Monster Fish Rescue - 'A Dog Pound for Fish'

Unusual Shelter: Monster Fish Rescue, a non-profit organization that calls itself "a dog pound for fish"

Location: Orwell, Ohio - but much of the work is done online

Jonathan "The Fish Guy" Strazinsky can't say for sure when he founded Monster Fish Rescue. When he was a teenager, Strazinsky worked at a small-town, mom-and-pop pet store. He bought a 185-gallon aquarium himself and set it up as a display in the pet store. Eventually people started bringing in fish they didn't want and over many years, his propensity for taking in other people's unwanted fish went from being a hobby to a calling, complete with LLC status.

A few years ago, Strazinsky built an 800-gallon aquarium in his home and blogged about it. "I jokingly said, 'You got a fish you don't know what to do with, I got room.' The next day, I got 40 e-mails. I said to my wife, 'Hey, it seems there's somewhat of a calling for this.' It pretty much started as a wisecrack and now I rescue fish from all over the world."

How many fish do you take in a year?
Here in my house I take in anywhere between 20 and 60 a year. Most of the rescues and most of the re-homing is done online. I belong to 36 different aquarium and fish forums online. Through those forums, people say, "Hey, do you know anyone in the area looking for this or that fish?" I'll go through a whole other pile of e-mails looking for a match. About 98 percent of my rescues are done in that fashion. One percent actually come here. One percent are done through the Monster Fish Rescue website; I have an "Adopt a Fish" page there.

What makes your rescue different?
I will weed through people and find those who can actually handle a large fish and those who cannot. I don't adopt out to just anybody. You have to prove to me that you can handle the fish. Kind of like a dog rescue, I do a background check on the person for fish that are two feet long or bigger.

Where does your funding come from?
Most of the financing comes from me personally. It's really not about the money, but that doesn't mean it isn't hard supporting 99 percent of it myself. I run a rescue; I should get used to struggling! But my family has to come first, so if I were to get to a point where rescue is costing me too much, I'd have to shut it down. My ultimate goal is to try to get some corporate backing.

I can accept donations through the MFR website. When I get into a situation where I fall behind because I put so much money into this myself, I do go out on the Web and ask for help. Every once in a while, auction an MFR t-shirt on eBay. I have some videos on YouTube where I'm feeding the fish, and one of those was a plea for help. There were a few people who donated. I wish there were more.

What else is needed for your shelter to run?
I'd really love a building to be able to do this in, instead of doing this in my basement.

What's your favorite happy tale?
One of my first rescues after I started MFR was a red-tailed catfish named Frankie. He was named after these people's grandfather who had just passed away. He was 22 inches long, and they'd had him for seven years in a six-foot tank and all of his fins were worn down to nubs. The tail fin was curved from the bottom up because he didn't fit in his tank. His mustache was also worn down to nubs. I nursed him back to perfect condition and eventually we drove him out to New York City, where he now lives in a 2000-gallon aquarium. He's one of my greatest success stories.

Tags: Animal rescue, animal shelter, AnimalRescue, AnimalShelter, aquariums, gimme shelter, GimmeShelter, monster fish rescue