{"id":25029,"date":"2019-08-07T13:25:17","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T17:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=25029"},"modified":"2024-08-16T09:41:17","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T13:41:17","slug":"ucf-graduate-chris-van-dorn-channels-batman-to-rescue-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-graduate-chris-van-dorn-channels-batman-to-rescue-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Graduate Chris Van Dorn Channels Batman To Rescue Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_25032\" style=\"width: 915px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25032\" class=\"wp-image-25032 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"905\" height=\"605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/3.png 905w, https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/3-300x201.png 300w, https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/3-768x513.png 768w, https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/3-299x200.png 299w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 905px) 100vw, 905px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-25032\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Photo Credit: GoFundMe)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Step aside Bruce Wayne.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Van Dorn \u201917 is the real hero Gotham \u2014 and Orlando \u2014 deserves.<\/p>\n<p>Van Dorn\u2019s mission to rescue animals dressed as Batman recently made national news, and bumped him closer to making his rescue mission a full-time opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt all started in the shower,\u201d said Van Dorn, a sociology alumnus. \u201cI was in there one day and it just sort of hit me: \u2018Why don\u2019t I become the ultimate purveyor of justice while bringing attention to my cause?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Van Dorn\u2019s origin story begins with his own pet rescue, an Australian Shepherd mix named Mr. Boots he found covered in ticks and fleas in the woods of Alabama. Whether Mr. Boots moonlights as the Robin to Van Dorn\u2019s Batman remains a closely guarded secret, but neither Mr. Boots nor Robin have been seen in the same room together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis name is a little goofy to some people. We call him Mr. Boots because of his huge paws,\u201d Van Dorn said.<\/p>\n<p>Adopting Mr. Boots opened Van Dorn\u2019s eyes to the dire situation many rescue animals face. On average, Orange County Animal Services in Orlando receives 50 animals a day, most of them abused, sick or stray. Nationwide, there are about 6,000 cases of dog abuse reported annually. Spurred by this, Van Dorn made it his mission to save the animals he could. And he adopted the Dark Knight as the ultimate symbol of justice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was doing this in my free time, whenever I could basically, and then GoFundMe happened and things really took off,\u201d Van Dorn said.<\/p>\n<p>Popular crowdfunding site GoFundMe made Van Dorn their \u201cHero of the Month\u201d for May of 2019, and featured him on their True Stories of Good People podcast as well. That support spurred a public outpouring that\u2019s making it possible to dedicate more time to pet rescue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am so blessed GoFundMe brought awareness to what I am doing. They thought what I was doing was cool, so they decided to help. I\u2019ve raised over $30,000 now,\u201d Van Dorn said.<\/p>\n<p>The goal is to bring in more volunteers and build a \u201csuper brigade\u201d of animal rescuers around Orlando and beyond. Van Dorn also hopes to buy an RV to make his work faster, comfortable and more efficient.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease,\u201d urged Van Dorn. \u201cIf you want to get involved in animal rescue, adopt. If you can\u2019t adopt, foster. If you can\u2019t foster, volunteer. And if you can\u2019t volunteer, find something you can do to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Step aside Bruce Wayne. Chris Van Dorn \u201917 is the real hero Gotham \u2014 and Orlando \u2014 deserves. Van Dorn\u2019s mission to rescue animals dressed as Batman recently made national news, and bumped him closer to making his rescue mission a full-time opportunity. \u201cIt all started in the shower,\u201d said Van Dorn, a sociology alumnus. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":25032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,38,13,5967,6492,28,29],"tags":[6114],"class_list":["post-25029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-breaking-news","category-news","category-notables","category-sociology-department","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","tag-chris-van-dorn"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UCF Graduate Chris Van Dorn Channels Batman To Rescue Animals - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-graduate-chris-van-dorn-channels-batman-to-rescue-animals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Graduate Chris Van Dorn Channels Batman To Rescue Animals - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Step aside Bruce Wayne. Chris Van Dorn \u201917 is the real hero Gotham \u2014 and Orlando \u2014 deserves. Van Dorn\u2019s mission to rescue animals dressed as Batman recently made national news, and bumped him closer to making his rescue mission a full-time opportunity. \u201cIt all started in the shower,\u201d said Van Dorn, a sociology alumnus. 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