28/05/2026
Rescue is heartbreaking most of the time, and hard all of the time.
But sometimes, in the middle of all the heartbreak, you get reminded of what people can do when they decide to care together.
If you have followed this page for a while, you probably recognize this face. But if you don’t, let me tell you a story about three dogs, a winter storm, and what can happen when strangers decide that suffering is not someone else’s problem.
A few months ago, Charlotte was preparing for dangerously cold weather. While most people were stocking up groceries and staying warm inside, I could not stop thinking about three dogs living outside. I knew they were not going to be brought inside. I knew they were cold. And deep down, I knew if nobody stepped in, they might not survive what was coming.
The problem? I am not a rescue.
I had no organization behind me. No facility. No foster lined up. No magical plan. I already had five dogs of my own, including one that was very sick and another that was highly aggressive.
So realistically, I had absolutely no business trying to save these dogs. But sometimes (all the time) your heart makes a decision before your brain catches up.
I made one post asking for help, not even fully knowing what I was asking for. And somehow people started showing up.
People offered to donate toward boarding.
Then came the next problem. No boarding facility would take them without vetting and vaccines. So now I needed appointments, transportation, and somehow a way to safely load three terrified dogs into my car, including two dogs that wanted to kill each other.
I remember thinking, “What in the world am I doing?”
GCSPCA stepped in and helped get us an appointment. My amazing neighbor Jessica stepped up to help me physically get the dogs there because there is absolutely no way I could have done it alone. These dogs did not know kindness, stability, or safety. They fought the leash, fought the car, fought fear itself. One family member warned us one of the dogs was “evil” and would hurt us.
But fear is not evil.
Fear is what happens when the world fails a dog over and over again.
Against all odds, we got them loaded. We got them to the vet. We got them safe.
Then Natural Breed Kennels Resort of Charlotte said yes when they absolutely did not have to. They gave these dogs patience, structure, and compassion when the dogs themselves barely knew how to exist peacefully in the world. These were not easy dogs. They were reactive, shut down, overwhelmed, under-socialized, and carrying years of trauma from living chained or neglected outdoors.
But they deserved a chance anyway.
Then the storm passed. And suddenly I had to to take them back to chains.
I could not do it.
I just couldn’t.
So I begged. I networked. I cried. I barely slept. I got hate messages. I got told I was stupid. I got told to mind my business. I got attacked for trying. There were moments I genuinely thought the emotional weight of it all was going to break me.
But then something incredible happened.
People kept showing up.
So many people who did not know these dogs cared anyway.
People donated. Shared posts. Networked. Encouraged me when I was falling apart. Quietly helped behind the scenes. Drove dogs. Made calls. Offered advice. Sent pledges. Opened doors.
And because people worked together, a rescue was finally able to step in. Help was super important because all three dogs ended up being heartworm positive. Safari later had a serious emergency vet visit. Marley, formerly Gnarly, also needed emergency care during treatment. T
his rescue was never simple. It was messy, expensive, emotional, exhausting, and uncertain every step of the way.
But TOGETHER, people carried these dogs forward one tiny step at a time.
Marley was the one I was eventually able to bring home. The scared, shut-down street dog who barely knew how to trust anyone is now “Charlie.” He has a family that adores him. He has a sister who now loves him deeply and has actually gained confidence because of him. He sleeps safe. He is wanted. He is loved.
Think about that transformation for a second.
A chained outdoor dog that so many people overlooked is now someone’s family.
That is what rescue can do.
Not one person. Not one hero. Not one organization.
People. Together.
I won’t get into every painful detail of the journey because honestly some parts still hurt too much. But I will say this: in 12 years of animal rescue, after fostering over 250 dogs and helping thousands of animals, I had never before been put in a position where I had to choose between protecting my mom’s safety and continuing to have access to updates about dogs I had poured my heart, time, energy, and money into helping save.
But that is exactly where I found myself.
Because I spoke up when I felt someone was unnecessarily putting my mom at risk, I was completely shut off from knowing what was happening with Safari and Remmie for months. Imagine loving dogs deeply, fighting for them, crying for them, fundraising for them, losing sleep over them, helping save their lives… and then suddenly not even knowing if they were okay.
But what matters most is that Safari and Remmie are in a place that will update me. They are doing well in foster with rescue, and they still need forever families of their own.
So I am asking again for people to come together.
Please help network them. Share them. Talk about them. Help them find the homes they deserve because their story is not over yet.
Rescue is exhausting. Rescue is heartbreaking. Rescue will break your heart over and over again.
But then you look at Charlie, once known as Gnarly, and you realize that sometimes a whole community can change the ending of a story.
Thank you to GCSPCA, Natural Breed Kennels Resort of Charlotte, Pressly Animal Hospital, Happy Tails Rescue, every single donor, every person behind the scenes (the group of ladies that help me in most decisions), my neighbor Jessica, and every person who chose compassion over indifference.
These dogs are alive because people decided to work TOGETHER.
And please, don’t forget Safari and Remmie still need their happy ending too.
