Project Safe Pet

06/05/2026

Happy life for Bruce & Beasley! These puppy brothers were struggling to stay alive, left crated together on the deck on the hottest and coldest of days for countless hours.
Our rescue Project Safe Pet, took Beasley, the tan pup and Halfway There took Bruce, the black and tan pup. Today, these brothers are living the lives they always deserved. They were adopted by family friends, giving them the chance to have good times playing and visiting one another 💕

06/04/2026

Happy Thursday from the sweetest little beagle family!

What a difference a few days of love, good food, and a safe place can make. Beagle Mama looks like a completely different dog, her eyes are brighter, her body is relaxing, and she’s finally able to just be a dog. Watching this family decompress outside of the shelter is incredible. Thank you to everyone who helped make last weeks big pull of 23 possible🐾💕

06/03/2026

We got them!

The first part of the video is from January when mama dog, Rupee, and her five puppies were rescued. At that time, Rupee’s puppies were only about five weeks old. While we were there, our volunteer could hear other puppies crying but couldn’t see where they were. The owner said, “Those puppies don’t have anything to do with these puppies. Those puppies are for my father-in-law.”

At the time, we did not think those puppies were related to Rupee’s litter. But fast-forward five months, and we now know they were in fact Rupee and Lightning’s puppies. Looking back, it’s amazing they survived.

We are thrilled to say that we now have THOSE puppies! We hope they can quickly forget their lonely, cold, and hungry days. After just one night with their temporary foster, they already seem to be adjusting so well. Today they are headed to the vet and then off to their foster homes.

As for poor Lightning, the daddy dog, we will continue to advocate for him. Our first goal was to get him a better dog house, and we have been providing food regularly. The owner has now agreed to have him neutered, which is a huge step forward. Once that is done, we will continue asking if he would consider surrendering this sweet boy so he can find a loving home.

The owner explained that Lightning was roaming into neighboring yards in search of females, contributing to more unwanted litters. We believe he is beginning to understand that neutering will help keep Lightning closer to home and improve his quality of life.

For now, we’re celebrating these puppies being safe, warm, fed, and loved.

06/02/2026

Several months ago, in the dead of winter, we rescued a chained mama dog, Rupee, and her litter. She was emaciated and living outside in the freezing cold. Her puppies were surviving under a concrete slab. There was also a brown dog on the property, the daddy dog. He was desperate for attention and wanted so badly to leave with our volunteer.

As she was there, she heard puppies barking in the distance and asked about them.

“Those don’t have anything to do with these puppies,” the owner said. “Those are my ex-father-in-law’s puppies.”

“Are you sure? Because we could take them too.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Fast forward several months.

We got a call that the ex-father-in-law no longer wanted the puppies. When we arrived, guess whose puppies they were?

Rupee’s puppies that look
just like her.

The same daddy dog was there, jumping up and down, begging us to help him. His water was filthy. He scarfed down food like he hadn’t seen a full meal in ages.

Sadly, far too many dogs live like this in Chester County and throughout the South. The legal standards for animal care are still far too low.

We desperately want to take the daddy dog too, but the owner won’t allow it. We left flea treatment, medication for his bloody fly-bitten ears, and several bags of food. We’ll be bringing him a doghouse as well. The owner has finally agreed to let us get him neutered and vaccinated, but we’ll believe it when we see it.

While we’re incredibly grateful that these two puppies will be out of this hellhole, our hearts hurt for their dad, and for the thousands of other dogs still living this way every day. We see the same story far too often. Owners having litters of puppies and wanting to keep a couple, a few months later they don’t want them. Same story different backyard .

They all deserve better.

06/01/2026

Another great transport left Saturday with 18 puppies! 2 litters from Chesterfield SC and 1 litter from Lancaster SC . Thank you so much to our fosters, our partner rescue and all involved 🐾💕

05/31/2026

Petsitting Safety Tips with Summer Vacations here COMMUNICATION and preparation can be life-saving.

⚠️ A reminder to communicate with your pet sitter before you travel.

We’ve heard too many heartbreaking stories of pet sitters forgetting to provide water, missing visits, or not showing up at all —which have resulted in emergency vet visits and even deaths.

A little preparation can help keep your pets safe.

🐾 Check in with your pet sitter the day before you leave.
🐾 Ask for daily text updates and photos.
🐾 Consider using an indoor camera so you can check in remotely. Amazon has brands like Kasa for $25-35 you can set up and watch from your phone.
🐾 Leave clear written instructions.
🐾 Put sticky notes near the exit door as reminders: WATER ✅ FOOD ✅
🐾Leave out an extra water bowl
🐾Make sure you have enough food to last while you are gone.
🐾Leave emergency numbers

Most pet sitters do a wonderful job, but clear communication and a backup plan can provide peace of mind and help prevent avoidable emergencies and tragedies for your pets.

05/31/2026

05/30/2026

Our county shelter has assistance for kittens and friendly cats, TNR, and a food pantry. They give very DETAILED information on when they can accept, so if you or someone you know needs help with friendly cats or any of the above. Follow their page York County Animal Services SC . Info on kittens and friendly cats is usually given on Sundays .
They just had a day to accept kittens and cats ( friendly) so it will likely be a few weeks .They will post details on their page so if you know anyone needing help please follow. Below is last week but shows you the services offered from our County Shelter. We think it’s pretty impressive. They work hard to make a difference. We need everyone to work hard to get their animals spayed and neutered. This can be done through the program we are a part of if you need help please sign up for a low cost / no cost spay neuter for your dog or cat Spay-Neuter Coalition

SHELTER SERVICES WEEK OF 5/25/26
***York County residents only. (Must have a York County government issued ID for all intake and community services)
🇺🇸 𝑪𝑳𝑶𝑺𝑬𝑫 𝑴𝑶𝑵𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑴𝑬𝑴𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑨𝑳 𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑯𝑶𝑳𝑰𝑫𝑨𝒀

***Please see special hours for cat intake below in Intake Section of this post.

𝐹𝐼𝐸𝐿𝐷 𝐸𝑁𝐹𝑂𝑅𝐶𝐸𝑀𝐸𝑁𝑇
Reports related to animal cruelty, neglect, welfare, and dog/livestock at large can be made by calling Animal Services at 803-628-3190 Option 1 from 7:30-5 Tuesday- Friday. All calls are responded to on a priority based system with urgent calls responded to first. After-hours and holidays are emergency based response, which includes severely injured domestic animals, aggressive stray dogs at large, and livestock in roadway. All other calls are responded to during regular business hours.

𝑆𝐻𝐸𝐿𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑆𝐸𝑅𝑉𝐼𝐶𝐸𝑆
𝑶𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒔
Tuesday-Friday 10 AM- 4:45 PM
Please bring your proof of ownership, including current pictures of the pet and either vet records or proof of rabies and your Drivers License or Government issued picture ID.

𝑨𝒅𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔
Appointment basis. Please complete an Adoption Survey at https://www.cognitoforms.com/YorkCountyAnimalControl/PetAdoptionSurvey and an Adoption Counselor will contact you.

𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚
Tuesday- Friday 11 am to 4 pm. Please bring your proof of Spay Neuter and York County ID.
Free Straw is also currently available at the front of the shelter for outdoor pets. Please take one bag.

𝐼𝑁𝑇𝐴𝐾𝐸 𝑆𝐸𝑅𝑉𝐼𝐶𝐸𝑆
*Please bring your York County Driver's License or ID.

𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝑫𝒐𝒈𝒔
Monday CLOSED FOR MEMORIAL DAY
Tuesday 11:30-3:30
Wednesday Closed
Thursday 12-5:30
Friday 11:30-3:30

𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒔
This week, we have space to accept 2 friendly stray cats OR one litter of stray kittens 7-12 weeks of age PER HOUSEHOLD. Drop off for friendly stray cats is Thursday, 12 pm- 3 pm. After space is full, we will return to accepting cats by appointment as kennel space is available. Contact the Intake Department at 803-628-3190 to schedule intake.

𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 (𝑵𝒐𝒏-𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚) 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒔
Community cats are sterilized for population reduction through the TNVR (Trap-Neuter- Vaccinate-Return) Program.
There are 3 options for services:
1. Contact the shelter regarding our TNVR Voucher program. Vouchers can be redeemed at designated low-cost clinics.
2. Visit the Spay Neuter section of our website to see local community programs that assist with TNVR.
3. We are taking in a limited number of cats for TNVR this Tuesday. See details here. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1897fnJ62v/

Announcing for us today is adoptable Goose

05/29/2026

With transport this Saturday every foster of ours is full. BUT……..

Tuesday was a day we never saw coming, and what happened was incredible.

It started with a message about 2 puppies that appeared to have been dumped. A good Samaritan took them in and reached out for help. Like so many rescues right now, we had no open fosters, and Lancaster shelter had just posted they were CODE RED and completely full.

We asked the Good Samaritan if she could hold the puppies until Saturday when we would have fosters. She said yes. We coordinated with Lancaster shelter to report them, get their vaccines and deworming started. On the way to the shelter the Good Samaritians found 2 MORE puppies (same litter) on her road. Of course we told her to pick them up and she agreed to hold all 4 until Saturday💕

While arranging for the Good Samaritan to bring all 4 pups to Lancaster shelter for vaccines, we were asked if we could take a beagle mom who had just given birth at the shelter. We scrambled and made it work. Next came 5 more puppies they had needing out. Then we were asked by the volunteer who coordinators transports for rescues if there was any way we could help another mom and pups from Anson County if a temporary foster could be found. One was found, and that family is now safe too🙌

What started as helping 2 puppies turned into 23 lives saved in just a few hours.

This is the reality rescues and shelters face every single day. And every one of these animals now has a chance because one person helped 2 abandoned puppies.

The power of kindness, teamwork, fostering, transport, and simply asking for help can truly save lives.