerce. Her hope is that Great Tails will be a community resource for providing care, training and adoption of domestic animals. She believes animal advocacy is not just about supporting animals but also their owners. When she’s not busy with Great Tails she enjoys fishing and taking trips with her husband and two sons, and taking care of their own animals: 4 dogs and 5 cats.
Lacey Paulley, Board Member and Co-Founder
Lacey lives in Deer River. Growing up with 6 sisters and 1 brother in Cohasset, she was the child always getting into trouble by bringing home animals; there was always at least one dog in their home. She and her husband bought a farm and have adopted, coordinated placement, and fostered rescue dogs and cats for the last 6+ years. They now have four young kids, and Lacey hopes to teach them to have empathy for all life. Like other GTAR board members, she sees the financial and emotional strain not having an animal rescue puts on animal advocates in our communities. She strongly believes animal advocates need to put words into action and understands the need to provide education to the community.
Peggy Miner, Treasurer
Peggy grew up on a small farm near Deer River, and people would regularly drop off dogs and cats near her property. She was a bookkeeper for Jerry’s Warehouse Liquor for over 15 years and kept the books for multiple small businesses in the area. Peggy has been involved with Great Tails since its start up. She has fostered many cats throughout the years and at first thought it may be too difficult to let go once they were adopted. To her surprise, once she saw how happy the adoption families were to add another family member, she realized how important and satisfying it was to work with these animals. Peggy is currently treasurer of Great Tails. She is happy to be part of the rehoming of surrendered and abandoned animals.
Misty Newman, Interim Vice President & Adoption Coordinator
Misty attended Deer River High School before joining the Minnesota Army National Guard where she traveled throughout the world. Growing up in a family of animal lovers, Misty always had various pets and it was not uncommon for her to house stray dogs, cats, rodents, reptiles or birds that needed a little extra help before being released or rehomed. After returning to Minnesota in 2010, she and her husband, Tony, moved to a farm in Meadowlands. They raise horses, cows, pigs , chickens, ducks, goats, rabbits and have 3 dogs and 6 cats. Their children now volunteer at GTAR as well. Misty is the adoption coordinator supervisor.
Roberta Yates, Secretary
Roberta and her husband, Jack, lived in Crystal, Minnesota where she volunteered with the Golden Valley Animal Shelter, assisting with adoptions. She was a purchasing agent and contract writer and managed inventory at Hutchinson Technology, and then at Hutchinson Utilities. She became involved with the Heart of Minnesota Animal Shelter, a foster-based shelter. She served on the HMAS Board of Directors for approximately 20 years, serving as Secretary, Vice President, and 10 years as President, which included managing all aspects of the shelter. In 2018 they relocated to Cohasset and became involved with GTAR. She and her husband, Jack, have provided homes for several dogs and cats over the years.
Danielle Witherill, Board Member
Danielle’s job as a financial advisor with Edward Jones is to help her clients succeed in achieving their lifelong goals so they can deepen the impact in the communities in which they live. She is a Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassador, a role in which she meets and supports new businesses coming to town. She is a board member of the United Way, and a member of the Northern Minnesota Builders Association and American Association of University Women. Danielle’s husband, their triplet daughters and one dog enjoy lake living and appreciate the Northern Minnesota outdoors. An extensive fruit and vegetable garden, with many types of berries and apples, keeps them busy.
Janet Pellersels, Board Member
Janet is originally from Missouri, married a Minnesota boy and traveled many years with her husband’s job. Eventually, they relocated to Grand Rapids, where they raised three children on a hobby farm. Janet is a retired nurse who worked in the ER department the last 14 years of her career. She has many hobbies and is an accomplished stained-glass artist. She doesn’t remember her family ever being without a pet and has adopted several shelter animas throughout the years. She began volunteering at GTAR in 2021 and is a foster volunteer specializing in smaller breeds, coordinates fundraising events and often participates in the adoption process. Currently Janet is a Transport Coordinator for the shelters spay/neuter runs to the vet. Janet is looking forward to the day GTAR opens its doors at the new building in Cohasset.
MYranda Erickson, Board Member
Myranda has been working in the accounting field for 20 years and working for Itasca County for 17. She works closely with the shelters Treasurer on reporting aspects of the business. She has loved animals her whole life and begged her parents daily for dogs, cats, birds and farm animals. When she and her husband built their home, she knew she wanted a hobby farm. She has been asked to take in many animals throughout the years. She has raised baby goats and lambs in the house and loved every second of it. She also has rabbits, chickens and a beloved goose, Zeus. She has 4 mini dachshunds, 2 yellow labs and a cat She became a volunteer at GTAR to give back to the animals that bring so much love and joy to people. She will do all she can to help these sweet souls to find their forever homes.