Message from the Founder

Save A Dog & Kids Inc. is committed to providing our youth and in turn our
community a growing appreciation and love for animals that have the potential
to give all of humanity better health, happiness and benefits to the handicapped,
elderly, sick and all who need love.

It is not only a tragedy to waste these precious lives because of ignorance and irresponsibility, but a loss of one of God's greatest creations, hence each other.
By teaching our youth to value animals, they learn the best values in life:
compassion, selflessness, responsibility and self-satisfaction.

Teen trainers, parents and children who give a foster home to displaced pets
tell us over and over again what a great experience they have had the privilege
of witnessing first hand through our program. Adoptive families of these loving
pets realize the wonderful gifts these new members of their families give to them.
We receive letters daily from members of the community who appreciate the work
we do to educate and help families become responsible pet owners.

We could not provide so many wonderful dogs new homes with proper education
and training for their new families without the selfless hard work and dedication of
the animal-loving volunteers who make this work possible.

Successful outcomes aren't achieved in a few big steps: they're achieved day by
day, project by project, dollar by dollar and only through the accumulated efforts
of many people. For example, the rescue and adoption of 19 dogs from our local animal shelter in one week was thanks to the Super Adoptathon sponsored by
PetsMart Charities, 19 volunteers who held them, took them home and cared for
them, and the support of local businesses who donated services.

Programs like this can only continue with the contribution of volunteers and donors
who see the value of what our programs have to offer. I hope that everyone in the
public and business sectors will see that all can benefit from teaching our kids to love, sacrifice and help these dependent creatures, and become compassionate adults with high morals.

When I first started going to our local shelter in 1998, 75% of 50+ dogs a day were put to sleep at 2 to 3 loads of 8 dogs each load a day. Litters of Black Lab Mix puppies were brought in by irresponsible owners and the majority put down in the gas chamber. I started rescuing as many as I could up to 12 a week, and took pictures of the rest of the dogs on Friday to advertise them at adoptions that Saturday wherever I was allowed to share adoptions with other rescues in hopes that I could find interested families that could save them before they were put down on Monday. I also hoped to show the public how many puppies and gorgeous dogs were in the shelter. Many people and rescues in other cities were surprised that there were so many purebred dogs and litters of puppies in the shelter needing rescue. I pleaded with other rescues in the State to come down and get these puppies since they did not have as many puppies in the shelters in their areas. I continually brought TV reporters down to the shelter to show the litters of puppies and overcrowdedness of the shelter for 3 years, and met with 22 local Mayors and County Commissioners for a year to bring this issue to their attention. I began to transport litters of puppies to the Humane Society who promised they could place all the puppies they got in. I did this for over 3 years with little help and after 500 dogs later, no break, caring for the majority myself, I began to see more rescues start driving down to this shelter to rescue dogs, people coming down to find the great puppies and dogs, and the shelter began to see less animals needing euthanization. I also worked hand in hand with the Sheriff's Department to rescue abandoned, abused and neglected pets in our county. So many stories to tell, but the few that I am proud to have saved are 12 Hound little 6 week old puppies that were freezing in the snow after the mother had been chained up and killed. All were saved and placed by our rescue taking half and working together with Best Friends Rescue who took half, and inviting us to come place them at their adoptions in Cottonwood Mall. Three Lab/Sharpee 6 month old pups had been abandoned in the hills and used as target practice till a caring woman called me for help. Together with the Sheriff's department we spent an entire day tracking them down, tranquilizing them one by one and saved them. Two of them were placed with loving, responsible and willing to train homes. A little kitten with a 3" ball of poop stuck to her bottom was found by a reporter I knew while she was being kicked to death by two teenage boys. She brought her to me, I rushed her to our wonderful Veterinarian who saved her after a week stay in the clinic. I also showed her abuse on TV. More and more animal cruelty was being reported, and more and more was shown on TV. A horse that had his bridle embedded into the bone in his face after a year of neglect, and many unbelievable stories made national news. Our animal control officers began to do more and more as media attention grew. But even so I still personally witnessed city officials and law enforcement agencies still practice inhumane tactics towards animals. The worse and most traumatic I personally experienced Post Traumatic Stress from for months involved about 600 animals on a sanctuary in a local city. I had been asked by the city's Mayor to help them find homes for countless numbers of chickens, ducks, cats, dogs, rabbits, goats, and other animals. I was told that the judge had ordered the police to come and remove these animals from the property, and they had no where to take them and had not been successful in getting any rescue organization in Utah to help them. The city attorney asked me to visit the property where the animals were kept before the officers were to show up the next day. I found the animals in separate large pens, with fresh straw, proper food and water, well fenced in and not running loose except for a few stray rabbits. I found the entire 2 acre compound completely fenced in with expensive fencing and cement under entire fence so as to keep the animals on the property. If found no stray animals at all able to get off the property. I was surprised to find such beautiful and healthy chickens and ducks, and old and disabled cats and ducks well cared for in heated and separate houses. I did not understand why the city, judge and police had ordered removal of these animals with no where for them to go. I pleaded with every rescue including Best Friends who was only able to take 6 cats to come help rescue animals. I was able to contact many farmers with the help of a reporter friend I trusted to give the exclusive to before the police came to take the animals. We were able to safely place 150 chickens, 100 ducks, goats, geese and the only extra dog on the property. But after watching the officers inhumanely catch and kill many of these animals all week, and then have the family shoot whatever rabbits could not be caught, and remove old cats, over the limit they allowed to stay but forced to be removed from their heated shelter rooms and left in the freezing snow outside in an area they stated the judge ordered leaving them to die in the elements, and watched them have an officer that was not experienced in euthanization give a lethal injection to a pot bellied pig because the pig was too heavy for the officers to move to the designated area on the property the judge had ordered, and so they incompetently and inhumanely had him suffer for 30 minutes after the injection before he finally expired. I watched such cruelty on the part of the officers that I could not believe as I pleaded for help from the Humane Society who told me they could do nothing to stop this, and felt so helpless and shocked by the horror. I still cry about what I personally witnessed and have given my deposition in a law suit by the owners of the sanctuary which had been the local Humane Society for 25 years unofficially and taken in all the animals that were thrown over their fence, brought to them by local animal control officers who knew they would be cared for and other sources. The animals all had shot records, were cared for with the family's own funds and spayed and neutered. Many were old, crippled and yet had a safe and peaceful place to live. The farmers, animal science major experts and health inspector who saw them all told me that these animals were healthy and well cared for. NO one had ever seen such beautiful chickens and ducks. The farmers they were given to all appreciated them. But this kind of animal cruelty on the part of city, judicial and law enforcement still continues and people are harassed when they report it. I have suffered malice, personal attacks and blackmail from law enforcement personnel, I have had letters of apology from city officials and Police chiefs for my harassment, and have seen personnel fired from their jobs, but there is still much work to be done in this culture. But I never give up. I now focus on a program I started 2 years ago having kids all over Utah foster homeless puppies, coming to one of 3 training schools for puppies and kids to teach their puppies manners and fun tricks, perform at large events with up to 10,000 people at a time all over Utah to educate the public in Utah how to train, care for and love their dogs. I am very proud of this program that is growing so fast that now all State Youth Corrections, Youth Detention and other Youth Programs have asked me to bring this Dog Training For Kids to the youth in their programs. I know that this will break the chain of animal abuse which has been proven always leads to human abuse later in life. Our program for kids is Praise For Peace and No More Violence for Kids and Animals. Please look at all the exciting events we have planned this summer for the kids and public to learn from. Come see all the great education nationally, great efforts by some local Animal Control working together with rescues, and our congratulations for heroic Utah Rescues on our Adoption Page.

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