https://www.furryheartsinc.org/donate, http://www.furryheartsinc.org/

Furry Hearts, P. O. Box 540, Stockton, MO (2026)

04/09/2026

Meet Cletus. Cletus is a gentleman with many years of life experience. He and his person were recently visiting our lake when his person experienced a medical event. Thankfully Furry Hearts had a foster who was able to help give him a safe space to hang out while waiting to be reunited with his family.
We love being able to assist local law enforcement, ambulance services, fire departments, and corp of engineers when emergencies happen. We are only able to do so when we have fosters available to help out. Please contact us to learn more about fostering or volunteering!

01/28/2026

The winter weather that decided to appear here in Cedar County Missouri last week has made a hard hit on the number of animals needing help. We were contacted about 10 puppies left behind after an eviction (safely fostered), 2 pits "abandoned" (owner found), someone leaving animals behind in a camper with no heat (relative took custody), and so many strays! Thankfully, some were reunited with their owners, some were taken in by good samaritans to get them through the weather, but not all were so lucky.
For those who don't know, we do not have a facility to house dogs in. We are only able to accept custody of dogs when we have fosters who will house them. Otherwise when we can, we offer supplies, help make connections with other organizations, help find where the animal belongs, give advice, cry a little, and worry about those dogs that we couldn't help.
Without fosters, we have to say no way too often. We know that some of those animals that we are unable to help never find any help to get them safe and loved. We know that..... well, some of those endings hurt our hearts.
This dog showed up at a house right before the cold weather, and was lucky enough that they welcomed him in temporarily. He has been a good and appreciative guest, but due to medical issues in the family, is not able to stay there. He is medium-ish (they estimate about 40 lbs currently, but is somewhat underweight. He has gotten along with their resident dogs, even the one who doesn't want to share his people. He needs either a willing foster in the Cedar County area, or a licensed rescue to pop up and help ensure his future. We will take care of his immediate vet needs, and supplies can be provided for local fosters. I am sorry, we are NOT able to accept fosters outside of our immediate area.
If you can help this boy, or are willing to help some other dog to keep us from being forced to say no, please reach out to us.

01/24/2026

Please notice that the current temperatures are in the extremely dangerous zone for all pets!! If at all possible, bring your pets indoors as much as you can over the next few days. At the very least, make sure they have dry windproof shelter. It should be just big enough for them to fit in comfortably. Provide a large amount of straw for bedding, NOT hay or blankets as these can absorb moisture and freeze.
If your pet is shivering, uncoordinated, or confused, they are suffering from hypothermia. Warm them up GENTLY, with a warm room, slightly warmed blankets, or if they are small, your body heat . Do not use hot water!
Provide extra food and liquid water for any pets who are outside. Do not feed a hypothermic animal, get them warmed up first then offer small amounts of food and water.
We have already recieved calls and messages about animals in danger, but we are extremely limited on what we can take in due to a shortage of fosters. PLEASE be the solution if you see a problem, we will help where we can!

01/03/2026

First transport of the year! Meet Buddy, a 3 year old husky who needed help connecting with new circumstances. Thank you so much to our rescue partners who help make these rides possible.
Check out the comments for his critique of my driving. :-p

12/22/2025

She wagged her tail at me.

Rescue is rarely easy. It has amazing moments, and definitely the success stories, but it also will break you, mentally, physically, and emotionally. For me, it tends to be one small detail of a situation that stays lodged in my chest. Last week, it was the wag of a tail.

I received a call from Deputy Nance, of the Cedar County Sheriff’s Department asking if I was available to assist with a dog hit by car. Amazingly, her location was only a couple of miles from where I was at, so I said I would be glad to come see what I could do. I’ve answered calls like this before—bumps, bruises, scared dogs who need a vet and a chance to find their people. I thought this would be one of those.

It wasn’t.

When I arrived, I saw her in the ditch—a small brown shape that told me, immediately, this was going to be different. Her injuries were severe. I honestly didn’t expect her to still be alive. But as I walked up, her eyes followed me, and when I made eye contact with her, she did the last thing I expected. She wagged her tail at me. She knew I was there, and that I would help.

I wrapped her in my jacket and Deputy Nance helped me pick her up as gently as possible and tuck her into my car. Thankfully, I was probably within 100 yards of the driveway to one of our area’s vet clinics, so I turned around and headed there as quickly and gently as I could. I walked into the office, told them I needed help with an emergency. I told them that I didn’t think this was something we could fix—but I needed to know.

One look at the vet’s face told me everything.

Sometimes, we can’t fix things. Even if the timing had been quicker, and the weather better, and all the resources in the world would have been at our fingertips, the only thing to do was ease her pain. I stood in front of her while they were preparing and she looked at me with trust in her eyes.

And again….. she wagged her tail at me.

I stroked her nose, and stood where she could see me, and told her it would be ok. She was wrapped in my jacket and not alone when her pain went away.

I hope her life was lived in a way where she was loved, she was never hungry, and she knew what it was like to stretch out across a whole couch. I hope someone somewhere is missing her. I wish she would have passed old and grey, with her family around her. But at least she wasn’t alone. I couldn’t do anything to help, but I could be there.

Efforts have been made to find her family, but there has been no luck so far.

I will never be able to forget seeing her injuries. But I will also never forget the look in her eyes, and that she wagged her tail at me.

Some days in rescue don’t end with happy endings.
They end with love—and that has to be enough.

Thank you to the person who cared enough to report her, Deputy Nance from the Cedar County Sheriff’s Department for staying with her and helping me, and to Mitchell Vet for bringing us right in, helping me know that my suspicion was correct, and helping her be relieved from her pain.

I could not have provided the care that was needed for her (and for all the other dogs that we help) without the support of friends like all of you. If you would like to help cover her final care, or make sure we have the ability to care for the next one who needs us, please visit www.furryheartsinc.org/donate to find info on all the ways you can contribute.

11/30/2025

We have been pretty lucky with our weather this winter so far, but it looks like our luck has run out! PLEASE make sure your pets have access to appropriate shelter to keep them safe.
They must be able to stay dry and out of the wind, at the minimum. They should have a shelter that is the appropriate size for them, a large dog house or shed may seem luxurious, but if it is too big for their size, they will not be able to stay warm.
Straw is better than hay, or even fuzzy blankets. Hay or blankets can get wet easily, and suck the heat away from your pet. Straw does a better job of staying dry and creating an insulating barrier to help your pet maintain body temperature.
Small, young, underweight, or elderly dogs are at higher risk for temperature related damage.

If your neighbor is not providing shelter for their pets, PLEASE TALK TO THEM! They may gladly welcome help getting a dog house or straw for their pets, or making other arrangements if you approach them nicely. If you feel that the pet is in danger from the weather, you can call the local police department and request that they check it out.

If your neighbor owns a large fluffy dog such as a husky, malamute, or pyranees, please understand that the dog may laugh at any offer of shelter, and choose to lay in a large pile of snow. Yes, they still need shelter available, but you can't force them to use it.

10/22/2025

Follow up to previous post-
Summary for those who didn’t see it, or didn’t read the whole thing…. We had been presented with concerns that the Eldo pound was going to start putting down animals after close to 8 years of us working with them to prevent this from happening. We expressed our sadness, clarified what we had been doing to help the pound, and presented options for ways for the community to help solve problems.
I, Becca Loane, as representative for Furry Hearts, plus several Furry Hearts volunteers and other concerned members of the community attended the city council meeting Monday night. It warmed my heart to see the faces of people who care enough to give a bit of their time to work towards a solution. The decision was made to have the discussion about the pound held as a closed session, so sadly I can’t share details about the discussion, but I do feel like important information was exchanged, and some points discussed were found to be common ground between the council/city manager and the individuals who were there to support the animals. Overall the result of the conversation is that the city and Furry Hearts WILL continue to work together to place the animals. Understandably, the city does have concerns about the space limitations of the pound, which we FULLY understand, and have always tried to work with.
New avenues of communication have hopefully been opened up, some improvements are already planned for the pound, and I think we all understand each other a bit better.
Please understand, our goal of bringing these concerns to light was to address a problem, not attack a person. Threats against any individual or group involved are not appreciated, if you feel strongly about the topic, PLEASE be part of the solution to make sure that this situation doesn’t happen again!
Help prevent animals from entering the pound by taking care of what you own, and WORK WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS!!!!!! Spay and neuter to help manage the overpopulation. Make sure your pet is wearing a collar with ID or is microchipped with current contact information.
Furry Hearts could really use more people willing to help us with the animals in need in our county and their families. Fosters and volunteers are a huge part of our need. If we have fosters available, we are sometimes able to prevent dogs from ever entering the pound, or move the dogs out of the pound quickly. We cover vet costs for the foster, and are willing to provide all supplies needed. Some fosters stay for a very short period of time, others do take longer. Having the dog in foster rather than in the pound does make it much easier for us to know the dog’s personality and needs, and cute pictures of the dog being part of someone’s household allow our rescue partners to know better how to place them.
If you are comfortable going for a drive with a dog, we would love to have help driving dogs back and forth to the vet or to meet their transport to rescue. Many of these trips are only 20-30 miles each way, or slightly longer drives of around 2 hours each direction are sometimes needed.
If you aren’t able to physically help, consider donating. Our vet bills and travel expenses get seriously painful, as well as purchase of any supplies. New or gently used supplies are always appreciated as well.
Thank you to everyone who stood up for the animals of our community, and ESPECIALLY to those who give of themselves to solve problems. We can all help solve the overpopulation and stray issues in our communities.
It was mentioned by a community member that it would be nice to have an in person meeting to learn more about ways to help, this is something that I am happy to work on, in spite of the fact that public speaking turns me into a puddle of goo. Sometimes it is entertaining just to watch how often I can tangle myself up. ;) If you are interested in attending this meeting, please let me know so I can know how to best organize it.
Photo included is of Beth, a recent occupant of the pound, showing her big smile to thank the out of state rescue who stepped up to find her perfect forever home.

10/19/2025

UPDATED INFO! Please see new post on our page for update on the situation

The end of an era?
For those who don't know who we are, we are a local non-profit organization that helps with dogs in need from the Cedar County Missouri area. We do this primarily by networking dogs in need to rescues out of the area, and then coordinating vet care and transport needed to get them to accepting rescues. We are a VERY small team, and do the best we can to help as many dogs as possible.
We have been assisting the Eldo pound for about 8 years by networking unclaimed dogs. This has allowed them to be essentially no kill, with exceptions for severe behavioral or medical issues that cannot be realistically solved. This is a rare status for small town pounds in our region, many pounds routinely euthanize a large percentage of dogs that come into their care.
Officially, the policy for the Eldo pound has always been that dogs could be put down at the end of their stray hold, or immediately if owner surrendered. We know this. Thankfully, this has not actually taken place. We have recently been informed by more than one individual in a position of knowledge that intentions have been stated to return to enforcing this policy. This means that any animal entering the pound that is not reclaimed before end of the stray hold can be euthanized at any time, and any owned animal that the pound has been asked for help with may be euthanized the very same day. Sadly, this also means that it may become impossible for animals to be transferred out of the pound to other rescues where they can find their perfect forever homes.
This means: If you are out of town and aren’t notified that your dog got loose, it may be put down. If you need a few days to gather up fees or repair issues that allowed your dog to run loose, it may be put down. If you are missing a pet, and did not call the police department daily to check to see if it was picked up, it may be put down. If you have a family or housing emergency and need help immediately with your pet, it may be put down. This includes entire litters of puppies, small dogs, senior dogs, pregnant dogs, perfect dogs, imperfect dogs, and all of the matching groups of cats.
Eldo has had an amazing man filling the position of Animal Control and Code Enforcement. He truly cares about the animals AND their people. He gave every single animal in his care attention every single day, including time in the larger play yard and time with other dogs when appropriate. We have received pictures of several of his charges sitting in his lap while he does paperwork or returns messages. He took dogs with him as he drove around town monitoring code enforcement issues. He has worked his butt off every day, including many weekends, to make sure the animals have what they need to be as happy as possible. He worked around maintenance and facility issues of the pound that make climate control, sanitation, and containment more difficult. Sadly, primarily due to the changes in how he was going to be allowed to do his job, this wonderful man Frank is no longer employed by your city, and to the best of my knowledge, the position of Animal Control has not been filled.
We have assisted the pound by donating or coordinating the donation of a large percentage of the supplies they receive, including food, treats, collars, leashes, dog houses, wading pools, toys, beds, fans, climate control devices, and other necessities. We pay 100% of the vet care for any dog that we transfer out. We pay for the transport expenses of the travel to rescues, often many states away. We have also paid vet bills for dogs while they were still on stray hold, if they came in with urgent medical needs. We help coordinate foster care for dogs who cannot be safely housed in the pound, especially young puppies, small breeds, or those with medical conditions. We cover ALL of the supplies needed for these dogs while in foster care. When needed, we help coordinate transportation for the dogs to and from the vet office. This allowed the costs of care of the animals to be very minimal.
We have been told that a large factor in the euthanasia considerations is that the ACO spends more than his allowed hours performing animal control related tasks, taking away from his time allotted for code enforcement activities. So, he spends more time cleaning, caring for the animals, providing basic facility maintenance, attempting to reunite pets with owners, community education and support to prevent animals from leaving their owners, trying to catch loose animals, responding to phone calls and concerns, and all other tasks connected to animals living in Eldo. Too much time. Please look back to where I said that he even worked on many weekends…. So 7 days a week, many weeks. Because he cares. Because he wanted the animals to be safe and cared for.
If the city wanted the ACO to spend less time doing animal care tasks, there are improvements that could have been made to reduce work load, including improving the drainage system, kennel fencing, storage solutions, hiring a part time kennel assistant for cleaning, more efficient climate control, and more effective notification of picked up animals.
Instead, they have expressed their plans to euthanize animals as needed to keep ACO hours to a minimum.

How the community can help-
CONTAIN YOUR PETS! Do not allow your pets to run loose off of your property. This is a safety hazard not only for your pet, but for other community members and their pets.
FIX EM!.- Many wandering animals and behavior issues can be directly linked to hormones. When a female dog is in heat in our city, EVERY SINGLE male dog in town knows it. This means that the well behaved intact male dog on the far side of town who normally stays in their yard may decide to follow their noses to see if they can make friends. Males may fight, or not notice the car coming down the road that they are crossing. Female cats in heat tend to be very vocal, and male cats will fight and chase each other. All of these behaviors can be reduced by spaying and neutering. This also prevents more puppies and kittens being produced into a society where almost every rescue in our region is constantly overcrowded, there are not enough people looking for new pets to keep up with the supply created, and many people resort to dropping the pets off in locations that they were not invited.
KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS!. If you see one of their pets wandering around outside of their yard, contact the owner and let them know, or help catch them if you can! If their fence needs repaired, or their pet needs some extra attention, offer to help!
ENCOURAGE THE CITY to accept volunteer help, and then BE the help! Some pounds and rescues allow volunteers to come in and help with projects that keep the facility running smoothly.
FOSTER! Furry Hearts is always looking for good fosters to help get dogs from our community safe. Fosters are needed for everything from tiny puppies, to small breeds, to pregnant moms, to larger breeds.

Our hearts are breaking for the animals that we will no longer have time to help, and for our community. We will try to focus on the lives that we have been able to save. Please enjoy a bit of a look back at some of the animals who spent time in the Eldo pound, this is a very small percentage of our last 8 years of teamwork, but all of these dogs have moved to safety.

01/16/2024

CEDAR COUNTY PEEPS! Especially you, but outside help options also available.
***additional info in comments****(
We are in crisis mode. We have several dogs that need new locations to hang out ASAP.
Some of these dogs have been in a "safe" location that we have now been told is unable to keep temps warm enough to keep water in a liquid form.
We have puppies, smallish dogs, medium dogs, black dogs, brown dogs, and polkaspotted dogs. Basically whatever you could need. Some of these dogs already have placement and just need somewhere to hang out until they catch their rides.
Basically, they need to be contained somewhere that they can be kept at reasonable temps. Couches not necessarily required. If you would be interested in a temporary guest, PLEASE contact us asap.
If you are not able to foster, we already have two dogs that were so unsafe and unhealthy that they were put into boarding at a local vet clinic. The clinic can likely take another couple of boarders, BUT this costs us per day plus all vetting required by the clinic. If you can assist financially, our PayPal is [email protected], our venmo is -hearts, payments can be called into the vet clinic, I will pick up local checks or cash donations, or if those don't work for you, let me know what does! We already lost 3 puppies because of the weather in the last week, Becca's heart can't stand to add to that number right now.
Pictured is the momma who is mourning her puppies that died, she has been tagged by rescue, but is waiting on transport. Her name is now Elsa. She will never have puppies to freeze to death again.

01/02/2024

Happy 2024! 2023 was kind of a crazy year in the Furry Hearts world.
We worked around multiple unplanned medical issues in our primary team, the loss of a couple of amazing supporters, the "joy" of becoming licensed with the Department of Ag (and the changes in record keeping, vetting, and financials that is part of that), and so much more. But through it all, we keep on fighting to the best of our ability.
The dogs we helped ranged from around 1 pound all the way up to over 140 lbs. Moms with litters of brand new puppies all the way up to senior citizens. We had a few medical emergencies of seriously injured dogs needing immediate help. We assisted 4 city pounds from our area to place dogs in need with rescues around the country. Some of the dogs we helped find placement for were much loved pets who needed new options due to owners dying or facing unavoidable life changes. Many were abandoned, neglected, abused, or in immediate danger.
This year's "weirds" were seriously stepped up from our previous one or two per year. This year they included 1 ball python, 1 hedgehog, 6 rats, and 17 turtles.
We have always tried to help out with a few spays here and there, but we bumped that up with more than 20 community spays this year. (Spay math- each mom could produce 2 litters next year, with an average of 8 puppies per litter. 20 spays= 320 puppies that we won't get called about next year). We hope to increase our spay sponsorship even further this year.
All in all, it was a big, busy year. Our hearts break for the dogs that we weren't able to help, including the ones that we were told were "our fault" that they would die. We rejoice for the ones we could help. We try not to blame ourselves for what we were not capable of doing. We try. Sometimes we do better than others.
Our first dog of 2023 was Una, a chi/terrier mix that we trapped to save her from the elements and the dangers of the wild where she had been abandoned. Our last dog of the year was this sweet heeler girl, who was rapidly losing time due to her fascination with the neighbor's livestock. From first, to last, and every single life in between, thank you all for the support and love that you have provided your Furry Hearts team.
In 2024, we hope to grow our active team, so we can grow the efforts we provide for our community. We hope to be able to fund more spays, and provide more education, so that maybe someday we won't have anything to do. (Don't worry, we don't really expect to ever be bored). We hope to be able to look back at the end of next year, and once again, know that we HAVE made a difference.

To volunteer, please reach out to us. We need you.
To donate, you can paypal to [email protected] , or Venmo to -Hearts , or mail to PO Box 540, Stockton MO 65785, or contact us to arrange a drop off.

Whatever you do, wherever you are, do what you can and remember us and all rescuers everywhere with some love and patience.

11/23/2023

Thank you to our very small family locally who continue to work so hard even when we are slightly broken, and our extended family all over the country who help our dogs have a chance at their happily ever afters!

07/11/2023

Hey... I see you over there shopping for random things on Amazon....
Did you know that we have an Amazon wish list? These are random things that we could use to make our work easier. If you are doing some online shopping, please consider hitting our list and picking up a thing or two.
If you aren't an Amazon j***y, we could really use collars, medium to large crates, durable toys and chews, puppy pens, and fencing panels. These can be new or used, as long as they are still functional.
Another option is to help us out at the vet's offices (where we spend a lot of time, Becca keeps asking where her assigned desk is at one of our local clinics) by chipping in a few bucks on our account OR by purchasing some flea/tick meds (we prefer Nexgard or Bravecto) for us! We are pretty well known at Cramer Vet or Lake Animal Clinic in Stockton, or Mitchell's in El Dorado Springs.
Thank you all for your support and love, we can't do what we do without your encouragement.
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/26SBVUAY6C71C?ref_=wl_share

Furry Hearts

04/09/2026

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12/22/2025

11/30/2025

10/22/2025

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01/16/2024

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