Our Mission

A NEW ERA OF COMMUNITY CARE

Syracuse Recreation & Rescue was born from a simple belief: communities are healthier and stronger when people and animals can thrive together.

SRR helps coordinate and strengthen animal rescue efforts across Central New York communities. Our approach is built around connection: connecting people with animals, shelters with resources, pet owners with assistance and each of us with one another to invigorate our community and incite meaningful change.

By placing animals in high-visibility environments and building an agile network of public, private and nonprofit partners, SRR is working to improve animal adoption rates and public access to cost effective care - solving animal welfare and human wellness challenges in tandem.

Why This Matters

Animal welfare service breaks down at the point when help is needed the most but the hardest to access.

Veterinary care - particularly emergency, specialty and diagnostic care - can be difficult to access or afford. Residents may not know where to turn when they find a stray, face an unexpected animal emergency or just need advice on keeping an animal safe. Shelter space can be limited with long timelines for adoption, causing constant strain on the system and leaving the community with few resources. When there is no clear pathway forward, manageable problems can become crises. Care is delayed, costs soar, help is less effective and problems persist.

Traditional shelters remain an essential part of animal welfare, but shelter space is ineffective without methods for adopting animals out. A strong animal welfare support system requires prevention, visibility, qualitative but cost effective veterinary services, effective communication, and collaboration to increase positive outcomes.

That is where SRR is being positioned.

We believe animals become easier to understand, appreciate and advocate for when they are part of everyday community life. By integrating rescue animals into the regular routines of people, we reduce dependency on luck and more heavily rely on the predictability of people naturally bonding with animals in casual settings, without a special trip, a formal appointment, or an immediate commitment to adopt.

The impact is two-fold. Animals gain visibility, socialization, and opportunities to find forever homes. People experience deeper connections within their community, gain new perspective of animals, and develop relationships that could offer long-term companionship and a variety of health and wellness benefits. The benefits extend well beyond the bonds. When we integrate to innovate, animals can move through the shelter system faster and support can be sustained through a larger network of animal advocates all helping to lighten the load. People can find happiness in places they may never have looked.

Animals are a critical part of our community offering so much light and love. When we approach animal welfare pragmatically and from the perspective that helping animals also helps people, we can make decisions and secure investments towards a future that is visibly brighter and better. SRR intends to turn connections into predictable outcomes using programming, partnerships and enhanced communication and coordination across our local animal welfare system.

creating an environment for animals that is safe and supported can offer people greater fulfillment and help unlock our communities greatest potential.

Syracuse Recreation & Rescue intends to help open that door. The end result is a community of communication, cohesion and care where people and animals don't just coexist, they thrive.

TO BE EFFECTIVE, OUR APPROACH TO ANIMAL WELFARE NEEDS TO INNOVATE.

The deficiencyThe shift

01Limited Shelter Capacity
Create more pathways for foster, adoption and supportCapacity matters, but so does how quickly and successfully animals can move through the system.
02People Need Engagement, Animals Out of Sight
Bring animals into everyday community lifeVisibility creates opportunities for interaction and natural bonding, a win for everyone.
03Disconnected Services
Expand and connect animal-welfare infrastructureA robust network of connected service and support providers can accomplish more when working together, easing the burden on any singular entity.
04Strained System
Build an agile support networkBetter communication and stronger partnerships make it easier to get help when it's needed most.
05Reactive Decision-Making
Take a proactive approachPreventative care and advocacy efforts can lower service costs, solve core issues and maximize effectiveness.

Meet the
Team

Syracuse Recreation & Rescue is an emerging opportunity still in the formation stages. The strategic direction continues to evolve with each conversation but one objective remains constant: prioritize the well-being of animals and their human companions by mobilizing people to support them.

Joseph Torrillo

Founder

Joseph founded Syracuse Recreation & Rescue after years of animal advocacy, recreational sports participation and firsthand experience navigating gaps in Central New York's animal-welfare system. With a professional background spanning technology, digital growth, risk management, strategy and public policy, he began asking whether the same principles used to increase visibility, identify risk and build scalable systems could be applied to animal welfare. Joseph has adopted several rescue animals and supported lifesaving efforts for many others. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Public Policy from Rochester Institute of Technology and previously served as a senior executive in the digital marketing and risk-management technology industry. He now owns a small business and has served as a volunteer, board member and co-chair with organizations and initiatives spanning animal services, urban planning, healthcare, youth services, law enforcement and political campaigns. Read the Founder's Story

Cristie in a white hoodie kneeling outside with two rescue dogs in adopt me bandanas

Cristie Tamoutselis

Animal Welfare Executive & Operations Expert

Cristie brings more than two decades of hands-on animal-welfare experience spanning nearly every level of shelter and veterinary operations. Her background includes work as kennel staff, dog groomer, veterinary assistant, office manager, event coordinator and shelter director, with experience at organizations including CNY SPCA, Petco and Fairmount Animal Hospital. She has also held administrative roles with Syracuse University and Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists. Cristie currently serves as a Board Member and CFO at RescueLove. Her operational expertise — grounded in decades of direct animal care — provides SRR with critical insight into what animals, staff and service organizations actually need to succeed.

Andrew with his family and their two German shepherds on the porch

Andrew Cherock

Recreation Partner | Owner, Play SSA

Andrew is the owner of Play SSA, Syracuse's home for adult recreational sports leagues and an organization Joseph has participated with for more than 15 years. With facilities and programs across the county and a community of thousands of recreational athletes, Play SSA gives SRR a natural platform for testing one of its central ideas: bring rescue animals into places where people are already gathering. Andrew's experience building and operating recreational programming is helping turn that idea into real-world opportunities for animals and people.

Jami in a winter hat cheek to cheek with her black doodle wearing a plaid knit hat

Jami Crysler

Logistics, Community Engagement & Donation Coordination

Jami works in supply-chain logistics management by day, bartends by night and somehow still finds time to make animal rescue part of nearly everything she does. She regularly organizes donation drop-offs and helps move carloads of needed supplies to area shelters. Together with her network of friends, family, colleagues and patrons, Jami has helped generate tens of thousands of dollars in monetary and in-kind support for local animal-service organizations. She is also an unapologetically obsessed dog mama — the best possible kind — whose social media could reasonably be mistaken for an independently operated canine news service. Quite uniquely, Jami spent eight years living in Yellowstone National Park, gaining firsthand exposure to wildlife and human-animal coexistence that few people ever experience. Her logistics background, community relationships, energy and ability to connect people with resources make her an important part of SRR's effort to bridge gaps.

Marlena Jackson

Officer | Syracuse Police Department

Officer Marlena Jackson serves as a Patrol Officer with the Syracuse Police Department's Second Platoon and previously spent eight years in the Community Relations Division, helping build relationships between law enforcement and the community. Beyond her regular duties, she volunteers at community events, charitable initiatives and youth programs, with key contributions to the planning and execution of SPD-supported efforts such as Shop With a Cop and National Night Out. Law enforcement and animal-control personnel frequently encounter animal-welfare issues at the point of crisis. Officer Jackson brings SRR valuable perspective on community engagement, public safety and the practical realities facing residents and first responders.

Joseph Cummings

Legal Advisor

Joseph Cummings provides legal perspective to SRR while also captaining several recreational sports teams. His combination of legal insight and firsthand experience within the local recreation community provides useful perspective as SRR develops partnerships, programs and its long-term organizational structure.

Joe Scro

Grant Advisor

Joe helps SRR identify funding opportunities and develop grant strategies capable of turning community support into sustainable programs and infrastructure. His work helps connect good ideas with the resources needed to put them into action.

Tim Rudd

Financial Advisor

Tim is a former Budget Director for the City of Syracuse with extensive experience in public-sector budgeting, financial planning and the allocation of community resources. He provides SRR with valuable perspective as the organization evaluates operating models, funding strategies and ways to maximize the impact of every dollar invested.

Upcoming Pilot Event

Kickball for K9's

SEPTEMBER 20, 2026

The Syracuse Recreation & Rescue vision starts here — a community kickball tournament in partnership with Play SSA where recreation, animal advocacy and local organizations come together in one place.

Every team is paired with a participating shelter, with adoptable animals and animal-welfare organizations integrated throughout the event.

See full event details Register a Team

Community kickball game with dogs wearing colorful bandanas on the sidelines

Person and large dog sharing a water break after a workout

Built Together

Syracuse Recreation & Rescue is designed to work alongside the organizations already shaping animal welfare, recreation, veterinary care and community life across Central New York. By connecting those strengths instead of duplicating them, we can create more visibility for animals, expand access to services and build programs that benefit people and pets at the same time.

The strongest systems are built together.

ANIMAL SHELTERS & RESCUE ORGANIZATIONS

VETERINARY & TECHNICAL SERVICE PROVIDERS

RECREATION FACILITIES & SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS

SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT & EVENT VENUES

CULTURAL & COMMUNITY DESTINATIONS

LOCAL BUSINESSES & RETAIL PARTNERS

FIRST RESPONDERS & PUBLIC AGENCIES

COMMUNITY, CIVIC & NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS