Little Paws Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, Inc.

06/12/2026

Non stop calls for animal surrenders. Kitten calls left, right and sideways. 2 guinea pigs came back due to inability to care for. Constant messages about injured animals/wildlife.
Not ONE message today about how someone can help (there were a couple earlier in the week- thank you:). Not a single food or monetary donation today. I speak for all small rescues and sanctuaries- WHEN WILL THE SUPPORT MATCH THE EXPECTATIONS OF SOCIETY??
I don’t want to hear that people are struggling so they can’t help. I so understand that! But anyone CAN help- sharing posts, following, volunteering- there are ways to help that cost very little to nothing. People don’t think about it until they need it- and then it’s not there.
We closed our cat program 2 years ago. It was bleeding the rescue and the support wasn’t there. The cattery is now a guinea pig/small animal area. I would love nothing more than to never turn away an animal- but that is not the reality, especially with so many “coming back” due to the economy.
I don’t have the answers. But I do know the government isn’t going to help. I’ve applied for state backing for two years in a row and turned down both times. I was going to use the funds to do community outreach to the schools and bring the community to the rescue to teach them about animal welfare. If we could educate and prevent…… So many of rescue problems would be over! Unfortunately, here we are trying to react instead of being proactive and it feels like a losing battle when you want to do so much, but your hands are tied.
Anyway, we will continue to do what we can every day. The animals in our care will be continued to be cared for and those that are young and healthy will still be seeking homes and everyone else will live their lives out here, safe and loved . If there becomes room, and we have the funds to care for, we will take more in -if there doesn’t then we can’t.
It’s just that simple and I’m sorry. I wish that it wasn’t just lack of money that was stopping us from saving more animals. If you have those winning lottery numbers you can send them right over 🙂

PS- the only reason why we are able to do as much as we do is because of the handful of devoted supporters we do have. Thank you all so much.  I know that you did not even need to read the above and that you understand. I wish everyone could understand and not get angry when they are told that we cannot help them at this moment. 

06/02/2026

Not trying to be alarmist and definitely trying not to freak out, but…. Every local feed store is out of cow rolls. We had to drive to Zephyrhills to get a horse roll. Theres a $20-$30 per roll difference in cow v horse. Some stores have no supply of either. They are saying bales may be the best we can get over the summer until supply recovers from the drought. $18 a square bale for tna (tifton for cows is cheaper if you can find bales). We would need at least 5-6 bales a day! That’s over $100/day! Over $3,000 a month!! Just for hay!! Yikes!
Does anyone have a secret hay field somewhere we can tap into until this hay shortage passes??? 🤷🏻‍♀️😳

05/29/2026

Good news!! I was able to secure a few more watermelons (thank you Spivey Farms) for those that missed last weekend’s donation sale! (or if they were so yummy that you just want more 😉) Stop by the Rescue between 9am and 1pm tomorrow Saturday 5/30. 3201 E. Williams Road Plant City Watermelons for a $2 suggested donation- possibly some cantaloupes as well. FCFS

05/24/2026

05/23/2026

Somebody came to the rescue today and dropped off a shirt and was looking for watermelons, which won’t be here until the morning.
My dad was here -he’s 83 and gets confused easily. He thought her name was Jennifer and that I taught school with her somewhere??
I know approximately 20 Jennifer‘s. Lol.
Ring doorbells, unfortunately, did not capture the interaction because I had turned down the sensitivity while we were moving Hannah and forgot to turn it back up. (Fixed now).
Anyway, mysterious, nice person who left a shirt and was kind to my dad and was looking for watermelons… Thank you and if you want to reach out to me, I can save you some melons tomorrow! 

05/22/2026

You can go right now and buy a watermelon for 8 dollars at Publix- unsure how long ago it’s been picked or… You can come to the Rescue tomorrow (Saturday 5/23) between 9 AM and 5 PM and get watermelons (full transparency - ours might be slightly smaller) and cantaloupes for a $2 suggested donation that were picked today. I might add, Publix is a great company, but they don’t rescue animals. Just saying 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣
3201 E Williams Rd Plant City

05/20/2026

Exciting news. Spivey Farms donated again this year bins of watermelons and cantaloupes- fresh from the fields! We will be set up at the Rescue: 3201 E. Williams Road Plant City FL 33565 from 9 AM to 5 PM this SATURDAY 5/24. Suggested donation of $2 per melon. 100% of the proceeds go directly to the animals of Little Paws Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, Inc. Quantities Limited -first come first served.
It’ll be a drive-through set up -pull up to the front of the drive, get what you need. If I am not out there, I will leave a donation jar or you can scan for Venmo/cashapp/PaypaI. I will be around the Rescue tidying up. Hopefully I will have a chance to say hello to everyone.