This morning I was driving to the farmhouse to see what the guys were working on and as I passed the baptist church I noticed a small black mound laying next to a small concrete out-building. For a second it cross my mind that maybe someone had dumped a bag of puppies….it wouldn’t be that far out there….it’s very common for people to abandon dogs at churches around here. I slowed my car down and peered out the window and a small head lifted. A scared black dog peered up at me from his tightly curled body. He didn’t look good. I could see some scarring on his head and he looked very malnourished. He has a slight limp and his neck was covered with some type of sticky substance. Despite all of that he wagged his tail at me. Of course he ended up at our house. We couldn’t leave him:
Our county has no animal control so there’s not much that can be done to help the animals in our area except for our small shelter. My friend Beth is the executive director and she’s always running around at all hours of the night. When the temperatures dropped to 19 degrees she was delivering hay and blankets to dogs whose owners couldn’t be bothered to bring them inside. She rescues dogs from the river and from the dumpsters. She takes the dogs to the nursing home to visit. I don’t know how she does it.
Today she came right over to visit the sweet lab we found and took him with her to get checked out. I wish we could have kept him but with the chickens and Happy’s medical issues it’s just not possible to foster such a big dog. We are working on fostering one of the smaller dogs that PAWs took in from the huge puppy mill neglect case in Georgia last week.
If you can spare just a few dollars today please donate to our small-rural-only-hope shelter in the mountains! I’d forever be grateful! The website is easy to find: www.pawsbrysoncity.org
We’ve been working on this project now for over a year to get at least ten donations from every state so if you can donate please make sure to leave your state in the comments with “United PAWS of America” so we know where the donation is from. Here is our map so far…the states that have colors are the ones that we’ve received at least ten from:
So far we’ve raised $5,183 but we obviously still need lots of help from the middle of America (and Vermont!). If you live in any of those states or know anyone who lives there could you spread the word for us? We (and the animals) would forever be grateful. The donation can be any size!
I just think about Happy’s cute little face every time we get a donation….she’s our elderly rescue….and without the Richmond Animal League she would have already been put to sleep. She brings up so much joy…I couldn’t imagine our lives without her.
I must not have mentioned my state when I donated (Feb 23rd)!
I admire all of you who are trying to make life a little better for all these animals. I live in Blairsville, GA, and our shelter has grown termendously in the last few years. People here have worked tirelessly to make the shelter and the spay/neuter campaign a success. It’s a no-kill shelter, and stays full-up most of the time. Our thrift shop brings in a lot money , and in the fall the workers and volunteers put on a big auction and make lots of money. If you can get a few people interested in being volunteers, that could be a big help in planning different ways to make money for the shelter. Some of the retired people who have moved to the mountains have a lot of experience and are happy to put their talents to work to benefit the homeless animals. I think the thriift store is the greatest help in funding the shelter, and so many residents of our town love having this place to donate all their “gently loved” things. There’s never a shortage of donations for the thrift store.
In February we adopted “Missy” who is a 14 year old terrier mix. Her owner died, and Missy wound up at the Smithgall Animal Shelter in White County, GA. All of our pets have come from the shelter, or from being abandoned. I volunteered at the thrift store for about 12 years, but my husband has cancer and I quit to take care of him.
I wish you lots of luck in all the projects you’re involved in……..
I put Sienna’s name in the comments but I forgot to put my state- Kansas!
My heart is broken for that black and white fellow. I sure hope he finds as good a home as Happy did!
God Bless you…I have a Rescue Beagle “Bandit” and I can not imagine my life without him now..He brings me so much happiness & joy…People can be so cruel to these precious ones and I pray someday they will find a loving home. Have a Blessed day as you Bless others daily…Love & prayers.
Small donation from the UK. Keep up the good work. Love from me and my rescue cat Oblee 🙂 Jo x
Thank you for being the kind and caring person that you are! Because of this post, I made a donation to PAWS. I donated before finishing and thought since my home state wasn’t colored in, then there had been no donations. I came back to finish the post and now I am hoping I am the tenth donation from Colorado so Sienna can color it in.
Done in Charlotte!
Hi Ashley! We have two cats from our local humane society and they are a huge part of our family! I just donated to your local animal shelter from Marquette, Michigan (in the upper peninsula). Thanks so much for all that you are doing to help animals and the people who get to be a part of their lives! My daughter would love it if you could color Michigan purple. =)
Just wanted you to know that because of you PAWS is my Amazon smile designee.