An animal advocacy group once closely aligned with the Warren Animal Shelter has widened its mission — to care for all animals in need throughout the Warren area.

RUFF (Residents United for Furry Friends) was originally formed as a vehicle to raise money for a new Warren Animal Shelter. The organization was highly successful, raising more than $40,000 for the shelter through a series of fund-raisers and regular donations. But the group’s new mission, its board members say, is to more directly help animals in need, as well as their owners:

“We want to be able to help people keep their animals in their homes,” board member Karen Lynch said. “We want to help out where there is a need; when a dog needs to have a lump removed; when a woman is out of work and doesn’t have money for dog food.”

RUFF’s philanthropy will come “on a case by case basis,” added Anna Palmieri. “We’re not pulling animals from out of state to bring them to the shelter. It’s to help existing animals and residents that are in need. We’d like to stay as local as possible.”

RUFF’s new focus came after several years of hard times and flux. In its prior incarnation, RUFF was tightly aligned with the Warren Animal Shelter, which Ms. Lynch said struggled under former Warren Animal Control Officer Heidi Garrity’s leadership.

Officer Garrity has been out of work since suffering an on the job injury in late 2013, and was suspended in June after Warren and state police charged her with theft and embezzlement for using more than $9,000 in donated funds for her own use. Her case has yet to be resolved.

When she was in charge at the shelter and was affiliated with RUFF, the shelter was a much different place, volunteers said. The small concrete building was dirty, overcrowded and in disrepair, Ms. Palmieri said, and the thinking at the time was that the town would be better off building a new facility. So RUFF became a non-profit and defined its mission statement as raising money for a new shelter.

Though wine tastings, motorcycle rallies, clamboils and other fund-raisers brought in thousands, none of the money was ever spent, as it became clear several years ago that the Town of Warren was not interested in financing a new shelter.

“We couldn’t spend it,” Ms. Palmieri said.

At the same time, RUFF’s relationship with Ms. Garrity soured, and board members eventually voted her out. In the Spring of 2013 Ms. Palmieri and the other board members also resigned en masse, but many later came back.

After Ms. Garrity left and new temporary animal control officers were brought in, volunteers started spending more and more time at the shelter, transforming it from dingy and smelly to uncluttered, bright and airy.

They put in a new floor, painted walls, planted vegetation outside and brought in new furniture. Along the way, they decided that Warren might be able to get by with what it has.

In recent months, there has been a push to change RUFF’s focus, allowing the organization to spend the money that has been collected and chart a new course.

Members have worked with the state and attorney Robert Healey to modify the non-profit papers that originally specified all funds would go to a new shelter, and the organization is now entitled to help animals and their owners as the need arises.

And Ms. Lynch said she is happy with the makeup of the new board, which includes animal lovers and others in the industry. Mike Briggs, a long-time shelter volunteer and cat lover, is the president. Ms. Lynch, who owns a pet store in Barrington, is the vice president. Ms. Palmieri is the treasurer, and Tina Pacheco (of the Warren Animal Hospital) is the secretary. In addition, board members also include Deirdre Julian, Donna Olivio and Jessica Gonsalves.

In the short time that RUFF has been revitalized, Ms. Lynch said the group has had a positive impact. One of the most recent cases was of a woman who rescued two kittens. She couldn’t afford to have them spayed, so RUFF provided financial assistance. Another? An orthopedic bed was purchased for an elderly dog.

“That’s the kind of thing we want to do more of,” she said.

Note: To learn more about RUFF, see www.ruffri.org, send an e-mail to info@ruffri.org, or call 267-8319.