Meet your Match and get the perfect date for Valentine’s Day.
$1 a day for the 25 Days of Christmas!
Can’t adopt or foster? You can still help a dog in need by donating $25 to sponsor a dog in need for the holidays. Don’t know what to give that person who has everything? Why not sponsor a dog in their name as a gift? There are a million ways to support those with no voice and here is a great one to help.
Donate $25 and receive a digital Holiday Card with a photo of the dog you sponsored for the holidays.
In the donation notes, please include “Sponsor a Dog for the Holidays,” and an email address where your digital card should be sent.
Those with no voice, appreciate your help.
How many innocent lives have to be lost? How many innocent lives have to suffer? When will humans, who are supposed to be the most intelligent animals on the planet, start to respect other animals with no voice?
Above is a photo of Louie. Louie was found outside, cold, alone, covered in lice, by a person looking at a rental property. Louie was only days old, and now Louie is dead. He never got to run and chase a ball, have a child, have a best buddy, or snuggle with his special human. Instead, he was born only to die as a puppy. Who knows where Louie’s mom is? Dogs do not leave their puppies, which leads us to believe something happened to Louie’s mom.
Who was Louie’s Mom’s human? Why was she not spayed? Why was she left to wonder and her pup left to die? If her owners were responsible and caring, none of this would have happened.
This is Blade who we rushed to our vets and tried to save him. He was literally starved to death, a skeleton with skin over the top of the bones. His body temperature was low, his blood sugar almost non-existent, full of parasites, and who knows what else. We rushed him to our vets, stayed with him, helped with fluids, warming his body, and gave him meds. No matter what all we did and how hard we tried, we lost him. The neglect was too much. This sweet boy never knew what it was liked to be loved.
Here’s Shorty, a senior, dumped at a shelter to die. He was with us for a bit before cancer got the best of him and he was such a sweet boy. He was well mannered, house trained, and a love bug, but yet, someone dumped him out in his old age, to die alone.
How would you feel as you get older if your family did this to you? How can you take a defenceless animal and dup him/her without care? How can you open your door and let your dog run out into a road and not know if they got hit? How can you let an unaltered female run loose only to get pregnant and then dump them?
These babies are only three of the many animals we take in and we do everything possible to save them, so that they may have the life they deserve. Until humans value their lives, we are fighting a losing battle, but you can bet we will continue to fight.
Dogs (and all animals) require commitment. They are for their entire lives on this earth, not just until you’re tired of them. They are not toys to dispose of when humans get tired of them or when they get old. They are living breathing creatures who love us unconditionally. You would think we could learn from them and love them as they do us.
Next time you think you want a dog, please think about the commitment you need to make, and if you are willing to let them be part of your family, provide medical treatment including spay and/or neuter, keep them for their entire life, love them as they love you, then go for it. If you are going to tire of them, chain them in the yard, neglect feeding them, neglect the care they need, then please go by a stuffed animal out of the toy department
Halloween photos for $5.00 donation printed on site. Bring your entire family both two and four legged.
Anyone can have their picture taken. Dress in costume or come as you are.
Halloween costume contests for children in age categories and for animals.
Games, prizes, and treat bags and yes maybe even a few tricks!
Please let us know if you are able to volunteer or would like to donate prizes, etc.
Kota is a five-month-old, 25 pound, Carolina Dog who is absolutely stunning. He is also as sweet as they come, a quick learner and looking for the perfect home. Kota appeared at a Good Samaritan’s home, after having scanned for a chip, posting about him for longer than the required time by law, we were contacted to see if we could take this handsome boy.
Kota still has a bit of vetting before ready for adoption but if he is the boy for you, please go ahead and fill out an online application.
The photo above speaks volumes of what we do and why. This is Beau, who after over four years was adopted to a wonderful lady who has great plans to spoil him beyond rotten. Beau came from our local county-run shelter back in a time where he faced certain death. He was a frightened young boy who medically was in terrible shape. We pulled him, gave him time to recoup from all his issues, and listed him for adoption. For the life of us, we could not figure out why he was not scooped up immediately as we all loved sweet Beau. Was it because of his mixed breed? Was it because he was really energetic at times? Were there too many dogs who looked just like Beau? We do not know. People would meet him, say they wanted to adopt him, but never did.
Meanwhile, Beau was in a foster home with other dogs. He was taken care of, he was happy, but he did not have his own human. Now he does. Many would say how could you let him go after all that time? Beau could have continued to live with his foster mom, sharing the home with multiple dogs, or he could have his own mom and be the center of her world. The answer is easy if you truly love them and want what is best for them. Is it hard, you damn right it is. But again, it is all about the dogs, not us humans. This picture symbolizes Beau smiling goodbye to those who cared for him as he embarks on his new life. (Below is Beau’s intake picture years ago at our local shelter.)
Our rescue takes in those like Beau. We take in the sick, the injured, the pregnant, the heart worm positive, the ones that have been dumped on the side of the road, the ones no one wants.
We are currently facing challenging times. We have several heartworm positive dogs who will be having their injections all within the next couple of weeks as they are all finishing up their prescription meds around the same time. Kubuki had to have surgery, two weeks later, Bella had surgery. Kubuki is going to physical therapy, not to mention our regular vetting, and helping citizens of our community with vet bills, food, so they may keep their companion animals. Some days we truly do not know if we are going to be able to survive, and then our prayers are answered by compassionate people who care.
Some are amazed at the transformation of these animals, but we aren’t. We do not see them as unwanted, we see them as precious lives that need a chance to be loved. Thank you for your continued support. We truly believe that there is a family out there for our dogs. Beau is a perfect example.
What truly is rescue? The definition is as follows:
“An act of saving or being saved from danger or distress”
When Clifford’s Army Rescue was started years ago, we wanted to rescue animals. We wanted to help those with no voice that others may pass by. The sick, the injured, the abused, the neglected, the abandoned and the troubled ones that truly needed us.
Of course, once ready, we wanted to find them the perfect family. A family who would adopt them, love, and care for them for the rest of their lives. We also agreed not to settle for anything less as these animals had suffered enough, and deserved the best of the best for the rest of their lives.
We are primarily a dog rescue and there have been (and will continue to be) dogs we take in who have more issues than others. We have had feral dogs, frightened dogs, dogs on death’s door, but regardless of what is wrong, we do everything in our power to help them and fix the issues.
We may pull an injured and/or abused dog because of their physical health conditions only to find out once healthy, the dog may not get along with other dogs or the dog may really not be socialized and have fright issues. Many times we may work with our dogs in need for months and months until the dogs are ready for their own family. If their issues are severe enough, some may stay with the rescue so we can ensure they are loved and provided for. We have forever fosters due to both physical and/or mental health.
Once we take a dog into our rescue, that dog is part of our rescue family and is our responsibility. We take the good with the bad. We remember that these babies have no voice, and cannot tell us what all they have been through and the pain they have experienced. It is our responsibility to provide for them for as long as they are with us. We DO NOT euthanize healthy dogs because they have issues. The only way we euthanize is if a dog is irremediably suffering, rigorously defined.
When taking in dogs, we do stress to our foster parents that the dogs need a two week decompression period. We also stress on day one, to not overload the dog and let the dog settle into the new surroundings. Dogs coming into a new home, no matter how great the home is, are scared, do not know what is going on, and need to be given time to take in the changes. While some may adjust before the two week period, we do use that as our guideline. We stress never to rush having the new foster meet the foster parent’s dogs and to not worry immediately about training. Let the dog learn that they are safe first.
So today, when I am scrolling and read a director of a rescue killed (and she is completely responsible as the details as to what happened were written by her) a dog after less than five hours at her house. She immediately brought the dog in with her pack, was immediately trying to correct the dog for not walking in the direction she wanted him to, and then took him back to the county-run shelter she got him from and told them to euthanize him (which I am told they did). This shelter had found no issues with this dog prior.
Earlier last week, another director of a rescue let their ego take over and would not let another experienced rescue shelter take in a dog in need. This director had threatened to kill the said dog, also stated the dog was feral, (we have worked with so many that I can promise this dog was nowhere close to feral) and even when offered to help, refused. Later I learned a few more of her dogs had been euthanized due to their behavior (when I say behavior, it is with other dogs, not human aggressive).
Someone posted that rescues should all be working together and not criticizing other rescues for their actions. We have a large base of rescue partners, wonderful partners who believe as we do and work with us, tirelessly to save lives. We are forever thankful for them. I would bet they feel like we do pertaining to the events mentioned above. That is in no way a shape or form of a rescue shelter. All lives matter and you do not just kill a dog because you may need to let a dog decompress. Possibly consult a trainer, maybe have more tests run to see if any medical issues arise, etc. When you take the dog, the dog is in your trust to provide care and do everything in your power to help him/her. There is no time limit for a dog recovering from the trauma he/she may have endured in the past.
We are well aware we are not perfect. We also know that we are constantly still learning. What we do know is that we will always value each and every one of the animals in our rescue’s lives. We will work with them for as long as it takes, whatever the issues.
If you are not going to do right by every dog you take in, if you are going to kill dogs because they do not fit the perfect mold, then I would definitely say rescue is not for you.
Rescue is not about me, you, or anyone else….. it is about the dogs.
Every day the phone rings, normally numerous times, with someone who either wants to surrender a dog to us or someone who has found a dog, many times in dire need of help. We try, we truly try to help those in need. There are times the dog is in such bad condition, we cannot say no, even if we do not have a foster available or the funds. We fly by the seat of our pants at times, but it is so very hard to see dogs in this condition and not help.
We cannot for the life of us, understand how anyone can take in the one creature who loves you more than life itself, who loves unconditionally and would truly give their life for yours, and treat them so very badly. How do you ignore, neglect or abuse such precious souls?
Because we focus on those who are injured, sick, abused, abandoned, and/or neglected, many times we have to say no to those who ask us to take dogs who are basically healthy. It is overwhelming the number of dogs we have been asked to take into our rescue. If we could, we would take them all. We realized years ago that we could not take them all, and developed partnerships with other rescue centers with the same beliefs we have so we could help even more.
We have to stop the madness. These babies have no voice but ours. We MUST have stronger laws to protect them. It is a proven fact that people who abuse animals, also abuse humans. So even if these photos do not truly reach you, remember the same person who let this happen would do the same to a human. The numbers of animals in need is now more than ever, it has not dropped since we started the rescue mission almost 10 years ago.
We NEED more fosters. At the moment we can only take in as many dogs as we have fosters to take into their home. We NEED you. Even if you can only help short term, it will help those with no voice.
We WANT our own facility so we can help more. We are working out a land donation and we now have a separate building fund that was started due to an awesome supporter who designated their donation to a building fund. They pointed out that if we never started one, we would probably never get there and that was what the donation is for. You can now designate your donation to our future facility. This would enable us to have a quarantine area, a play area, an adoption and events area, and much more. We would be able to help many more animals than we do now.
So far this year, we have had 32 adoptions and 34 other dogs that went to our rescue partners (we have a few kitties too but as most of you know we are a dog rescue that does try to help the felines when we can). We have 49 dogs in our rescue, and the list is long for those still in need.
We work hard to raise funds for the care of these precious ones. Through the end of February, we had spent $8200 in vetting alone. Rescue is not free, we have to pay for vetting just as everyone else. We have to buy food, vaccines, collars, leashes, crates, blankets, supplements, and whatever is needed.
Just this week, we picked up a stray neglected and possibly abused pittie girl who we named Eclipse. Her face is scarred, she limps on her back leg at times, not all the time, very emaciated, a torn ear that had healed on its own, missing teeth, but young. We thought that was bad enough but we had no clue what was to come. On Wednesday evening we got a message from our local county-run shelter, the dog could have been Eclipse’s twin except she was more emaciated, more scarred, and pregnant. She even limps at times on the same back leg. I checked the area she was picked up in as a stray and it was not even close, one in Shelby, one in Kings Mountain, so no connection other than abuse and neglect but still eerily so identical. Our foster who takes in pregnant females has a mom with 10 babies that are only a week old, she could not take on another. Our other foster who takes in pregnant dogs is in the process of moving and will have more room once that is complete, but is not able to help until the move is completed. We had absolutely nowhere to put her. We put out a cry for a new foster, no one responded. So then we put out a message to our rescue partners and they did respond. We are so very fortunate as now we could get Minnie out of the shelter and in a home until she can get to our rescue partner. I am going to end the article by sharing Minnie’s pictures. God bless her sweet soul, there is no telling what she has suffered in her young life, but she will not suffer anymore. She is safe, she is and will be loved for the rest of her life, she will be taken care of, and we pray she will be healthy enough to deliver her babies without issue. So please consider fostering, even short term, please consider contributing even if it is just a dollar or two, please consider volunteering, please consider sharing our articles, our events, our pleas for help. The animals need you now more than ever. Please speak up for them, we are their only voice. No matter how little or how much you can help, it truly helps and is truly appreciated.
Now, meet Minnie and keep her and her babies to be born soon in your prayers.
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