Life in the Doghouse (2018) - full transcript

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 ♪♪