Tampa Animal Shelter Lends Support To 'Batman's' Rescue Mission

TAMPA, FLA. — Chris Van Dorn’s crusade to raise awareness about rescue animals and to deliver homeless dogs and cats to forever homes isn’t yet a full-time mission, but the Orlando native hopes that will one day change.

Van Dorn, who founded the not-for-profit organization Batman4Paws in 2018, operates on a strictly donation basis, which helps to cover fuel costs for the more than 300 trips he has made from Florida to destinations around the country to deliver rescue pets to new homes. But on Wednesday, Van Dorn received his first donation from an animal shelter when the Hillsborough County Pet Resources Foundation made a $2,500 donation to assist Van Dorn’s mission.

The donation validates the work that Van Dorn — whose works full-time as an audio engineer for the Golf Channel and the PGA Tour — started after he took in a rescue dog of his own. Now, for the superhero who has delivered rescue animals as far north as Vermont and as far west as Colorado continues to transport animals, he does so knowing that his work is making a difference.

The donations typically come in much smaller amounts — $50 here, $100 there — but Van Dorn says that every bit helps, especially after transitioning from a small Honda Accord two-door sedan to a 25-foot RV he now uses to transport vehicles.

“(The donations) makes me feel that people really care and that they’re really interested,” Van Dorn told Patch in a telephone interview on Thursday. “That was the whole get-up for me — Batman would get people interested in animal rescue and (the donations) are validation that what I am doing is working.

“The reason I am doing it is for the animals and (the donations are) just the icing on the cake.”

Van Dorn recently delivered a stray dog named Monsignor from Hillsborough County to Charlotte, NC, where — dressed as Batman — he was able to reunite the dog with his owners. He has delivered groups of pets, including seven cats to Rhode Island and four dogs to Vermont during trips he makes between Monday and Wednesday each week before working weekend PGA Tour events as part of his full-time job.

Now, what started as a “random project” has become a labor of love for Van Dorn, who never envisioned that Batman4Paws would take off like it did. He admits that one of the tougher aspects of the job is the way he bonds with the animals during his lengthy road trips. Often times, he feels like he is abandoning the cats and dogs he is delivering to new homes, he said. But knowing that they are finding a forever home helps, Van Dorn said — as does the reaction when people see Batman get out of a vehicle with a new pet.

Van Dorn, who is a licensed pilot, got his own rescue dog, Mr. Boots, through a not-for-profit called PilotsNPaws, which is run by a friend of his. He would fly missions with his friend, which gave him the inspiration to start his own non-profit which involving him taking on the Batman persona for a worthy cause.

“Batman stood for the right things and was always helping people in need,” Van Dorn said. “But I never thought it would take off like it did. I thought if I could get one or two people to get interested and it could make them smile, it would be worth it to me. It ended up taking off.”

Now, after Go Fund Me took notice of Van Dorn’s efforts and more smaller groups and individuals have contributed to the Batman4Paws mission, some of the shelters Van Dorn works with – like the one in Tampa – want to help him continue doing what he’s doing.

“Batman4Paws and the Hillsborough County Pet Resources Foundation have the same mission – helping homeless pets make it to their forever homes,” Scott Trebatoski, HCPR Foundation board member and director of the PRC shelter said in a news release announcing this week’s donation.

Van Dorn said he also hopes to open his own animal sanctuary in Orlando to help continue to raise awareness about the need for homeless pets to find permanent homes. The move to the RV has certainly helped in his efforts to make the trips possible, but each tank of gas runs about $150, Van Dorn said. The following he has built up has continued to grow over the past three years, but Van Dorn said that he sees no end in sight for work that brings purpose to his life.

“As long as people are supporting me and want to see me keep doing it, I will keep doing it as long as I have the funds to do it, I’ll keep doing it as long as I possibly can,” Van Dorn said. "I'm going to do it until I don't have any funds left."

He added: “It helps give a voice to the voiceless. It gives a voice to these animals that need people go adopt. “