RAVE Intake Stories

Finding 19 puppies left in the woods to die was absolutely heartbreaking and to this day there is still a reward for any information leading to the person responsible.

https://www.live5news.com/2022/06/01/19-puppies-found-woods-some-trapped-box-orangeburg-county/

https://www.wistv.com/2022/06/02/19-puppies-found-woods-some-trapped-box-orangeburg-county/

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article262070397.html?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

https://www.thestate.com/news/nation-world/national/article262070397.html

https://www.wrdw.com/2022/06/02/19-puppies-found-woods-some-trapped-box-orangeburg-county/

https://flipboard.com/@miamiherald/news-ghc4tptjz/19-puppies-rescued-from-dumping-ground-in-south-carolina-woods-now-they-need-/a-6j1XNJM2SdWqVPENWTtWmw%3Aa%3A3195397-61d4bd1b97%2Fmiamiherald.com

While out making our typical rounds we had planned to take a right but something made me tell my husband to go straight. What happened next was something I didn't expect. My husband and I saw a large territorial dog we are familiar with, with what we thought was a fawn. Upon closer inspection... It was a literal walking skeleton, this sweet girl. 

I jumped out when I saw the bites on her and her legs I jumped out, my husband telling me to watch for the other dog. Thankfully the dog took that moment to make a break for home. I paused to take in the sight before me that was much worse once I was up close. My husband was asking me questions and I couldn't stop staring at her. I had to have him repeat what he asked which was "are you going to ride in the back seat with her". When I picked her up I realized she was literally covered from head to tail with ticks. Overall we probably got somewhere between 250-300 ticks off of her. She even had them inside her mouth. She was not surprisingly Lyme positive.

Fern was spotted by multiple people roaming around a neighborhood in Sumter . Most likely finding shelter in the abandoned homes and food in the trash.  

For days I drove the 1.5 hours one way to spend 3-4 hours at a time searching for him, sometimes multiple times a day. When sightings would be reported we would miss him due to the time it took us to get there. 

Thanks to good samaritans Fern was finally secured and I drove like a mad woman to get there. He was emaciated, dirty, covered in fleas, missing a leg, and clearly had a rough start to life.  

Yet the first day he wagged his tail and gave kisses. He obviously needed medical attention and was taken straight to the house emergency vet. Fern received a much needed flea treatment and had his leg amputated at the vet. As one would assume Fern racked up a pretty hefty vet bill. Sadly Fern also tested heartworm positive and needed treatment.  

Since then Fern was adopted by the family who offered to "very temporarily foster him". Once they met him they immediately knew he was a very special guy with a heart of gold. He has a "boy" of his own who was at one point scared of dogs. However, Fern was so determined and slowly pulled him out of his shell, now they are thr best of friends.

This particular day was heart wrenching... I loaded up prepared to help a "backyard breeder" close up shop. Thinking I was giving the 15 chihuahuas I thought she had their shot at a life of being something other than a bank account for the rest of their lives. What I arrived to... I wanted to cry because I felt like I made no difference. 

I stepped out of my car to the most horrific smell you can imagine. The sound coming from the shed that's only "ventilation" even close to chihuahua height is 2 pieces of missing metal on one end, well those sounds will haunt me. There was no AC, no shade, no fans... There was nothing to help these dogs closed in what is essentially a oven in the middle of a over grown field.  

I was told I couldn't go in or near the building (red flag) because she hadn't had time to clean kennels before I arrived and didn't want me to judge. I honestly agreed because ultimately I didn't want to give her any reason to tell me never mind and to leave without the dogs... They were my #1 concern and the reason I was there. 

I was told she can guarantee they are free from any diseases. I felt relief as I said "good to know they are vaccinated". That was so short lived and replaced with horror as she said "No, I don't let them interact with people and don't let people in the kennels with them." I instantly knew these poor dogs were going to be absolutely petrified... I was right. 

As we are loading dogs I realized the sounds coming from the building wasn't getting any quieter. I have no idea how many were in that building but... Its clearly at least double what she said. I wasn't dealing with a backyard breeder. I was dealing with a puppy mill turned hoarder and this was much bigger than I ever imagined. 

Every single one of them had overgrown toenails. However some of the dogs toe nails were so over grown that they will 100% have permanent damage to the structure of their paws. One male we kept was absolutely pitiful and I know his paws were extemely painful. 

The size and number of the fleas on those dogs... I was honestly blown away and disgusted. They all had noticeable hair loss. One of the poor males that we kept had a completely bare rear end.  

After we loaded 13 she told me we were done. I had to tell her that there were 2 more. Then she couldn't figure out who was missing so me a person that had names for less than 24 hours had to tell her what two dogs. 

She admitted she couldnt tell 3 of the dogs apart but maybe I could "figure it out" when the vet aged them. Then again with 2 others who look alike. 

After loading all the dogs I offered to take whatever dogs she still had off her hands. I even offered to go pull money out of my personal account... Anything to get them out of that sweat box today. I was turned down and told those were the ones they were keeping. I offered to help have them spay & neutered at least and that was basically wasted time.  

I did call in the situation to animal control and unfortunately there wasn't any concerns about the dogs well being after a welfare check. I don't know who greased whos palms but that is a situation that haunts me to this day. Knowing that there are dogs still living in a real life horror story.
 

From being abandoned in the middle of the road in the middle of the night so emaciated that he needed a emergency blood transfusion and his brother was unable to move and was hospitalized.  

To building up all his muscle while being on the slowest refeed schedule ever. To losing his brother only to lastly gain a forever family.  

Stories like Flounders, now Spencers are why I do what I do. He was the silver lining in a extremely hard situation...  

The sleepless nights, the tears, the stress and the heartbreak are all worth it to know that you helped a dog go from a skeleton to spoiled rotten. That is rescue... That is my life. 

For those who didn't get a chance to know him... Meet Sebastian the most incredible dog I've ever had the chance to meet. He was with us for 32 days before he crossed the rainbow bridge in his sleep. What he doesn't know is he took a huge piece of my heart with him.  

He was thrown out in the road to die, so emaciated he couldnt stand or move his body. Yet he mustered enough energy for a tail wag that quite honestly stole my heart immediately. He was rushed to the ER, went through emergency blood transfusions and hospitalization. Only for us to be told there was no chance. We opted for a second opinion from our vet. 

Our vet said if he was willing to fight let him and thats exactly what we did. I was with him every day, day in and day out. I was his biggest cheerleader and most importantly his mom. 

I'd finally decided that he would likely be the last addition to our family. He was my little ray of sunshine... My bestest little buddy. However in his last week and a half with us... he had slowly given up. He quit wagging his tail nearly 2 weeks before, he quit trying to use his back legs (he couldn't but he would normally try) shortly after and as the days went on he slowly detached. He quit moving around his playpen, he quit looking for me when he heard the door open, he started growling at his brother in the playpen next to him and then he finally stopped eating (even with a appetite stimulant). It was a struggle just to get water into him. I was having to syringe feed and water him. The light that he had in his eyes had gone out... He had officially broken my heart in a way I didn't know was possible.  

I made him a promise the night I found him. I promised him that as long as he was willing to fight I'd be by his side. I told him if he was too tired I understood. He fought. He fought so hard and proved everyone wrong. He had a light inside himself that I watched grow stronger by the day.  

And then when I finally decided that he was safe and I could breath easy things seemed to peak. He was trying to walk, he was happy, he was getting healthier and most of all he was loved. He was loved by myself, everyone who met him and so many who hadn't had the chance to. Then just as quickly as I took a sigh of relief the rug was pulled out from under me.  

I sat with him the day before he left us and talked to him. I told him how proud of him I was. How I loved him more than he could ever imagine. How he was the absolute best boy in the whole wide world... I talked to him about anything and everything I could think of. Why? Because I knew that it would be the last weekend I have the opportunity.  

I made the appointment to cross the rainbow bridge that afternoon and all night I prayed for any change... Any indication that he wanted to keep fighting. Unfortunately... That didnt happen.  

He was tired, he was defeated and he was ready even if I wasn't. Even if nobody else was. He told me in his own way that he was and as much as it crushed my soul, my entire soul... I had to respect that. No matter how I prayed begging God not to take the bestest little guy in the world from me I knew that I was losing him.  

When I opened my eyes the next morning to Flounder (his brother) going absolutely crazy part of me knew... I knew I was too late. When I checked on Sebastian he seemed to be sleeping peacefully until I started to uncover him and realized that he was in fact gone. He left us as quickly as he came in and he took a huge part of me with him.  

That is the story of a special little guy who deserved so much more than this cruel world gave him. He was given a chance thanks to supporters like you and donations that we couldn't operate without. If you'd like to make a contribution in memory of Sebastian or any other dog who was lost too soon, due to neglect and cruelty they faced at the hands of the people who were supposed to love them forever... Please feel free to.

From disfigured and forgotten to beautiful and so incredibly loved.  

After a much needed trip to the vet we were able to get his wounds scrubbed down so we could get a better idea on what we were dealing with.  

Unlike myself an everyone else thought... It was not looking like a snake bite. Instead after a skin scrape and getting him cleaned up it was determined he had a severe case of Demodex. It appeared that he has been scratching so much for so long hes destroyed his own neck.  

Whoever had his tried to treat it with BlueKote spray at some point. The ironic part is that costs roughly $15 at TSC and it could've been handled with a $20 Nexguard in the beginning.  

Its was severe he needed heavy antibiotics, medicated baths and had to be monitored to ensure everything was healing correctly. He was on carprofen for any discomfort he may have had as some of the wounds were pretty rough.  

He had a Ketochlor bath every 2-3 days to help sooth his itchy skin. His poor face kept sticking to everything... For quite a few mornings I woke up with pieces stuck to my arm because he slept ON top of me for the most part.  

Everything stuck to it... Dirt, hair, dog hair, blankets... Everything. Which lead to me needing to clean it again and again. It honestly broke my heart having to scrub it down to clear all the gross dried drainage, dog hair, random piece of fuzz and the skin that was sloughing off... All the while knowing it hurt him. However he sat there without any complaints.  

His little cries when he couldn't get comfortable broke my heart. He didn't understand that I couldn't let him scratch no matter how badly it itched.  

Fast movements from people and dogs alike scared him. I heard him scream out in fear more than any other dog I've brought in and that in itself will crush you. He was so sweet even when he was terrified. He tried to be brave and would go to his person for comfort. His tail slowly waged, he would get big ol whale eyes and he would just sit there and stare at you. It was like he was looking through you. 

When I had to leave him at home in his crate for about 30 minutes for the first time. Upon returning home I realized that he was very much terrified that he will be left permanently. Even after I let him out of his crate he followed me around for a good 5 minutes crying. 

Months later... I'm happy to report hes doing phenomenal and has minimal scarring from his infection. Our hope is with time those will continue to fade but if not it makes him even more beautiful in my eyes. He's a very special little guy who didn't deserve any of the beginning if his life. 

This, this right here is where your donations go. They are used to quite literally change lives... real life rags to riches stories. Think Cinderella for dogs... Will you be one of  their Fairy Godmothers/Godfathers?