His passion and vision came together when he founded First Coast No More Homeless Pets in 2002, a 501C3 non-profit dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in Duval County and beyond. Rick grew the organization into a national thought leader in the No-Kill movement, a key partner for local shelters across two states, 10,000 square mile service area and became a lifesaving part of the First Coast Community as the area has achieved No-Kill status with local partners in the core three county metro area.

While at FCNMHP targeted spay/neuter programs were always maintained as a priority, providing 22,000+ surgeries each year targeted at segments that were at high risk of ending up in shelters. These programs were credited with decreasing shelter admissions more than 50% over the years.

In 2013 while at FCNMHP Rick was one of three founders of the Target Zero Institute, a program that has helped dozens of communities along in their evolution to higher live release rates.

When Rick left First Coast No More Homeless Pets in July 2019 it was a $10+ million a year organization with 165 paid team members including 20+ veterinarians operating two large safety net hospitals with a combined 20,000 square feet of hospital space. FCNMHP also operates other lifesaving programs including a regional Pet Food Bank, Shelter, Neuter, Return Programs and Mega Adoption Events.

Rick has now founded RLD Consulting, LLC to help organizations anywhere that are working to save more dogs and cats. He specializes in Access to Veterinary Care, Spay/Neuter clinics, nonprofit start-ups along with other topics of importance to animal welfare nonprofit organizations. He has expertise in feasibility studies, strategic plans, implementation, and sustainability.