The Maryville Alcoa Animal Rescue Center, or MAARC, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2018 with a vision of creating a No Kill community for cats and dogs in Alcoa and Maryville. MAARC’s founding mission is to find every animal a safe and happy home. MAARC is a true grassroots rescue that currently operates on a 100% volunteer basis and with an annual operating budget of less than $200,000. MAARC makes every effort to avoid euthanasia by following the Best Friends Animal Society no-kill practices and the No Kill Equation. The non-profit pulls animals from the Maryville City Animal Shelter and provides complete vetting and daily caretaking for them until they are adopted. In the past year, MAARC has served approximately 600 dogs and cats and rehomed over 1400 total since 2018.