Cotton Branch Refuge Project

09/04/2026

We have reached the point where we have to prepare for the possibility that Emmie’s life may have changed permanently. ❤️‍🩹🐷

That is difficult for us to say.

When Emmie suddenly lost the use of her back legs, we focused on getting her through the immediate crisis. Josh has worked with her constantly, she has received around-the-clock care, and we have celebrated every encouraging sign, including those moments when she has begun putting some pressure through her feet.

But after more conversations about her condition and what comes next, we now believe this is very likely going to be a long-term journey for Emmie.

Our next step is taking her to a specialist we trust in North Carolina. We need a much deeper look at what is happening, including more advanced imaging, a specialized evaluation, and guidance on whether we need to adjust the medication protocol we are already using.

We are also preparing for the very real possibility that a wheelchair or other mobility support will become part of her life.

And a wheelchair is only one piece of what caring for Emmie may look like.

If she is going to be one of our special-needs residents, we have to make her world safe and comfortable for the body she has now.

Here is what your gifts will help us provide for Emmie:

❤️ Specialist care in North Carolina, along with deeper imaging and the testing needed to get more answers.

❤️ A carefully managed medication plan, including any adjustments the specialist recommends.

❤️ A new soft stall built around her needs, helping protect her body and reduce the risk of pressure sores while she spends more time resting.

❤️ Prescription-level skin care to help prevent rashes, irritation, and skin breakdown.

❤️ Specialized cushions and sleeping surfaces. We do not believe straw alone is going to be enough for her long-term comfort, so we want soft surfaces she can safely and easily get on and off of.

❤️ Mobility equipment, including the possibility of a wheelchair designed around Emmie’s body and needs.

And then, last night, something incredible happened.

A longtime friend of Cotton Branch stepped forward and said they wanted to help us build this next chapter for Emmie.

They are matching up to $50 PER MONTH in new monthly support for Emmie for an entire year. ❤️

That means if just two people become Emmie sponsors at $25 per month, those two gifts create $50 in monthly support, and our anonymous donor will add another $50.

That becomes $100 every month for Emmie.

Over one year, that is $1,200 specifically helping us provide her long-term care.

For a special-needs resident, that dependable monthly support matters tremendously. Her skin care, medications, cushions, mobility needs, and hands-on care will not end when this original emergency is over.

But our friend did something else too.

From TODAY, Friday, September 4, through Wednesday, September 9, donations made for Emmie will be DOUBLED.

That means:

💖 $25 becomes $50
💖 $50 becomes $100
💖 $100 becomes $200

This is such an incredible opportunity for Emmie, and we need to make the most of these next few days.

If you already donated when Emmie first lost the use of her legs, thank you. Those gifts purchased medication and helped provide the care that has gotten her this far.

Now we have to think beyond those first frightening days.

We have to think about the specialist in North Carolina. The imaging. The soft stall. The cushions underneath her at night. The skin care that keeps her comfortable. The possibility of wheels beneath her someday so she can move around and be Emmie again.

We have to think about what her life looks like months from now.

And we have to build that life around her.

If you can become one of Emmie’s $25 monthly sponsors, this is the time.

If monthly giving is not possible, please consider making a gift while donations are being doubled through Wednesday.

Because when the specialist tells us what Emmie needs next, we want to be able to say yes immediately.

Whatever this girl’s new normal becomes, we are going to meet her there.

Please help us make sure everything she needs is waiting for her. ❤️🐷

💖 Giving information is in the 1st c0mment.

Go to paypal.me/cottonbranch and type in the amount. Since it’s PayPal, it's easy and secure. Don’t have a PayPal account? No worries.

09/03/2026

Apparently, we’ve entered our shade sail era. 😄☀️

Another one is UP!

After a brutal summer, we’ve been working our way across Cotton Branch repairing gates, replacing what took a beating, putting up new shade sails, and getting the refuge ready for fall.

And this shade sail? Every single person who donated to Cotton Branch over the past month helped put it there. 💛

That’s what your support looks like. More shade. Safer spaces. Repairs getting finished. Little by little, you’re helping us make this refuge better for the animals who call it home.

There’s still plenty to do, but seeing everything come back together feels pretty darn good.

Thank you for making it possible. ❤️

09/03/2026

Good morning. ☀️

Love loudly today.

Tell people you care. Be kind without keeping score. Give the extra hug. Speak the good thought out loud.

The world has enough quiet love. Let yours be heard. 💛

09/03/2026

Seven years ago, this was just one section of the largest hoarding case Cotton Branch Refuge Project had ever been part of. More than 550 pigs needed help, and even this view from above could not capture the weight of what stood before us.

A rescue of that size could never belong to one organization. We partnered with more than 37 organizations, each stepping forward to help carry these pigs from crisis toward safety. What once felt overwhelming became a shared journey built on cooperation and an unwavering belief that every one of these lives mattered.

Cotton Branch was there at the beginning, through the hardest days, and throughout the years that followed. Seven years later, we are still here for them. We always have been.

If you would like to help us continue journeys like this, donations make that possible. 🐷❤️

09/02/2026

This is what your love looks like on an ordinary early evening. ❤️

This is Virgil.

And somehow, right now, this picture feels like exactly what we needed.

The past month and a half at Cotton Branch has been a lot. We have welcomed animals in for immediate adoption, helped with hoarding cases, worked alongside other rescuers, dealt with emergencies, celebrated some beautiful victories, and kept moving from one thing to the next.

And that is what we signed up for. We would choose this work again and again.

But every once in a while, someone like Virgil reminds us that there is another part of this work too.

Slow down. Relax. Look up. Hope for the best.

Virgil appears to have mastered this better than the rest of us. ❤️

We hope you know how grateful we are for you all, and how proud we are of what we have built together.

There will be more rescues. More celebrations. More stories. More days when we need everyone to rally together.

And hopefully, plenty more early evenings when the biggest news from Cotton Branch is simply that Virgil found a comfortable place to lie down and decided the rest of the world could wait.

If you want to stay close to everything happening here, the celebrations, rescues, important updates, and quiet moments in between, we would love for you to join our email + text family.

👉 L!nk in the c0mments below! 👇

Whatever comes next, we want our Cotton Branch family right there with us. ❤️

09/02/2026

Being soft in a hard world is not weakness. It is refusing to let pain decide who you become. Protect your tenderness. The world needs people who still care. 💛

What helps you stay compassionate?

09/01/2026

I think Jolene wants to give you a kiss. 💋🐷

Honestly, who are we to stop her? Enjoy. ❤️