Rescue Me, dog adoption, rescue puppy, rescue dog, hounds,

Poems dedicated to Rescue Dogs

Vayda's Last Hope Humane Society, founded in 2002 is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, that my husband, Frank, and I formed while we were living in Pahrump, Nevada.

We met Mr. Vayda when he offered us the use of the 35 acres which he lived on with his rescued dogs. We were able to rescue hundreds of dogs from the local "kill" animal shelters in both Las Vegas and Pahrump, thanks to Mr. Vayda. Then we went to the Pet Smart or Petco locations in Vegas, and proceeded to find good homes for our rescues. We have NEVER received any type of grants nor were we offered any type of financial assistance from any organization. The adoption fees which we received for our animals, were strictly used to spay/neuter, feed and care for them. When our group didn't have enough money, we had to take the money out of our own pockets, to care for the animals. Over the course of 4 years, we soon became personally, emotionally and financially drained.

We were not "breed specific", which meant that we rescued them all. Young, old, sick, mean or even disabled. Very few people will adopt an old, sick or mean dog, however, they would occasionally adopt a disabled one. What that means is that we were always left with quite a number of dogs that were "unadoptable" which would live our their lives with us and that's OK!

We decided to move to South Carolina for a number of reasons, so we packed up Mr. Vayda, and around 40 dogs, plus horses, cats and birds. I decided that I couldn't handle any more "active" rescue plus care for all the animals we had at home and Mr. Vayda (he was partially disabled).

I have not set foot into even ONE animal shelter in the past 2 years that I have been here, yet we have 12 new "rescue" dogs. So, you might ask where did they come from. Three of them are young hounds, used for hunting, which I am told, if they don't perform well for the hunter, their collars are removed and they are dropped off in the woods to fend for themselves. The other dogs were all brought to us by our neighbors who found them abandoned on their properties.

So, that brings us to the "Please Rescue Me" page. The 12 dogs that we have for adoption are the new ones we have rescued since being in South Carolina. They are all young and highly adoptable, with the exception of 2 of them, which require very special people to take the time with them that they will require. I will not require an adoption fee, if you will guarantee a good home for them. They are all very special to us now, but I feel that they deserve homes where they can be given the extra attention they deserve. Don't misunderstand me, all the dogs that live here with us, all sleep inside our house every night. Kennels do not exist here. They are all family members and everyone gets along with each other (for the most part, anyway)

Please just take a look them and if you have room in your heart and in your home, or if you know someone that would be interested, please pass the information along. I will personally drive any one of them anywhere in this country if it would mean a good home for them. These dogs are accustomed to sleeping inside at night. They are brought inside during the day if the weather is extremely hot or too cold, and especially when we are experiencing thunder or lightning. If they would not be given the same type of living conditions as they receive here, then one of our rescues would not be appropriate for your home.

We are not working with any of the groups in South Carolina, because ALL of the shelters here are OVERLOADED as they are in most parts of the country. I have lived many places, but I have never seen the type of abuse and neglect to animals that I have witnessed here. In fact, when I mentioned to a local resident here, that I had rescued an old hunting dog, he was shocked that I would do such a thing. He said, "why would you pick up a stray? Don't you know what we do to strays around here?" He continued, "you just mix some antifreeze in with a can of food and that's it, you'll never seem them again." There is no Animal Control in this area, so I guess people aren't too worried about how they treat their animals or any animals that may be unfortunate enough to cross their paths. If you live in South Carolina, please don't take these comments personally, I don't mean to insult anyone, only those who abuse their animals will take offense to what I have said.

If you are unable to rescue any of our animals and would like to make a donation, please drop me an e-mail and I will let you know how to do so. We go through 750 lbs of dog food a month, and we don't feed our dogs cheap food. If you are in the Las Vegas area, I still have an active chapter there which is run by Kristina Manzo. If you would like to see available dogs for adoption, or make a donation, you can reach her at (702) 515-9571. With respect to any of the hunting dogs we have rescued; we, respectfully, will not adopt them to any home which may want to use them for hunting purposes. Besides, they were probably no good at it or they wouldn't have been dumped in the first place. We just want them to be loved, that's all, and they will give that love back a thousand times fold!

A NOTE ON OUR GYPSY COB BREEDING PROGRAM:

We are hoping that "one hand will wash another" or in our case, "one hoof will wash another paw". Any profits that we receive will help us to support the continued care of our dogs and the rescued horses that will remain here and grow old with us.