04/06/2026
A post I never thought I'd make....
Our dog intake is closed and will not be reopening.
Unfortunately we have not had a dog adopted in over a year, not even an application submitted for one and have actually in that time had some previously adopted dogs returned to us (as we do have our adopters sign an agreement to return if they can not keep). That issue along with with the high cost of flea, tick, heartworm meds, vet bills and feed bills we just can't keep pouring everything we have into taking more dogs when the nonprofit can't even fully support itself which is why I work full time plus still run the mobile petting zoo that helps fund the nonprofit itself. People often think nonprofits are swimming in money and for some organizations with corporate sponsors or campaigns, lots of volunteers or big fundraising groups- that may be true. But for the private 'smaller' nonprofits like ours, we can't relate as we work very hard to bring in donations and otherwise spend way too much of our own money to keep everyone taken care of and take NO paycheck as we are just volunteers ourselves. And I say smaller but we are actually one of the largest rescues and now sanctuaries in the state of Texas that actively rescue. The last decade in rescue has brought our family through so many situations and in that time we have rescued, rehomed and networked well over 1,000 dogs alone and many came right through our home!! Now having a large property and becoming a sanctuary, having over 200 rescue pets here, we have to be able to know we can sustain their care long-term. And it has been super difficult honestly, most struggles shared online with some we battled privately. We post receipts monthly and how much we get in donations, we are very open books that keep transparency within our rescue so we can build and have trust. And we are SO grateful for the ones who do donate, have supported us for many years and will continue to support us as we are not going anywhere. We refuse to let any animal in our care be without and we only make so much at our jobs. So we are closing our dog intake responsibly and will only accept other species of animals on a case by case basis if we have the space and availability to do so. Yes we now have over 60acres but we do not have a facility outside of dirt floor barns that are for our livestock specifically. (Which stings because we had just almost fully completed our facility in bell county before having to move, it was all set backs we have overcome...) But now our house is maybe a quarter of what it used to be, maybe smaller than that, size wise I could live in a box but 16 dogs in and out of our home is chaos. 11 are sanctuary dogs and the other 6 are adoptable but we have to prepare for them to never be adopted with how little interest they've had or for more alumni dogs potentially being returned in the future as we can never know what the future holds, we can only prepare for it. Stepping away from dogs is the best option for us at this point financially. Moving forward we are wanting to sink back into our original mission we created 10 years ago where we solely assist orphaned, abused, disabled livestock and exotic animals in need as I have bottle raised over 18 different species of animal and I lost count of how many we successfully bottle raised because there were so many (lots still being here with us after being fixed). I have fought like hell the last two years saving our organization after my uncle gutted me by evicting me from our pastures where my animals were content and from where I grew up and really loved living. That was a blindside I truly haven't healed from in my heart. After that, I found the largest cheapest property that happened to be in Happy Tx and bought it simply to save the animals in our care.. I could have found a beautiful home for myself but I chose land for the animals.... then moved the 200 animals across the state and haven't really taken a break since. I feel so proud of what we have accomplished as a family for our rescued animals because they all deserve it. They now have a place we 110% own where they can be safe and content again but with that being said; my husband and I are very tired. Emotionally, physically, mentally and financially. We will continue trying to adopt out our current available fully vetted dogs, we will also continue networking dogs in need and sharing courtesy dog post as we obviously will never stop helping dogs fully.
Our current sanctuary animals can continue being spoiled as there will be no new dog intakes taking funds from our current responsibilities. I do know this post did not need to contain all of this information but I love being honest with our followers because so many of you have followed us for so long and I feel y'all deserve full explanations and I wanted it to be publicly know we are no longer a dog rescue, but again livestock and exotic pet specific. Now with all of that being said, I've got chores to do y'all! Have a blessed day ❤️
