Rest Easy Sweethearts

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

 

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Spooktacular Extravaganza at Broad River Hemp Co

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.

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Circle of Love – The CARE Dogs

cliffords army rescue, animal rescue, donate to animal rescue
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Meet Kota

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.

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Rescue, Adopt, Repeat

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.

 

 

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Defining Rescue

 

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.

 

 

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Rescue Strong, Rescue On

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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Rescue Adoption versus County Shelter Adoptions

Recently we had someone ask why our adoption fees were so much higher than many county-run shelters. While I cannot speak for all shelters, attached is the 2018 public shelter report from Raleigh which tells what each county-run shelter in NC operating expenses were.

We are an all-volunteer 501c3 non-profit rescue that relies on donations and fundraisers to take care of the animals in our rescue. Most of the animals we take in are in dire need of veterinary care. Just recently we took in a dog with a tumour that needed to be removed and was heartworm positive. So they will need treatment once she has taken her antibiotics for a month, a female shep mix that was not only pregnant but heartworm positive, a dog with a shotgun hole in his leg, a dog on death’s door that spent two weeks in intensive care and two dogs with chemical burns down their backs. The list is long but we feel that as a rescue, this is our main purpose. We do get some dogs that are surrendered to us that may not be in as serious physical need, but many times they are in emotional need. Recently we took in a four-month-old pup who goes in his crate to sleep but then acts like someone is going to hurt him when you go towards the crate. We work through these issues too to help these animals gain trust in humans again. We take in many either directly from owners or strays and hold the appropriate time to try and help keep the dogs from ending up at our local shelter, which has a certain amount of kennels and cannot continue to take dogs in once full, which in turn leads to them euthanizing dogs.


We are very fortunate that our county shelter has a very generous budget, along with a full-time veterinarian and a full-time vet tech. I have attached the 2018 public records of all NC shelters and you can go to Cleveland County to see the operating expenses there (2019 should be out by the end of this month). CCAS had operating expenses in 2018 of $1,148,369.00 according to the state records and it has increased since. We are very grateful our county is putting forth such an effort to help the animals that end up at the shelter and has the ability to do so.
As a rescue, we must take our dogs to the veterinarians like everyone else, pay whatever needs to be paid and if you follow us, you also know we take our dogs to specialists when needed. We do whatever is needed for them. We have had veterinary bills for one dog be up in the thousands. Our adoption fee is the same for each dog no matter how much was spent on them. We do tons of fundraisers throughout the year and we are fortunate to have supporters who believe in as we do that all lives matter, and contribute to our cause.
Out of 40 dogs currently in our rescue (currently, we have had over 50 at one time), 31 are in homes with fosters, where we also know if they are crate trained, house trained, dog-friendly, cat-friendly, kid-friendly and leash trained, etc. The nine in rescue boarding are also dog tested, have playtime with other dogs, work on their leash training, have a schedule to work on kennel training and have a trainer available if needed.
We have an awesome adoption coordinator who, on her own time and dime, goes over applications, checks vet references, does home visits and meets and greets to make sure the family and the dog are a match. We strongly feel most of the dogs we take in have gone through enough, whether it be physical or mental suffering and we want to do our best to find the closest to perfect home for each and every one of them.
Our dogs are with us until they find the perfect home. We do not euthanize any of our dogs unless they are “irremediably suffering, or rigorously defined.” We furnish everything for our dogs, give them medicine if needed (we have seizure, diabetic, and hospice dogs all on different meds), food, heartworm preventive, and whatever is needed until they find their forever home.

Hope this helps understand what we do, our passion to save lives… because all lives truly do matter.

http://www.ncagr.gov/…/2018PublicAnimalShelterReport3-13-19…

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Kaleb, The Bionic Dog

 

August 22nd 2018, started out as normal. Up early, feeding and walking the dogs. Checking messages on the phone and computer. There was a message on Social Media, it said “my name is Vicky, and I manage the NC Welcome Center. Tony Vaughn, a supervisor with D.O.T. has found a dog that has may have been hit by a car. Can you advise us what to do?” As always, in rescue, you take a deep sigh as you wonder just what all the dog has endured, and then you thank the Lord that compassionate people had found the dog and were reaching out for help.

As fate would have it, the dog was found in a ditch probably two miles from my house, and Tony had put him in his truck with him and was less than a mile from me in the direction or our vet’s office.  Some things are just meant to be, so out the door, I went, calling Boulevard Animal Hospital along the way. There was not much I could tell them other than the dog could hardly stand, and had been found in a ditch unable to move.

This was a day that renewed my faith in the human race. Tony could have just ignored the dog or called animal control where he would have most likely been put down due to the extent of his injuries. Vicky could have told Tony to just deal with it, but neither did because they both wanted to do what was right for the dog, and they both knew that little dog’s, life, who we named Kaleb (he was found in the ditch on Caleb Road) mattered.

After picking up Kaleb from Tony, Kaleb and I went straight to our vets. Kaleb’s hip needed surgery and on his other hind leg, his bone had shattered and he had more than one break. There was also a hole where you could see the bone through it. He was extremely emaciated, hip bones pronounced, scared, and could not walk. Where to start? How do we get him back to health?  Kaleb stayed at our vet’s office for a little over a month, where his movement was restricted and limited as he gained weight and got healthy. After about a month it was time to consult a surgeon, and off to Carolina Veterinary Specialists we went.

Kaleb’s Surgeon, Dr. Daniel Mertens, brought us the news. Kaleb needed surgery on his hip joint, but also needed plates and pins in his other leg. He would need lots of supervision to make sure he had limited movement afterwards, and he would need to come back each week for several weeks to redo his cast and bandages. He then gave us the estimate for the surgery, over $7000 and there was a possibility he may have to do another surgery if things did not go as planned.

Needless to say, as an all-volunteer small 501c3 non-profit animal rescue, we were between shock and “how are we going to raise that kind of money” all at the same time. Faith in humanity restored once again as we did an online auction, we did a fundraiser, we asked for help and people helped! Within a little over a week, we had the funds for Mr Kaleb’s surgeries. Thankfully both could be done at the same time too.

We lined up one of our awesome fosters to care for Kaleb during his recovery phase, Annette Pendergraft. She had handled many of our medical cases in the past and had the perfect set up to keep him calm with limited movement. Annette was a nurse, doctor, caregiver, she did it all, and was perfect for his recovery.

Kaleb began to want a little more, as he became very active once well. He had typical cattle dog tendencies wanting to herd you, and a little bit of a stubborn streak when he did not want to do something. We enlisted the help of the awesome Dana Van Sickle, and then Kaleb went to foster with our trainer/foster, Tammy Freeman. Once Kaleb had other dogs to play with, lots of room to romp and have fun, he became the most perfect boy ever.

He was adopted to the perfect family for him and is now in his forever home. We thank the Good Lord every day that the D.O.T. supervisor found him, got him out of the ditch and that we were called to help. We also thank all the great contributors and supporters who believed in Kaleb and helped him survive.

 

 

 

 

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Zelda, Escapes Starvation

We received a call that a very emaciated dog, truly a skeleton with skin over the bones, had found her way into a fenced-in pool at a good Samaritan’s home. When we saw the photos we immediately got her to our vet’s clinic to try and help her. Zelda (we named her) was not given the best of chances. Her body had started to survive off muscle tissue, no fat at all on her, and her bloodwork was all over the place. We found out the next day she was also diabetic, had a horrible growth on one of her feet, and was heartworm positive. Our vet estimated her to be around 10 years old.

Our firm belief that all lives do matter, made it imperative that we give this sweet girl a chance. Her blood sugar was very hard to regulate, as it was super high one minute, the next reading normal, and the next high again. The growth on her foot continued to grow, and we had to decide what we would do first.

After Zelda gained some weight, we proceeded to have the growth removed which was located between the pads of her foot.

Her blood sugar is still not exact but she is getting better and is getting ready to have her heartworm treatment. She is loved by all the people at our vets and most of our volunteers. She loves other dogs but thinks she is the Queen, no matter what the size.  We are so very happy to be a part of Zelda’s journey and look forward to her getting heartworm treatment behind her, and on to her forever home.

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