Maureen Pelisson

Vice President

Maureen is a lifelong animal advocate. Her love of animal rescue began when she first volunteered at an event in her hometown of Rome, NY when she was 11. Her family had many cats and dogs (a few she brought home as strays).

Maureen and her husband Pat moved to Telluride in 2000 with their rescue cat Elvis, a 20-lb main coon mix they adopted together when they lived in New York. Over the years, Maureen and Pat rescued three more dogs including their current black labrador, Lily and fostered many more and helped them find their forever homes.

She is currently the Associate Publisher at the Telluride Daily Planet where she’s worked for the past sixteen years. She graduated from college with a degree in communications and worked for NBC News in New York and San Francisco prior to moving to Telluride.

Over the years, she’s written articles, press releases and managed many events in Telluride, helping organizations raise awareness about the plight of animals in the Four Corners region.

Maureen is a Mentor for One-to-One Mentoring, where she’s been matched with youth for the past 15 years. Her current mentee, Estrella is also an animal lover and the two have attended adoption events and volunteered together.

In her free time, she and her husband of 29 years, Pat, love to ski, travel and attend concerts (if there’s a Grateful Dead cover band playing, they will be there).