YOUR DONATIONS HELP US WORK MIRACLES
Candy’s Story
We found Candy in July, wandering through a field just outside Bethune, scavaging for food. It was dusk and, in the dim light, we thought she was an old dog. Her head was down and she moved very slowly. Once we had coaxed her over and gotten her into the car, we saw how young she was (about 18 months), but she was extremely thin with large areas of hair loss due to flea allergies (she was still covered in fleas and fire ants). She also had an ulcerated eye, probably the result of a cut from running through the underbrush. She was also anemic.
 Candy at Intake |
 Candy at Adoption |
With a few weeks of good food, worming, antibiotics, baths and flea prevention, Candy gained weight and began to regrow her coat. She was vaccinated and spayed in August. In October, she was adopted by a family in New Jersey.
To get Candy to her new home, we enlisted the aid of a wonderful group of private pilots called Pilots-N-Paws. These terrific folks volunteer their time, planes and gas to transport pets like Candy from rescue or shelter to their adopters. Save the Strays drove Candy about three hours, from Bethune, SC to Smithfield, NC, where we met Bill, the pilot who flew the first leg of Candy’s journey, and his wife Vicky. They handed Candy off to the second pilot, Tom Bragg, at an airport near Washington, DC. Tom flew Candy to Old Bridge, NJ, where the Fabers, her adoptive family, picked her up.
 Ready to Take Off |
 Airborne, First Leg |
It took a lot of coordination, but the emails we received from the Fabers speak for themselves:
10/13/09: Candy is enjoying her walks with me and is now easily keeping up with my pace. She spent her first night on her own (not in our room) last night and was very good. Candy is also having fun chasing the squirrels in our backyard. Thanks again for a great companion. She is such a great part of our family.
11/17/09: Thought we would send you a couple of updated pictures of Candy. We had fun with her on a hike, even though she always had to be in the lead. We also had a fun time on Halloween with her. The kids dressed her up as a cowgirl. She is a wonderful pet and we are enjoying her a lot.
 On the Ground in New Jersey |
 Home At Last |
More Miracles
Here are several more examples of how your donations help us rehabilitate and rehome dogs in need.
 Sky, a 9-month-old husky mix, weighed only 11 lbs. when rescued from neglectful owners. He was severely anemic from parasites, had a mild case of parvovirus and had lost most of his hair from mange. |
 Ten weeks later, after hospitalization, follow-up vet care and lots of at-home TLC, Sky had recovered from parvo, gained weight and regrown his coat. He was adopted by a family in Pennsylvania. |
 This was Bebe when we found her wandering along busy Route 1. Her worn-down teeth and tumor-filled mammary glands attested to the hard life she had been living. |
 Today, Bebe has a wonderful home with a family in New Jersey, who also adopted Casey, a three-legged lab pup, from us in 2008. |
 Little Bit was born with a deformed spine. By the time she came to Save the Strays at age one, she had developed secondary deformities of the hips and all four legs from dragging herself around. The orthopedic vet we consulted said she would need a neurological consult and MRI before even considering surgery to her spine and felt the likelihood that surgery would help was low. |
 Save the Strays purchased a four-wheel canine cart for Little Bit, which got her off the ground, straightened her spine and relieved some of the stress on her front legs and shoulders. She was adopted last December by a wonderful couple in New York that has two other differently-abled dogs. They accept her just as she is, and she has become an integral member of their family. |
Won’t You Help?
Your donations help us rescue, rehabilitate and care for dogs like Candy until we can find them permanent homes. Some of them need emergency or intensive medical care at intake; others require surgery down the line. We also have special needs pets who require aids like K9 carts to get around, and other dogs with chronic conditions that require lifelong medication and make adoption unlikely or untenable. And, of course, they all need basics like food, bedding, vaccinations, worming, spaying and neutering.
Vet and feed costs, like everything else, have steadily risen. We can’t continue this vital work without the support and commitment of animal lovers like you.
PLEASE DONATE TODAY. You can give online right now by clicking on the 'Donate' button below. (If you have any problems with your PayPal transaction, please call their customer service line at (888) 221-1161.) If you prefer to send a donation by check, please make your check payable to Save the Strays and mail it to 68 Scrub Oak Drive, Bethune, SC 29009.
Remember, your entire donation is tax-deductible, and every dollar goes directly to care for our dogs.
Save the Strays Animal Rescue
68 Scrub Oak Drive, Bethune, South Carolina
Email: info@savethestrays.org