Original subtitles

Hey, guys. Hello, babies.

Get in bed, girly.

Hey, good morning, darlin'.

- No, no. - Oh, Teiren.

- She's scared, I think. - I know. She doesn't know where to go.

♪♪

- Do we have any we're not feeding?

- No.

♪♪

- Here you go.

Mona, there you go, girly.

It's okay.

Rowdy's not eating,

and Dominique's being real picky.

♪♪

Hey, guys.

Okay, little ones.

You were the hungriest.

♪♪

All right.

Humphrey, you settle down, man.

Hey, Maisie. You silly girl.

- Good morning, Amelia.

There's your food.

- Come on, Gus!

Come on, Tito. Are you coming?

Good boy.

I know! I know! I know, come on.

What? You sleeping in this morning?

You sleeping in?

♪♪

Amelia, stop that.

What, Tito? What, Tito?

When we started rescuing dogs 15 years ago,

I never dreamed we would have a real rescue.

And I never dreamed we would have a rescue this size

that has taken over, you know, our whole home, our lives.

Okay.

Oh, hush.

Dominique. Dominique, come on.

We have 71 dogs in the house currently,

and I don't really know of any other rescues

that just let dogs live in their house like we do.

Want me to bring you lunch, old guy?

Most people who rescue dogs

have kennels separate from their houses,

but we'd saved so many animals

that had been victimized or injured.

And we don't always know what we're getting into with that.

And that's why living with them sometimes is so important

'cause we really find out what we need to know

before they get adopted by someone.

What happens sometimes is-- yes, it is.

We've told you this story before.

We've told you a lot.

She was going stir-crazy being in the shelter for too long.

We'd have felt terrible if we made her stay

in the wrong conditions for another week, even.

So, it's gonna work out for this sweetheart,

I can promise you that.

I remember how excited when we hit

the 1,000th adoption.

Danny and I thought we hit the lottery, you know?

We were like, "Can you believe we made it to a thousand?"

Okay, family walk...

And right now, I mean,

we're only a hundred and a few dogs away

from hitting the 10,000th adoption.

Let's go. Come on.

- Boys, come on. - Come on. Come on.

Hi, guys. Hi.

How are you guys, huh?

Doggies.

Doggies, hi.

We get the majority of our dogs from animal shelters.

A lot of the shelters have

what they call "red code day," which is euthanasia day.

Sometimes I can get 100 e-mails from 20 shelters

asking us to take dogs off their euthanasia list.

This is just one normal e-mail from one shelter.

These are all, as you can see, it says,

"final date," "expired," "critical."

So these animals are about to be euthanized today.

Over 4 million animals are euthanized

every year in America.

It's very, very sad.

You look at their faces, you look at their eyes,

and they're just begging for someone to save 'em.

Hello.

That's a pretty color.

Yeah, she's beautiful.

This little guy here.

That's the one we're checking on.

She's very sweet. Housebroken.

A lady got her off Facebook and she didn't want her anymore.

This one came from a hoarder and he still needs some work.

- Okay. - They came in really, really, really, really shy.

We've got three left. They're probably

the nicest-looking hoarding dogs I've ever seen.

- And there's Chester. - You are cute.

- He's a rat terrier mix. - Hey, Chester. And how old is he?

He's about four years old. He came in as a stray.

Is he pretty settled, though, normally, or...?

He usually is, yes.

He's been outside, so he's all hyped up.

He's been runnin' in the yard.

It's hard to pick up dogs that are on euthanasia

because you already know they don't really have a chance

I will ask them if they can give me any description

on their personality, if they're friendly, if they're aggressive,

if they're dog-aggressive, cat-aggressive.

And, I mean, we don't want to pick the perfect dog.

We want to pick a dog that we can help and save and hopefully rehab.

As you can see, this one is active.

- And it's black, so it's gonna be kind of hard for us. - Right, right.

So, maybe, maybe that would be one.

We don't need another one that's hyper right now.

We've got about four of those.

Let's look, now.

Shelters, by law,

they have to take every animal dropped off here.

We receive 5,000 animals a year at our animal shelter.

We can hold 125.

If we're overloaded, then we have to make room.

He came in, in a trap, through Animal Control.

They'd said that he was mean and vicious

and to be careful 'cause he would eat us for lunch.

Well, ahem... here he is. - Doesn't look it.

Seeing their faces and knowing they're going to die...

that drives me harder to want to save more.

I don't think I could ever turn my back on this

'cause I couldn't live with the guilt

of walking away from all those faces that need help.

He needs a really good, special home.

- Someone that's gonna take care of him. - Do you wanna go home, hmm?

It's a funny emotion because there's a part of me

that would love to be selfish and say,

"We've rescued almost 10,000 dogs.

"We're gonna go pick up. We're gonna go travel.

"We're gonna go live the rest of our life

and have a good life,"

but my internal insides won't let me do it.

This is Apollo.

He was runnin' on the side of the road, stray.

He's been very friendly.

He was injured as a puppy, um, so he does have a bum leg,

so we've had no interest in him whatsoever.

Apollo, do you want to go home, huh?

You wanna go home and get out of here?

The ones that are very friendly, very cute, furry,

those get adopted immediately.

What we usually try to do is try to get a lot

that are not very popular to get adopted,

so that they can get a home.

And that's Moose.

We'll get you ice creamies.

- I think this dog has... - Yeah, come on.

...basset, Pekingese, cocker spaniel...

...golden retriever, setter... - Come on.

- Huh? ...and a little chow.

Not to mention bloodhound and Afghan and...

- Well, look at the coat. - That's beautiful.

It's got the coat of an Akita.

Let's put Akita in there, too.

- Look at it. - Oh, it's beautiful.

You look like a loaf of bread.

Watch it-- watch it run now. Come on, Moose.

- It's just a rectangle. - Moosey!

Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life? - That is precious.

- It's not but eight weeks old.

Moose!

Looks like a cocktail table.

Not everyone's born

with the very same gifts and the same luck.

Because of that, they have to have

a little extra help, and I think that ideology

has gone with me through my entire life.

You need some skin work, don't ya, huh?

Growing up, my mom always said,

"Don't buy a dog. Let's save a dog."

I remember when I really wanted a Dalmatian.

Mom said, "There's always people for those,

"but there's not people to take the animals from shelters

where so many will be euthanized,"

and that's where we went.

I'd always pick the one with the saddest eyes.

They were wormy, they were skinny...

and something about the eyes is what always sold 'em on me.

They'd look at me in some sort of way

and that's the one I'd have to have.

This is Lily. She's super sweet.

I mean, super, super sweet.

I mean, the problem we run into sometimes

is when so many look just the same.

They're nondescript breeds of brown and black,

and it's hard to get people to feel enticed by them.

- It is. You're absolutely right. - That's the hard part.

I think she's heartworm-positive,

but I'm not positive about that.

- Says it up there. - Low positive.

Heartworm positive!

Heartworms actually live in the heart of a dog.

They're transmitted by mosquitoes.

But people don't want heartworm-positive dogs

because they're expensive to treat.

We do 30 days of doxycycline.

Then they have to stay totally quiet for 30 days

because when they get excited, the dog can have a heart attack.

The next 30 days, they get two more injections,

and then we keep 'em quiet for another 30 days.

But, you know,

a heartworm preventative, it's such a simple thing.

I mean, one pill a month,

your dog will not have heartworm disease.

Look at her face, just how she looks you in the eyes.

Look at her. Like, she's staring at you right now just like...

Putting her nose right on the glass.

Oh, they know how to pull at your heartstrings.

Lily, I wanna go home, huh? Get you treated for--

Oh, yes, you do. Get you treated for heartworms, huh? - It's a deal.

You wanna shake on the deal?

I think Danny and I both were born

with a true compassion for animals.

When I was a little kid,

even though I wanted to go fishing,

I never wanted to put the worm on the hook

'cause I felt sorry for the worm

getting the hook, you know, zigzagged through it.

I was saving animals as far back as I can remember.

When I walked home from school, kind of the bigger,

gruffer guys that were a little scary to me,

sometimes they'd catch a turtle

and then they'd just knife its head off just for fun.

And even though I was sort of scared of the guys,

I'd make deals with them and give them whatever I had

to take the turtle so they didn't kill it.

I used to rescue baby robins that fell out of trees.

We used to nurture 'em back and then try to put 'em

on our finger and teach 'em how to fly.

And horses and frogs and mice, turtles in the road.

I mean, there-- if I see a turtle crossing a road,

you know, everybody better stop, 'cause I get out of the car

and I help the turtle cross the road.

I had a rooster we got from the Tote-Em-In Zoo

because he was in the lion's cage

and the lion had already broken his wing.

And I pitched such a fit that they ended up

getting the rooster with a net and bringing him out of the cage

and then I took him and, uh, helped heal him.

So...

♪♪

Go, sweetie.

Whew! Let's go on in.

All right, gang, meet Lily. Hi, Lily.

Lily, you're gonna get a nice bath

and get nice and clean for us, okay?

♪♪

All right, sorry about that.

All right, here we go. All right.

Look at you, Apollo. I'm so proud of you.

Good boy!

Think she's gonna fall asleep on us.

Lily, you wanna be wheeled out?

Is that what you want?

Huh? You wanna be wheeled out?

- Or you wanna walk out? - All right.

Think we can walk out, sweetie? Come on.

There you go.

We got a new family member, guys.

Back up, Busy Bee. Come on, Lily.

You'll be all right. Okay.

This is part of your new pack.

This is part of your new family, huh?

Hey! Lily, stop.

Stop, Lily.

Might not be going so well.

Lily.

No. No. That's a no.

Hi, guys. Hi, hi.

Okay, Lily. Okay, Lily.

She'll wear the muzzle for probably just a few more minutes.

It's soft rubber. It's totally humane.

They can eat, they can drink, but the only thing is,

it keeps the rest of our pack safe

until she learns social skills.

We'll just keep doing this, you know, ten times a day,

just interacting her with the pack.

In a day or two, she'll probably be running right with the pack.

Yes, you're doing good, Lily.

Buster Brown likes you, yes.

Blanche, what do you think, huh? What do you think, Blanche, huh?

All right, little Moose, meet the big world.

Oh, I don't know about Amelia.

That's the grumpiest one you're gonna encounter.

Hi, Amelia. This-- you be the sweetest.

Wanna get down? Wanna get down?

Who are the other guys, huh?

Oh, you're gonna meet Amelia first?

Oh, my gosh, that's risky.

Look how good you're being.

Well, who's that coming?

Hey.

Look at that one, huh?

Who could that be?

Hmm?

Where you going?

He's not very interested in me. That's a nice thing.

At least that shows a little independence.

A lot of times, they just want to sit on my lap

and stay there forever.

Hey, Moose.

Moose.

Come on back.

Tell 'em about yourself.

Tell them what your name is, where you came from.

Tell 'em everything about you.

What you want to be when you grow up, huh?

Wanna tell them? Look.

He looks very interested.

Look.

Sammy is very interested in your future.

Look at this. Cotton's coming to see you.

Mr. Cotton and Lester.

You know, Cotton could teach you a lot.

Cotton's a special little man here.

He has to stay a permanent resident here.

I don't-- I don't think he could truly take

a change in his life now.

He was taken to the shelter one day, when Ron was there,

with a diaper wrapped around him.

And, truthfully, the lady said,

"I wanna get rid of this damn dog,

and I don't want no more worms on my porch,"

and, uh, she wanted him put to sleep.

He was totally frightened, and, um...

he didn't wanna eat for days.

And when he'd go out in the yard,

it would take three or four of us

just to keep walking around, walking around,

to get him to come in the house.

And now he's friends with everybody.

And out in the yard now, he comes to you.

And that's one of the biggest secrets

about so many of these scared ones.

You just give them the time and then they come to you

and tell you their terms of life,

and you try to merger the two

and see if you can get somewhere.

Hey, Moose.

Puppies learn to adjust quickly.

He's gonna be a very s-secure puppy.

You're gonna be pretty secure, aren't ya?

You're gonna do it all right. Hmm?

Life's gonna be great for you. Yes, it is.

Life is gonna treat you fine, huh?

Life will treat you fine.

You'll get some human and you'll train 'em.

You'll train 'em right away and tell them who's boss, right?

Who's boss, yes? Rub the big belly.

Rub the big belly and make sure you feed it,

and then it's gonna be a perfect life.

Hmm?

Long before we were a rescue and had dreams

or even thoughts of becoming an actual rescue,

I'd go to shelters.

See animals that just looked a little sad,

a little neglected, and always take one or two

and then make sure they get to a good place.

We didn't see ourselves as a rescue.

We saw ourselves as rescuers.

We probably did that for 15 or 20 years,

just 25 or 50 a year,

and didn't really think much beyond that.

But in August of 2005 was probably the-- the catalyst

that turned us into something a little different than what we'd been.

We're in storm alert mode right now as Katrina,

one of the most powerful hurricanes we've seen

in several decades, threatens the Gulf Coast.

This is what everyone feared. The storm surge.

Two of the levees that held back Lake Pontchartrain have cracked.

80 % of New Orleans is now underwater.

Families are being plucked from what FEMA now calls

the most significant natural disaster

ever to hit the United States.

When Hurricane Katrina hit, our first instinct, um,

is we wanted to help people.

We happened to be in Florida at that time,

and we heard on the local news that they were moving

300-and-some people from New Orleans

to the racetrack in Boca, and they didn't have anything.

We bought toothpaste, toothbrushes, clothes, socks, brushes, coffeepots,

anything we could think of, so people would, you know,

have something to their name.

Then, all of a sudden, you know,

we started seeing pictures of the dogs.

It's been like this for weeks now.

Dogs stranded in trees, dogs stranded on walls,

pacing, surrounded by water.

Abandoned by their owners, alive or dead.

No one was allowed to take a dog when they were rescued.

They had to leave all their pets behind.

Some wouldn't leave them.

A couple dogs were found on a dining room table floating in the house,

and the lady that owned them had died.

She wouldn't leave her animals,

but she drowned, and the dogs were caught,

like, with a canoe or something at that point.

The sad thing was, a lot of these animals

were all put in these cages, crates, airline carriers,

and they were all stored in warehouses.

Most of these dogs hadn't even been out of the crates

in the time they were caught,

because they didn't have the staff.

We kind of jumped in and decided

to start helping some of these dogs.

We'd send our horse trailer down.

We'd make sure that it was full of supplies--

dog food, blankets, leashes, collars.

Trailer would turn around and then bring us dogs

back here to South Carolina.

We were not set up to be a dog rescue.

I mean, we had my barn here.

We cleared all those horse stalls out,

and those were full of dogs.

We made makeshift pens.

We just made whatever means we could.

When we would get the crates and stuff, you know,

they were wallowing in feces and urine.

It was a tough thing to bathe them all and get them healthy.

They all had to be spayed and neutered.

And I would say probably 98 % were heartworm-positive.

We were just adopting dogs

to friends in the horse business.

Within a five-month period,

we saved approximately 600 dogs from Hurricane Katrina.

- Hey, Ron. - How are you?

- We're good. - Look at Nutmeg!

- Here's Nutmeg. - The perfect girl!

- She is. - Nutmeg!

Lookie, Nutmeg!

I have to say hi to Nutmeg first.

Hi, Nutmeg. How are you, sweetie pie?

How are you? Are you still perfect?

- How are you Logan, huh? - Good.

Are you excited about your kitty?

- Yeah. Hi. - Hi, Holly.

I can't believe it's been 11 years.

Has it been that long, seriously?

It'll be this fall that we've had her for 11 years.

- Oh, my goodness. - Holly was saying she can still remember you carrying her

through the halls. - Oh, yeah.

You called me and said, "Your new baby's here!"

And you came walking down the barn aisle

with beautiful Nutmeg.

With a totally black face.

Holly's biggest thing was it has to be friendly and loving

and sweet and, you know, all that sort of thing.

- Right. - And that's all we could test of--

Wasn't that right, girl? Oh, my God,

she was just full of love.

She's just pretty perfect.

I think most of our friends thought,

when Katrina's over, you know, shoo, the end.

"Danny and Ron aren't gonna bother us anymore about adopting dogs."

Logan, come look at these cutie-patootie puppies here.

But the Katrina experience changed us.

We got to see the volume of animals in need.

I mean, we always knew there was volume

of animals in needs in shelters,

but to think of all the homeless pets,

I mean, it was a big impact on us.

That's what actually gave us

even more energy to become a major rescue.

Their mother was a cocker spaniel,

and the owners moved and took the mother dog

and left nine puppies out in the yard

to survive with no food and water.

A friend of mine, she said, "Okay, you boys need to come up

with a name for your rescue."

She said, "Why don't you just do Danny & Ron's Rescue?"

She said, "Everybody knows Danny and Ron in the horse business.

Let's just do it simple like that." Which I hated,

but I couldn't think of anything else at the time.

- Here, you wanna hold her? - Hold her.

I never came up with another name, really.

I had stopped thinking about it.

But I hear catchy little phrases sometimes

of names that sound great, but now that I've heard

so many play on words with the-the, you know,

the paws and the claws and the snip and snap

and the fairy tales, I'm sort of glad

we just have our two names on it.

Easy to remember.

Oh, my gosh!

Is that Jellybean? Oh, good.

- You guys saved a life. - We did.

By the way, I know where there are three guinea pigs.

Oh, don't even start.

Wait, Mom, can I please hold her one more time? One more time.

Let me just get her in, and then,

when you get in the car, you can hold her, okay?

Okay.

Okay, here we go.

♪♪

Brenda, I am looking in my income tax thing

in the file thing because I'm gonna go try to do

a home equity loan for the rescue.

2005, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, '11, '12.

Where would '15 be?

Danny and I spent about 40 % of his retirement fund

and my retirement fund taking the dogs from Katrina.

It got to the point, you know, when the accountant said,

"Look, you guys gotta stop this because you're gonna have

"nothing for retirement and you're gonna be

paying taxes on all of this."

Now, we are a 501 nonprofit,

but last year, it cost nearly a million dollar

to run this entire rescue.

I am going to try to take a loan

for the rescue out in my name...

'cause I don't think the rescue has enough equity to get a loan,

so I am going to do it personally.

I'm going to see

if they will give us a $100,000 loan.

One of the most strenuous parts of the rescue for me

is constantly worry about where the money's gonna come from,

how the staff's gonna get paid,

how we're gonna make it to the next month.

This one's '12.

We survive strictly on donations.

December's always a good month for us

because that's when donations come in

'cause people need the tax write-off.

But unfortunately, we have a very long dry period

from the winter to make it through.

I mean, we get donations during the year, but, you know,

most of the time, they're just very small donations,

and as big of a rescue as we are,

it's not enough to keep us afloat.

- Elmer! Hi, Elmer. - He is so sweet.

- Look at Ron. - Hey, buddy. Hey, buddy.

Yeah, he's a medical miracle.

As you can see, both sides of his mouth

has been reconstructed there. - Yeah.

- And-- uh-huh. - You had two surgeries, huh?

Two surgeries, Elmer? Hi.

We hit a lot of dry periods

where we run out of money and we have a lot of sick dogs,

and so, I have a lot of sleepless nights

worrying about how we're gonna stay afloat.

I mean, like, right now, we're in a really--

I mean, just to make payroll next week,

we're gonna have to put our own money in.

Hey, Andrea, do you remember the dog that we took,

full of fleas, ear infections, full of ticks?

You know, skin is all bloody?

Well, there's somebody that sent a message to me

and said, "You have my dog."

I mean, I would be thrilled to death if it was a great owner

'cause it'd be one less dog for me,

but now that he's getting good care,

I have a very hard time

turning him back over to that situation.

The rescue life very quickly,

very easily can engulf our whole life

to where it's hard sometimes to keep remembering

that we have to earn a living doing the horses.

Good. A little ride up.

Easy.

Think left.

That's good for him, Alaina.

Very good. Give him a pat.

We don't take a salary at all from the rescue.

We never have.

Danny and I train horses.

That's how we make our living and our livelihood.

Very nice. Good.

We met at a horse show in Aiken South Carolina, in 1980.

I was a professional

moving from the Chicago area to South Carolina,

and Danny was a professional here already.

I rode his horses professionally,

so we had a working relationship for a long time.

I was married to a woman at that time.

You know, in the generation that I grew up in,

it was always a struggle, where nowadays, you know,

being gay is a lot more open than it was back in the '80s.

I got married 'cause that was, like,

what you were supposed to do when you got out of college.

You were supposed to get married and have children.

I was married for eight years

and divorced in 1986.

The divorce came as big a shock to, I guess, anybody.

Everyone around was sad about that.

And he was particularly devastated.

I like what you went to.

Have just a little more in the back

so you don't have to do it near the jump.

Danny was one of my friends

that really reached out to be there for me.

Seeing the emotional pain that I was going through,

he was a very warm, compassionate person.

I was a young person

recently acknowledging that I was gay.

And we'd become closer friends

and I was kind of his confidant at that point.

Then finish with a three to the three once more.

We became closer and closer

and the relationship just kept growing from there.

Ah, not you. Sit.

After a couple years,

I moved over here, uh, and I think that's probably when

people actually began to think of us as a couple.

We have been together...

'98, 2008...

That's a long time ago to remember.

- Um... - Well, please tell me.

'Cause anytime somebody asks me,

I tell them a different number every time.

So it'd be like 27 years.

This actually is good for Griz.

Oh, it's wonderful for him. He's gonna...

He's gonna learn a lot living here.

I think we were brought together for a reason,

but if Danny didn't have the passion that I do

for doing this, there's no way it would happen.

Hi, Tonto.

If I didn't have the passion

that Danny has for it, there's no way,

or, like, if I didn't love dogs the way I do, you know?

It takes two for this to survive.

I think we both feel like we've kind of lost our home

because of the amount of dogs.

Living in this type of environment,

you know, there's many times we've questioned ourselves

what it would be like--

Stop it! Right now!

- They don't listen to anybody else. - That's not gonna stop 'em.

The house is approximately 4,400 square feet.

People space?

How many square feet would a king-size bed be?

I mean, it's difficult to sleep. You can't move.

They nestle next to your left side,

your right side, your head, they wrap on the pillow.

And if you have to get up to go to the bathroom,

I mean, lots of luck getting back in bed.

I'm sort of wondering myself how we lost the house.

We used to have a lot of people over

and would have dinners.

We ditched the dining room mostly

when we ended up having crates all around it

and you couldn't pull a chair back in there anyway.

Ron's a fantastic cook, and he used to enjoy it.

At one point, we even had wedding parties here.

Kitchen area we use a lot for socialization

because it's a very high-traffic area,

so the dogs get a lot of activity.

We also had a fireplace.

We don't burn fires in it anymore.

It's kind of like a big, relaxing lounge area for them.

Off the kitchen, we have the living room area, where we're seated now.

We used to have wood floors, oriental carpets.

It was very pretty, actually.

But before you knew it, carpets were being ripped,

and, of course, they were being peed on.

So, up came the wooden floors.

Here you come, stone flooring.

The larger dogs live in the living room area.

They have free run to come and get on the furniture,

wherever they want to lounge, and they have a doggie door.

They can go out in the backyard.

Off of the living room, we have a front bedroom.

In the front bedroom, we strictly keep

small litters of puppies.

If we really get jammed, we use the shower stall

in our bathroom to put small puppies in.

This used to be a screen-enclosed porch.

It had a Jacuzzi tub right here in the middle

that Danny and I used to be able to relax in.

This became one of the quarantine rooms.

We knocked a hole in the garage

off the back of the garage and built another room.

That room we use for dogs that are heartworm-positive.

Get on outta there.

The rest of the property,

it's the same thing.

We live in-in the dogs' house. We're the guest.

- Okay. - Okay.

All right, kids.

We got so many boxes this time

because there's a sale going on for puppy pads.

And any sale we can catch, we like to do that.

In each box, there are... 40 pads.

We got 50 boxes of pads.

Unfortunately, with puppies, they pee and poop a lot.

So, even though I changed this pen at 10:15 last night,

it was totally trashed this morning.

So, anyway, we are scrubbing the pens one by one.

And we have to do this five times a day.

Everyone that walks into this house,

they're impressed that it doesn't smell like dogs

and how clean it is.

I mean, we have-- I don't think we've ever had a person come

to this doghouse and not leave saying,

"How do you keep it that clean?"

♪♪

♪♪

The day in the doghouse begins at 6:30 in the morning.

Climb down. Come on, climb down.

Our first employee arrives at 7:30, and then,

the cleaning process begins.

We collect all the food bowls.

And then the food bowls have to get washed in the dishwasher

so that they get a really good sanitation.

All the waters have to be changed twice a day.

We move the crates off the floor every day,

and all the rooms are vacuumed and mopped.

♪♪

All of the bedding in the crates--

we take out and clean all the bedding in the crates.

We do approximately 18 loads of laundry

in a commercial washer and dryer every day.

We go through 10 gallons of laundry detergent,

56 rolls of paper towels,

60 pounds of dry food,

and 56 cans of dog food per week.

I'm allergic to dogs and horses,

and they've both been two of my biggest passions in life.

So, I've just learned to deal with it.

At one time, I was taking

nine shots a week for three years.

Danny is meticulous about picking up yards.

He will pick yards four times a day.

It sounds awful to say, but we call him our poop man.

I mean, you will go out in our backyard,

and it's gonna be hard to find some

because he will go out there

and pick and pick and pick and pick.

He just believes the yard should be immaculate.

My poop shoes.

Hardly any tread.

- Hey, bud. - Oh, my goodness.

Hi!

Oh, dear. These are all loose?

Are we gonna be able to catch 'em now?

There's about 19 abandoned dogs here.

We connected with another rescue.

And so we're here to try to assist to catch them all.

Oh, hey, cutie, hi!

Why are you all by yourself, huh?

Oh, you've got a hole dug there.

Sneak up that camera.

- Here's Angel. - Angel.

- Come on, Angel. - Hi, Angel.

Come here, girl.

If we can grab anything, grab even that one

or this one, Danny, or anything we can grab. - You ready to go?

Anything we can grab, we're just gonna head to the vehicles with them.

Come here, baby. I know you're worried.

Okay, you'll be okay. You'll be okay, baby.

Yes, I know, I know.

Life is scary. I know.

There are different instances

where people can't keep their pets,

and I totally get that

and I totally sympathize with it,

but the people that abandon them,

it's a very hard emotional thing for me.

As a young person, I went through

some hard family times with my parents.

My parents purchased a farm outside of the Chicago area

for me to operate the horse business.

We weren't raised with a lot of money,

and Mom and Dad worked very hard for what they had.

By them purchasing the farm, they put their neck out

so that I would have a home base.

When I decided to move here to South Carolina,

I think that was really the crushing blow.

They felt I was just abandoning them.

My parents cut all ties with me, um...

from, you know, phones to letters

to all communication, for seven years.

I mean, I kept reaching out to Mom and Dad,

trying to call, trying to mail notes,

and they'd be returned back to me.

That was a very lonely time, a very hard time.

You're a sweet girl, huh? A sweet girl.

Most people who work with dog rescue

and saving animals in general,

I think there has to be something in their life,

some sort of reason for them to have the compassion

and understand for animals.

- There you go. - All right!

- Come on. Hi, hi.

How are you? How are you?

You a good girl?

Animals are amazing.

You can see these animals that have been

so badly abused by humans, they can come into our rescue,

and all of a sudden, they can start trusting human beings again.

They don't look back. They look forward.

You're gonna be just fine.

What a good girl.

316, on course now,

Lindsey Ridley of Waxhaw, North Carolina.

Watching at hunter bays, 316.

♪♪

Do you want them in the end? Which end one, Suzanne, do you want them in?

It doesn't matter.

- You can put it in the left one with no top on it. - Left? Okay.

Oh, yeah, they won't jump.

- Come on, Yoda. You get to go.

We adopt mainly to the horse show world.

We're kind of a unique rescue where we're known in our sport

for bringing dogs to horse show all across the country.

A lot of times, you know, when the bus pulls in,

I mean, you'll see 30 people waiting for the bus to pull in.

I mean, all this week, people kept saying,

"What time is the bus coming? What time is the bus coming?"

Hi.

Hi!

I love the ears.

- I know.

I know that. He's only got part of one ear.

We help with adoptions early in the mornings,

then we train the riders on their horses.

Score 75 for Kathleen...

What you need-- yeah. You needed to wait there.

It's the same thing. Kind of, like, lead her.

You came out of the turn and got longer, longer.

Could you feel like, out of this turn,

how you just stayed easy, easy,

to the long-run oxer.

You stayed the same, the same.

You come out of that turn coming downhill,

and you start letting the stride going.

Walk him around out here and make him

just come down a little bit.

I did, I did a civic trot in a circle out here.

- Well, just do it again. - Okay.

And then just go in and try to maintain.

Okay.

When I turned ten is when I first started riding.

I just-- Kind of the kid that would ride anything

and was brave and I'd make him go around

and jump and do things.

I had no idea what I was doing.

But I won my first pony jumping class

when I'd actually been riding two months.

And I knew that that's what I was going to do

the rest of my life.

When I was growing up, I felt like I was just

a lot more sensitive and internal about things,

and most of my age group seemed to be.

I don't think anyone realized what I felt about me inside.

I mean, I knew-- I felt that I was a good person and...

and tried to do right.

But I wasn't...

I wasn't the kid that I thought I was supposed to be.

But my father was very athletic

and kept in a Rhode Island State football team

and all of those things and wrestling team

and one-of-the-guys guys.

And here I was, I was a little intimidated

by people with that personality and a little bit shyer,

but I shined with the animals.

And I guess my mom might have seen that.

'Cause she always rooted for me

And my dad did too deep inside.

He just didn't know how to show it,

and I didn't know how to bring it out in him.

I never felt like my dad was proud.

I thought he hated what I did except for every time

somebody that worked with my dad or knew my dad

would tell me how proud my dad was of me.

And...

But he didn't tell me, no.

Here's my boy here.

Yeah!

Here's my boy.

I don't think he ever understood

some kid falling in love with animals

and thinking he could be a trainer or a rider

the rest of his life and make a living.

And he didn't want me to fall in love with it

and be obsessed with it.

And it was the only thing that I knew that I loved.

I wouldn't give the time of day for anything else.

I wanted him to know I was eat, sleeping, drinking, breathing it.

That's how much it meant to me.

583 is the new...

Danny Robertshaw.

♪♪

Danny had a gift that he could feel what the horse needed

and communicate with the horse.

He could just get on horses that nobody could do anything with.

I feel like I was given a little bit of a gift,

to have a good rapport with animals.

Being able to get stuff done without making them fear it.

And I love doing that.

Danny was, by far, one of the best riders in America.

He was champion at all of the major horse shows in the country.

Danny is a Lifetime Achievement award-winner.

And now he's judging all of the major horse shows in America.

The night before my dad died,

um, I drove home.

There was nothing wrong that I knew of at the time.

I think I just had one of those feelings,

but I wanted to get home and I did.

And we sat up that night and laughed

and enjoyed each other's company the entire time.

And it was the first time we'd ever sat up that late

and talked that long.

And just became very comfortable.

And that was the night my dad said,

"I think you're gonna do well in this,

"and I think you're gonna make it in this horse world,

as much as I never wanted you to do it."

And he died the next morning in my arms.

Look up beyond your second fence

while you make your line.

Pace up the five, right?

'Cause we're jumping oxer to vertical, okay?

319 first to go now

in the E.J. Hawn Memorial Medal.

This is Coleman Holland of Charlotte, North Carolina, 319.

These dogs on the cart are Danny's

and my personal rescue dogs.

They travel with us all over the country.

We've kinda chosen them because most of 'em

have behavioral problems or emotional problems,

and they were not easy to adopt out.

So we kind of took them on as our project.

This is Busy Bee. Busy Bee was a puppy mill rescue.

She's gotten to where she allows some people to pet her,

but she's still very insecure.

This is Humphrey here in the back.

Humphrey was a puppy mill dog.

We got him when he was six weeks old.

Buttercup!

Wave, Buttercup! Wave, Buttercup!

You do it, Buttercup!

They're kind of a trademark.

People see this red golf cart and they see all these dogs,

and they know we're here.

♪♪

Here you go.

Come on.

- Would you get Oreo out? - Yes, honey, I will get Oreo...

When we first started bringing dogs to the horse show

many, many years ago, I think it was much harder

to get people to adopt a rescue dog.

People were into the purebred breeds.

People would set up and sell their puppies here.

You know, Jack Russells, Corgis, dachshunds.

And I actually had the exciting news once,

a trainer who bred Whippets and dachshunds came up to me,

told me how much he disliked our rescue.

She said that our rescue has put her out of business

'cause everybody wants to get a rescue dog.

I said, "Well, that's very good news for me

because that means our mission is working."

That was, "Thank you for the compliment."

♪♪

It really has become quite a trend at horse shows

all across the country.

I mean, I just got a phone call from a trainer

showing in Vermont.

And she said, "Every time I see a cute dog,

"I say, 'Oh, my God, that's a cute dog.

"Where did you get it?'

Everybody says, 'Danny and Ron.'"

She said, "I'm serious, I must have talked

to 50 different people, and every dog is yours."

We've got dogs in Seattle. We've got 'em in California.

We've got 'em in Canada. We've got 'em in Europe.

We have 'em all over the globe.

But we don't-- we don't care

if they adopt from us.

We just want them to adopt.

I mean, it's just saving lives.

♪♪

We're going to one shelter that really doesn't

do much adoption or rescue.

They mainly euthanize,

so it's gonna be a little tough situation there

because most of the time we go into shelters

and get to meet dogs

and figure out their personalities.

But we were told that no one goes

behind their closed doors.

No questions asked, no paperwork, no nothing.

Just take the dogs and go.

We can't really force the issue

or else there's no chance of us being able

to save any dogs from there at all.

Hello.

Hi.

- Okay, this is Cherry. - Okay.

She's one and a half years old.

She is a Lab mix.

She seems to be very playful

like she hasn't been out or anything. - Okay.

- Plain black dogs are the number-one euthanized color...

in shelters. - Yes.

She's awfully friendly, though.

- So y'all taking her? - We'll take her.

Black is the least popular dog

to be saved her bought in the entire country.

I think it's 'cause they don't stand out distinctly.

- This is Chance. - Chance.

This is Marley.

This is Harley.

This is Jellybean.

Come on, Harley.

Michael, how many dogs are in here.

Ten, Jesus.

I thought we were getting six here.

I did, too.

So are you guys gonna take him?

- Yes. - Don't you have any white ones?

So are you willing to take him?

What do you think, Dan?

You're very dirty, yes.

You got poo-poo all over you.

All of these dogs are on euthanasia,

so if we didn't take 'em,

they were gonna get put to sleep.

Come on.

It's very easy to get on your podium

and shake your hand and say, "Oh, my God.

"This shelter is a kill shelter.

They're killing all these animals."

But it's not the shelter's fault.

It's the community's fault.

It's because we have people that will not spay and neuter their dogs,

so we have multiple litters of cats and dogs.

But, you know, the shelter is the one

that gets the bad press because they're a kill shelter.

But basically they're doing the dirty work for our community.

Fifteen more. Oh, Lord.

I don't know where we're gonna put 'em all.

There's one solution to overpopulation-- it's spay, neuter.

And I really feel that in America,

it needs to be a national law

that every animal has to be spayed and neutered

unless you are a licensed breeder.

But it's very hard to get.

I was told by one of our high officials

in the state of South Carolina

that there was no way that he was going to...

tell his hunting buddies

that they had to cut the balls off their hunting dogs.

I mean, those were his exact words to me.

So where do you go when you have

that type of mentality in our government?

All right, guys.

Safe travels to home.

We had a lady bash our local shelter in the newspaper.

And I mean, I call these people up, I do

'cause it aggravates me so much.

And I'll say, "Okay, I'm gonna give you an example.

You do rescue, right?" And they'll say, "Yes."

And I said, "So picture that every dog in this county or cat

"can be dropped off in your driveway.

Would you have to euthanize?"

Sometimes they'll answer me.

Sometimes they won't.

But if they are honest and they do answer me,

they'll pause for a minute and they'll say,

"Yeah, I couldn't take 5,000 cats or dogs."

And I'd say, "Well, what are you gonna do with them?"

You're so good. Sit.

Mm-hmm. Good girl.

Have you ever shook my hand?

You lie down.

Yes, I'm proud of you.

Hmm, you try to obey, huh? You try to behave

even when you don't know what you're doing, right?

Even when you're nervous.

All right, good girl.

Oh, Lily.

Hi, Lily, hi, Lily.

Lily's in a separate pen right now

because she's under heartworm treatment.

So that's why she's confined right now,

'cause she has to stay quiet.

It took her three weeks to come around

and get social skills

to where she was friendly with all the dogs.

She's a total love bug.

She's definitely ready for her forever home

as soon as she finishes her heartworm treatment.

Here's a good girl.

Yes, you are, huh?

We're very picky about where our dogs go.

When Dan and I started the rescue,

we made a pact that if the dogs

can't live as good as they live here,

then they don't get to leave.

Hello?

This is Kim Tudor with Danny & Ron's Rescue

calling about Cher.

Is this about the application?

Yes, I know you have a young child in the house.

How old is he?

Two and a half.

I was thinking of a puppy

because they might grow up together

and bond that way.

A lot of people adopt and they forget,

you know, what it was like to housebreak a puppy.

I've got a-- I've got a two-and-a-half-year-old.

I know...

Yeah.

But you're right. You're right.

With a puppy, you gotta-- you gotta

pay attention every minute of the day.

And it's-- Honestly, it probably would be tough.

An older dog?

I think an older dog perhaps

and one that is an owner-surrender

that already came from a family

that had children. - Okay.

So he's been pre-tested with children.

Yeah, that's good.

Okay, I know I'm gonna make your day one day.

All right, thank you so much.

All right? Okay.

One of the most frustrating things is,

people want a puppy so that their child

or they can bond with it.

You can get a rescue dog that's five years old.

It will come into your house and in two days,

it will be bonded to you.

In choosing a pet,

people need to assess the situation they're in.

Am I gonna be moving? Do I have children?

How much time do I really have?

Yes, I love animals, but is this right for me now?

Is this dog right for me now?

When I'm talking to people that are looking

for a specific type of dog, I like to have--

This is my-- my vision wall, so to speak.

And I know every one of these dogs.

These are all the dogs ready to go to a home now.

Taryn came from California.

I know that we are gonna find a home for Madison.

Moon is going to go to Vermont.

The dogs keep coming in and hopefully

they keep going out to good homes.

This is Bonnie.

And she came in from a bunch of dogs

we got in from a puppy mill.

She's like hoarding for toys in her bed.

That would be a sign that they took the puppies away early

so they can sell 'em.

And then, as soon as they could,

they'd breed her right back again.

So they'd have more puppies.

When I get a puppy mill dog in like this

and I see it find a new home, that's my reward.

They come in scared, don't want to--

They just sit in the corner.

And to see them blossom and come out of the corner,

to come and meet you...

and then to finally find their home,

I just-- I love it. I just--

It brings tears to my eyes 'cause it just--

I'm happy for them.

Here she is.

Isn't she cute?

Hi, baby! You're all clean!

Does she look different?

She looks so much better than she did

when I first met her. - Did she?

- What did she look like then? - She had such a sad look

in her eye, and over the few--

maybe it's been a month or so...

Yes, mm-hmm.

I've seen pictures of her,

and she's gotten happier and happier.

Hello.

- Ron, this is Deborah Wanger. - Hi, Deborah.

- So nice to meet you. - This is Ron Danta.

- I've heard wonderful things about you. - Nice to meet you.

I'm so glad that you're adopting her.

- It's exciting. - Thank you, we're so excited.

To have Bonnie as part of our family. - No, that's exciting.

She's ready for a new home.

And if you see any that can fit in your purse or your car,

you're welcome to take some more home.

Thank you!

- Tuna get rinsed? - Nope.

Our house is full of staff,

our house is full of people cleaning,

taking dogs in and out.

It's like living in a business.

There's no private time.

There's no Danny and Ron time that we're just alone.

We work together, live together,

spend practically every hour together.

Believe it or not, with all the time together,

there's very little time to talk and...

and share what you're-- what we're thinking,

except about stuff that's pertinent to the dogs.

But it's... it's not that he's not there.

I know he's there.

I also know his heart really bleeds for me

when I'm in pain.

I know sometimes it even may be harder on him.

Danny's had many health issues.

He has extreme high blood pressure.

I woke up pretty early,

and I just thought something doesn't feel right.

I just said, "I feel like I have a shield on my chest."

It was very scary, 'cause we didn't know

if he was having a heart attack.

That was our first instinct,

you know, was having a heart attack.

I was, you know, put in a car

and run to the hospital, and of course,

I was about tenth in line, and, "You'll have to wait."

And I think then, when I went down to the floor,

they realized it was a little more important than that.

Oops.

The doctor said,

"We have three layers to our aorta,

"and his aorta is shredding.

"Each layer is going one by one,

"and 90 out of 100 people die within four hours,

and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

He said, "There's no medication we can do."

He said he's, you know, probably going to die.

I immediately started crying.

I mean, hearing a doctor say there's nothing we can do

to stop something, that it's gonna be a wait-and-see

if he's the lucky 10 people out of 100 that will survive.

We all were very thankful he made it,

but the doctor told us that on the lucky side,

he could live three to five years.

It's been like 11 years.

Exact quotes of Danny's doctor here,

I mean, she said he is a walking miracle.

But we're kind of like a ticking time bomb.

He only has one layer now,

so if his blood pressure gets above 120,

he could just rupture.

If he ever bumped himself hard or whatever, it could rupture.

If he ever was in a car accident and an airbag went off,

that could do it.

Gardening is, for me at least, when I feel like I need

a little space and wanna breathe a little bit,

then I can come out and do that,

and I can have my sad moments

and my trying moments with myself,

and the moments that other people

I don't think necessarily need to share all the time.

But maybe it does me a little bit of good.

And then I go back and then I think about

some of the animals buried here

and the nourishment they're giving this,

and feel like maybe it's a little good luck charm

maybe helping me keep some of these things alive.

And, uh...

like, this horrible-looking little lily here.

It looked beautiful earlier.

Believe it or not, it was my grandmother's,

and she died when I was six.

So, that lily family has lasted a long time.

So, what's happening with the Poms?

I might be able to send five or six to you.

- Okay.

And we're going to give you the three with the leg issues?

It doesn't matter, I just-- you know, with those three,

they're gonna be laid up quite a while with surgery,

so they're gonna be non-adoptables for a while.

I mean, the sad part is good breeders,

the last thing they wanna do is breed genetic defects.

Obviously, this-- this is like your typical puppy mill breeder

where she's just doing it

just to get the ching-ching and the puppies.

They throw their garbage away that's not selling.

Right.

So what are they doing? Giving them to rescues so we can foot the bill.

The Pomeranians on the transport,

they said some of 'em are hateful,

growly, scared.

So, they're gonna separate 'em, I guess, in crates.

But there's still like 20 more Poms-- Pomeranians

at her house.

They couldn't get all of 'em, I guess. Right.

You can see some of them have little coat issues.

I know, this one they told-- is a very bad fear-biter.

And that's the chi...

That's the Chihuahua mix that was gonna be euthanized,

so I agreed to take it.

The reason the woman is giving up dogs right now

is because for some reason or the other,

she couldn't sell them as young puppies,

so now, they're older dogs, she can't do much with 'em.

This girl that's picking up all these dogs,

she has to go meet somewhere and pick the dogs up.

Most puppy mill places will not let you come

into their facility.

Usually, the facility is such that it would be closed down

if anybody could figure out where it was.

So, they're protecting themselves.

- All right. - You made it!

- How was your trip? - Oh, it was great.

Okay, let me carry the crates inside.

- Do these have names? - Yes, I have the names.

And then we're gonna figure out which ones...

and then we're gonna find out which ones have to have surgery?

Yes. Yes. Knee surgery?

Is that all of them?

That's all of them.

And we gotta find teeny collars.

Hi. Think you'd come with me?

Come on. Good baby, good baby.

Yes, you are very fluffy, huh?

She said she raises show dogs.

You know, I've never seen a show dog

that looks in these conditions.

Some of them are scared, there's some other ones

that are fear-biters.

Three of these have patella problems,

which is the knee joint on a dog.

They slip out, so we're gonna have to do surgery.

We don't know if that's like a genetic defect,

or from them just living, you know,

without getting exercise.

These dogs probably lived in wire rabbit cages

their whole life, so... - We don't really know.

These could have been breeding dogs

or they could have just sort of passed the prime

of sales time.

You can feel all the knots and mats.

Oh, yeah, they're solid mats.

Many times, these dogs have to be sheared

all the way down.

Basically, they fall under all the conditions

of a puppy mill.

Puppy mills, people just don't realize

how horrific it is.

So many of these dogs live in rabbit cages.

We rescued dachshunds, and they could not turn around

their entire life in a rabbit cage,

so they rubbed their noses off,

and they rubbed their fannies off

and their tails off because they could never

turn around in a cage.

So many times, the breeding dog

have had 12 and 13 litters of dogs,

and they've never even put their feet on the ground.

Puppy mills inbreed the dogs so terribly.

They'll take dogs and keep trying to breed them down

in size, in cuteness, in color, in fluff,

to get the smallest, little funkiest little things

that nobody can resist.

And a lot of times, they're full of health issues.

They're just gonna do as little as they can possibly do,

because it's about the dollar, not about the animal.

99.9 % of all puppies

sold in pet stores come from puppy mills.

That's a proven fact.

The minute those puppies get to be four to five weeks old,

they're snatched away from their mother,

off they go to all these pet stores.

When you see pets through the computer,

or on Craigslist and stuff,

and they offer this many varieties and breeds,

very often, that's a sign that it's a puppy mill,

because they just have too much to offer.

People tell us all the time

that they really saved this dog's life,

they rescued it, even though they paid

$1,800 from the pet store.

That is a very bad misconception,

that you think because it was in that puppy store,

you really saved its life.

You didn't, you just contributed to the puppy mill,

'cause that's what keeps the wheel going.

If people would not buy from pet stores,

puppy mills will go out of business.

Let's get 'em outside.

All right, guys.

All right, I'm gonna go get some water buckets.

Okay.

Hi, guys. Guess what, freedom!

Once we say, "You're part of Danny & Ron's Rescue,"

we promise every dog, you will never end up

in a shelter again, or end up wandering the streets

or starving, or needy, or not being loved.

If they are capable of having a good quality of life,

and hopefully be adopted by someone,

then we'll stick by it and get it done,

whatever it takes.

When they come into our rescue,

this is their safe haven.

So, even if we consider them non-adoptable,

they will live their life out here,

and they will be safe.

We have a handful of permanent residents

that look like they're going to be here

for a long, long time.

Some of them already have.

We got Amelia at a local animal shelter.

Amelia has a very bad back end,

and she looks like a wheelbarrow.

No one has ever been able to find out what's wrong with her.

We've done MRIs, CAT scans, X-rays, the whole nine yards.

And everybody knows that one be in the fireplace is Amelia's,

and you don't go in Amelia's bed.

She's little, she only weighs 10 pounds,

but she could be a little piranha

when she needs to be.

Maggie was shot.

We had to have her leg amputated.

She's been on our website for years.

Nobody has reached out any interest in her.

Mona is a very special dog.

Mona was hit by a car and had severe injuries

to her hind end.

Unfortunately, at the shelter,

they left her 12 weeks in a crate.

She's never in any pain,

but she has quite a bit of hitch in her giddyup.

Lucky was turned into our local animal shelter

here in Camden.

He was found on the highway by a good Samaritan.

We've had him three years.

He was showing some signs of discomfort.

The vets found a malignant tumor on his liver,

and unfortunately, liver tumors they spread very quickly.

Any dog that we take,

we promise them a happy life

and a happy departure from life.

Knowing him like we have

and living with him like we have,

we knew that the time was getting close.

No one wants to let go, nobody wants the end,

but people have to realize,

when they see their pets getting to the point

where the quality of life is gone,

and they're no longer that pet that they knew,

that the one beautiful thing we can do is do the right thing

and let them go out the right way.

Hey, Danny, come on in here.

Hey, Brad.

I still remember the goose-egg bladder stone

we pulled out of him. - Yes.

I hate this.

No more pain for you.

Yeah, I hate it.

He sure has been sweet.

Yeah, that's-- oh, I know.

He's one of the ones I'll never forget.

It's okay.

You're our lucky guy, boy.

Yeah. Okay.

Thanks, Brad.

Yeah. Sorry, man.

Okay.

- Thank you. - Yeah, sorry, man.

He was a trooper.

Okay, I gotta pick up two dogs...

...that got dropped off here, so...

♪♪

Didn't find her. You all right?

We'll start here.

Never forget the day...

...we picked him up.

♪♪

How many are there?

Mm, probably about 40 to 50.

Oh, that's adorable.

Well, let's keep scrolling. There's a lot of 'em.

- Oh, that's-- - What about that one?

Oh, my God, she has...

Lhasa Apso Shih Tzu.

- And he's got that horrible, wonderful underbite. - Funny underbite.

Does it say anything else?

Just says "Critical, 11 years old."

Is that something you're probably

gonna get adopted out, or no?

No, get as many out as possible.

Like, we are so...

I mean, 'cause those are plain black,

so they're probably not gonna get adopted.

She has a tumor on her side that's pretty...

it's pretty big. Okay.

All right, Cornbread.

Off to the vets we go.

I'm hoping and praying that we can get

a lot of young people to start learning the ropes of rescue,

so that when Danny and I are not on this earth,

dogs' lives will continue to be saved.

Usually, these type of dogs,

the only way you're gonna catch them is a trap.

We'll just hang out and hopefully... - Okay.

...we might get lucky.

There's the meal. Okay.

There was something about the look in her eye

that made me feel like she's really lost here.

Hey, baby.

- She was owner-surrendered because her owner is going through chemo,

and is not expected to make it much longer.

- Okay, there you go, sweetie.

You need a bath. I can smell you.

Oh, watch so he doesn't go out the window.

Uh-uh, don't go out that window, uh-oh.

We've done some talking about retirement,

but what would I do if I didn't have horses or dogs?

You know, so what would my life be then?

It wouldn't be my life.

So, there's not really a choice in that.

I'm gonna give you my name and my cell number.

If you have any issues medically,

or have any questions, just call us.

Or if you need help with food, or whatever you need,

we will be happy to assist you for his life.

This is Heather.

Hey, Heather, this is Ron Danta.

Hey, how are you?

I'm good, how are you?

Money's so tight right now

that I had to go take a loan out for the rescue,

so that we can hopefully make it until December.

The only thing, since the loan is for over $50,000, we would have to have an appraisal done.

That's going to cost around $400.

Okay, why don't we do it at 50,

and then if I wind up needing more money,

then I can probably do the appraisal and up it...

'cause I hate spending the 400-something

if I don't have to.

Right, okay. So, do it at 50?

Yes.

If we won the lottery today,

I would buy a massive bus

and hire two or three vets full time,

travel from state to state, and do free spay and neuter

throughout the United States.

Going home, huh?

There would be veterinarians on the road

in that mobile unit, and they wouldn't stop.

Be a good dog. Sit! Stay.

♪♪

I don't care if there's a legacy

in my name given to this world of rescue.

I just want someone to care as much as us.

And then maybe the load could begin to feel lighter

and we'd all feel like we're getting somewhere in this.

To think that 10,000 dogs

probably would have died, and those 10,000 dogs

now have great, loving homes...

that is so gratifying.

The funny thing with rescue,

is you save the dogs' lives,

but we truly believe the dogs save our lives.

♪♪

♪♪

♪ I love my dog as much as I love you ♪

♪ But you may fade, my dog will always come through ♪

♪ All he asks from me is the food to give him strength ♪

♪ All he ever needs is love and that he knows he'll get ♪

♪ So I love my dog as much as I love you ♪

♪ But you may fade, my dog will always come through ♪

♪ All the pay I need comes a-shinin' through his eyes ♪

♪ I don't need no cold water to make me realize ♪

♪ That I love my dog as much as I love you ♪

♪ But you may fade, my dog will always come through ♪

♪ Na-na-na, na, na, na, na-na ♪

♪ Na-na-na, na, na, na, na-na ♪

♪ I love my dog as much as I love you ♪

♪ But you may fade, my dog will always come through ♪

♪ Na-na-na, na, na, na, na-na ♪

♪ Na-na-na, na, na, na, na-na ♪

♪ I love my dog, baby, I love my dog ♪

♪ Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na Na-na-na, na, na, na, na-na ♪

♪ I said, I love my dog, baby, I love my dog ♪

♪ Baby, I love my dog ♪

♪ Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na Na-na-na, na, na, na, na-na ♪

♪ I said, I love my dog ♪♪