In an abandoned apartment building, Athena, a young German Shepherd, was found with a broken leg. Even after being rescued, she was set to be euthanized until Divya Cowgill met her. After raising thousands of dollars to get her surgery, her leg couldn’t be fixed, but she found her forever home with Cowgill, founder of the nonprofit FurryTail Endings. Athena became the first dog FurryTail Endings saved.

“She was the trailblazer in getting me to realize that she could have died,” Cowgill said. “How many more dogs are out there that have these little issues that could be scheduled for euthanasia, too? So I credit her as being the reason why FurryTail Endings really even exists.”

Animal shelters in Los Angeles have been suffering from an overcrowding crisis. Some have been operating at over 200% of their original capacity. Rescued animals that have been saved from poor living conditions wait for potential adopters in cramped conditions, and this overpopulation issue eventually leads to the euthanization of many animals — a problem that inspired Cowgill, a USC alum, to start her own nonprofit organization.

Cowgill began volunteering with USC rescue organizations as an undergraduate student after finding out that shelters in California put down animals due to a lack of space. One day, Cowgill came across a reshared photo of a German shepherd scheduled for euthanasia that same afternoon and her “mind was blown” that rescue animals weren’t kept safe and cared for until they were adopted. 

“Once you know that something’s going on that doesn’t sit right with your spirit, how could you not want to be involved or do something to help change it?” Cowgill said. “[After] about a year volunteering with other organizations, I finally felt like I had enough experience to spearhead my own thing, and I sort of just dived into it.” 

In 2022, Cowgill founded FurryTail Endings, a donation-funded non-profit animal rescue and networking group based in L.A., Orange County and San Diego. FurryTail Endings rescues animals from local high-kill shelters and the streets of Southern California with the end goal of finding safe, stable homes for the animals. 

To find which dog is in need of the most immediate help, FurryTail Endings uses the publicly available euthanasia lists of the local animal shelters in Southern California, Cowgill said. The organization also receives daily emails of animals on the euthanasia list from some shelters which they are directly partnered with. 

After finding the animals that are at the highest risk of being put down, FurryTail Endings matches them with a vetted foster home, where the animal will spend a few months before finding their forever home. 

“There’s never a dull moment where we’re not being called upon to help save an animal,” Cowgill said. 

Today, FurryTail Endings has over 51,000 followers on Instagram, and the group’s Reels have amassed millions of views. Cowgill attributes the social media success of FurryTail Endings to the transparency and commitment the organization shows to its viewers and its dedication to ensuring an animal is successfully set up for the rest of their lives with their new family. 

“People can really see the transparency and the passion and the work that we do and how committed we are to these animals,” Cowgill said. “Not only providing the best care possible, but then going on to find the best families possible, because we don’t just adopt out to families in California — we’ve adopted out to families all over the country.” 

A happy ending made possible by FurryTail Endings is the story of Thunder and Rain, who were adopted by Natalie Etedali in 2024. Etedali first brought Thunder home in February 2024 after stumbling upon an Instagram post by FurryTail Endings that announced Thunder was soon to be euthanized. 

In March 2024, shortly after the passing of her senior dog, Etedali found Rain through FurryTail Endings and took her in. Though Etedali started off fostering Rain, she said she knew from the first weekend that Rain had found her home.

Rain joining her family was immensely helpful for Thunder, who was a very scared and anxious dog, Etedali said. Though Rain had been rescued from inhabitable conditions, growing up under an animal hoarder in Compton, she helped Thunder to “come out of his shell.” The Border Collie mix used to be too fearful to leave his crate, but gained the confidence to walk around the house after Rain’s adoption. 

Etedali said she is grateful for Cowgill’s work at FurryTail Endings and how Cowgill makes the dogs seen by potential adopters. 

“Shelters take very bad photos, for instance, of dogs,” Etedali said. “If you go on their website … the photos aren’t great. And then [when] someone like Divya goes in and takes these videos, you get to see the dog and the personality a little bit. It matters a lot to getting them saved, because most of them, by the time they go in [the shelters], they may only have a couple of days.”

Adopters need to treat the animals with patience and give them time to decompress, Etedali said. Her dog, Thunder, still struggles being near her three sons.

“He’s taken his time … but he’s the most sweet dog,” Etedali said. “It really is about the mindset that you’re rescuing a life, and if you give it time, and the patience, and the training, and separating the dogs and giving them their space, it will work out, but you have to be patient … If you give them that time … it’s just like watching a life transform.”

Expanding from their scope of rescue animals, FurryTail Endings has also made efforts to help struggling individuals in need. Manoj Cowgill, a sophomore majoring in business administration, has been involved in the organization ever since his sister founded it. 

Manoj Cowgill has not only helped with assessing the behaviors of rescue dogs but has also participated in handing out meals and sanitary supplies to unhoused individuals on Skid Row. Manoj said he would volunteer with his friends from USC to distribute leashes, collars and food bowls for the animals of people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row.  

“I’ve been to Skid Row multiple times,” Manoj Cowgill said. “I think it’s honestly my favorite thing that I like to do with FurryTails … I personally feel like I’m making the most tangible impact when I’m there … Being a part of it and making an impact, it’s probably the best feeling in the world.” 

Currently, FurryTail Endings is working towards its goal of expanding its outreach to saving animals internationally, Divya Cowgill said. In December 2024, FurryTail Endings rescued its first animal internationally — a kitten who was transported to Dubai from India to L.A. 

“It was crazy,” Divya Cowgill said. “But it definitely opened up the doors to being like, ‘Okay, now, can we rescue one from Costa Rica? What about Greece?’ There’s so many animals in need across the world, and he was the first one, but now we’re like, let’s try to focus on helping a couple more across the world.”