Rescue Spotlight

It’s pretty easy to figure out. Just about all of Best Bully Sticks company branding features an adorable little pug. So when Pug Rescue of Florida won our 1-Day Animal Shelter/Rescue Giveaway, it just sort of made sense. We have a soft spot for pugs because they helped launch our company, so we loved having the opportunity to donate to Pug Rescue of Florida. Read more about this rescue below.

When & Why did you start?
Pug Rescue of Florida is the result of the merger of two rescues about three years ago: Tampa Pug Rescue and Orlando Pug Rescue and Adoption. We exist for the sole purpose of finding caring, safe, and loving permanent homes for rescued, displaced, and homeless dogs of the Pug breed regardless of age or condition. PROoF operates through an organized network of volunteers and sustains itself through both fund-raising efforts and the generous financial support of private individuals and commercial entities.

What's different about your rescue?
We cover most of the state and have volunteers all over. Last year we helped 355 pugs. Home checks, vet checks and reference checks are done on all foster and adoptive homes. We also use a pug kissing booth at our events!

What is the greatest success story or "win" that your rescue has had?
Our greatest success story would be the adoption of some of our special needs and senior pugs like Cubby who had spinal surgery and Captain a senior blind and deaf sweetheart of a boy who both found their forever homes just this year.

What's the most rewarding thing about working at your rescue?
The most rewarding thing would be finding forever homes for pugs who might not have had a chance at a happy life or have a second chance without the help of our all-volunteer base.

What can people do to help your rescue?
What can people do? We always need foster homes. However, since not everyone can foster, funds for medical expenses of course, as well as donations of food and flea and heartworm preventions. We also need transport volunteers to get pugs from one area to another, or from a foster home to the vet. Some of our foster homes are unable to get a pug to the vet during the week due to work etc. so that’s an area where transport is needed.

Our 10th annual Pugsgiving, is a fundraising/adoption event being held on November 10th this year. We currently need items for raffle and silent auction baskets; anything at all. It doesn’t even have to be dog related.

Thank you to Pug Rescue of Florida for their dedicated work and service to the animals of their community.

We have another 1-Day Animal Shelter/Rescue Giveaway in a couple weeks! Stay tuned to the BBS Facebook Page for our announcement!

Best Bully Sticks has the opportunity to highlight a very special animal rescue who’s main goal is to save “Death Row” dogs. Eleventh Hour Rescue starts many days like this:

Our day begins with logging onto our computer, only to find we have a mere 161 emails to read before finishing our morning cup of coffee. Some of the subject titles read, “Senior Hound, last day is today,” “Overflowing with Puppies,” “13 more left, please help,” “Shy girl, and 3 legged beagle due to be gassed Tuesday.” Imagine having such a death sentence being held over your head, opening email after email, seeing the faces of fluffy, highly adoptable puppies, a scared little Shepherd curled up in the corner of a dirty kennel, a Labrador with just a blur behind him where the camera couldn't capture how fast his tail was wagging.

Sometimes, well... no, most times, our eyes are welled up with tears, and the thoughts of: Where are we going to put them?  How will we pay for the transport?  What if one is heartworm positive, how will we pay for the treatment?  This is when we take a deep breath, email our volunteers, start brainstorming about fund raising ideas, rebalance the checkbook, and just end the morning with an emailed response of 'We'll take them all', backed only with one thought...

'We'll figure it out'.

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We talked with Elyse Langsett, EHR's Fundraising Director, after they won BBS’s most recent 1-Day Animal Shelter/Rescue Giveaway on Facebook. She elaborated on how this New Jersey rescue was started, their struggles and their successes. Read more

There must be something about California and Animal Rescues! All three of the past Best Bully Sticks 1-Day Animal Rescue/Shelter Giveaway winners have been from California! We’re glad West Coast pups are benefitting and we’re glad that we could help out! On July 17^th, Animal Compassion Team was added to the ranks of those winners. Hailing from Fresno, California, this rescue is a highly organized and well-networked group of people who are making a difference in their community and beyond. Best Bully Sticks talked with Brenda Mitchell, President of Animal Compassion team about their wonderful rescue. 

When & Why did you start? 
Animal Compassion Team (ACT) was founded in August 2009 by a group of like-minded individuals who were volunteering for the local high-kill animal control shelter and felt that there had to be a more humane and proactive solution to the animal control and care issues facing our community.  ACT founders set out to save as many lives as possible through rescue, adoption, spay/neuter, trap/neuter/release programs, and community education.

What's different about your rescue? 
ACT is a non-profit, all breed rescue.  We also engage in a variety of activities outside the normal "rescue & adopt" model, such as trap/neuter/release of some feral cats, community education, and "owner foster" programs in order to maximize our impact.  We are also run completely by volunteers, and have a group of approximately 80 foster parents who care for homeless animals.  We have successfully saved approximately 4,000 animals in the three years we have been operational. Read more

Since 2009, Pupz N Palz Rescue in Modesto, California has been searching for those dogs who no one else will take. They rehabilitate those dogs that have slim chances. They care for those dogs no one else will care for. Over tears, joyful or sorrowful, they are changing and rallying the community to better love their four-legged friends.

Pupz N Palz recently won a $500 Product Donation from Best Bully Sticks by participating in a 1-Day Animal Rescue / Shelter Giveaway. We congratulate this rescue not only on their winnings but their hard work and successes. We talked with Karri Husman about her love affair with rescued dogs. Find out more about Karri and Pupz N Palz below. 

When & Why did you start?

I first began rescuing as a very young girl and would drag home every stray dog or kitty off the streets who I assumed needed my help. Kids and animals have always been a passion of mine so when I saw an ad about 7 years ago to help foster animals I jumped at the chance. 

The very first dog I was given to foster was a severely emaciated, very sick and depressed, 3 month old Cattle Dog mix puppy that was filthy and was found in the back on her kennel at the shelter and had given up. They handed me this poor sweet, dirty, emaciated, very sad dog and I, at that point, had no clue what I was going to do with, but my love for animals prevailed. I was so excited to get my first foster dog that I hadn’t eaten anything all day. It was around 3 in the afternoon I guess and so I stopped and grabbed a couple drive through tacos on the way home. When I got the new foster pup home she wouldn’t even come out of her kennel, but she smelled the tacos. They had given me some special diet, bland food as they had just started to get her to eat a little and suggested I give her that to start. The smell of the food drew her out, and I looked into her sad eyes and figured, “you need it more than I” so I tossed her a taco and she devoured it like she hadn’t eaten in days so she got the other one too. From that point on we formed a bond and she started trusting me. I got her to eat regular puppy kibble and gave the rescue back their “blank diet.” They wanted to know how I got her to eat and I told them “a little love, and a small bribe” and that’s all it took. My first foster was such a success that I wanted to do more. I worked with several different rescue then about 3 years ago felt I had learned enough to start my own and formed Pupz N Palz Rescue. Read more

Best Bully Sticks loves holding 1-Day Animal Shelter/Rescue Giveaways each month because we get to give away BBS product to support rescue efforts all over the country. Even though it is rewarding to give to a shelter, we also love being able to learn more about shelters ourselves and then sharing their struggles, stories and triumphs with our readers. This week we we’re profiling Recycled Pets NorCal, a rescue based out of Sacremento.  Co-founder Elsie Lodde told BBS more about their young but successful rescue group. Reyclced Pets NorCal won BBS’s 1-Day Giveaway just two weeks ago.

When & Why did you start?

I have unofficially been rescuing dogs for years. I would always find stray animals and take them and get them vetted and find them homes. Then a couple years ago, a friend (who is in rescue and moved across country) needed help with a local case, and so I was whisked into the world of rescue.  I was working for a national organization that only rescued specific animals, and I felt the constraints too limiting (because to me an animal in need is worthy of help regardless of whether it is in a shelter, in someone's backyard, or dumped along the side of the road) and so this year I began Recycled Pets NorCal (a sister rescue to Recycled Pets SoCal).

What's different about your rescue?

Well, unlike many rescuers we think locally.  We only adopt out to local families and we try to only rescue locally (occasionally there is a special case that may draw me to drive 400 miles but it is rare).  I never transport animals as I provide on-going support to my adopters and I am unable to do that if they are far away.  I am responsible for the lifetime of the animal and I take that seriously. I would have to say, I probably also have one of the youngest groups of volunteers and fosters than most rescues (likely due to the fact that I am only in my mid-30s).  And since I provide everything, younger people (who often cannot afford to pay for food, treats, or other necessary items) can get more involved.

What is the greatest success story or "win" that your rescue has had?

I take on a lot of medical cases, so for me there are many.  Arnie (the emaciated and chained bulldog) won my heart enough to not leave, Tyson had severe demodex mange, I have had puppies with all sorts of issues like being starved to death, abandoned, with parvo and all sorts of things. And a case from the end of last year, Otis, was the hardest.  He was born with a condition called PRAA, where his heart and esophagus were all wrapped up together so he was unable to eat and ended up with a secondary condition called Mega Esophagus. I worked so hard to save him, but surgeries were not good enough for the sweet boy- I miss him a lot.   They all have a special place in my heart. I say we need to treat them (and place them) like they are our own animals, because they deserve that.

What's the most rewarding thing about working at your rescue?

Perhaps this should be asked to one of my volunteers.  For me, it is taking an unwanted animal, that has been discarded, and helping it to find the right home for it.  I just appreciate animals' abilities to forget the past and forgive and move on to love again, I think humans really should take note of their ability to leave their baggage behind. Plus, I have met some amazing people doing rescue who also like animals as much as I do.

What can people do to help your rescue?

Since we only adopt locally, many people feel like they cannot spread the news. But help can be found in the most unusual places. Obviously we are always needing donations, whether that be monetary or for items such as puppy pads, food, bully sticks (which my rescues are spoiled with), formula, vaccines, and all sorts of items. Also just liking our Facebook page can do a lot of good. Sharing and even voting in contests like [1-Day Rescue/Shelter Giveaways] mean a lot.

A big thank-you to all that Recycled Pets NorCal does in their community: for the care of the animals in their community. Find out more about Recycled Pets NorCal on Facebook.

We have another 1-Day Animal Shelter/Rescue Giveaway in a couple weeks! Stay tuned to the BBS Facebook Page for our announcement!