About Last Hope Dogs

The next morning, I called the shelter. No holds were allowed without being there in person so I started calling and emailing every rescue I could find in the San Antonio area. Some were too far away. Some were at capacity. Most couldn't be reached. By mid-afternoon, I thought I'd failed her.

I sent one last email to a rescue I couldn't reach by phone, then resigned myself to the fact that she was gone. But late that night, I got an email back. Pets Alive San Antonio had seen my message and forwarded it to a rescue here in Colorado, Red Fern Animal Rescue, who specializes in rescuing dogs from Texas high-kill shelters.

Early the next morning, I got a call: Bex was still alive! Somehow, she'd avoided euthanasia. But she was on the list again for that day, a Saturday, and they start the process even earlier on weekends. The founder of Red Fern said she would try everything she could to pull Bex out, but the reality was that we were desperately up against the clock.

Hours later came the best news I'd heard all year — a foster volunteer reached the shelter in time and pulled Bex out. She was safe. In 24 hours, we'd saved a life from another state, with no direct access, by coordinating with complete strangers who all cared enough to try.

Bex is now curled up next to me as I write this, snoring loudly. She plays with our other Rottweiler, Mammoth, in the yard every day. She's living the life she always deserved.

It's almost bittersweet. I saved one dog, for which I'm so grateful, but my eyes were opened to how many animals are put down every day. While I was frantically calling rescues for Bex, dozens of other dogs on that same feed didn't make it. In shelters across the country, thousands are euthanized every week.

I can't save them all, no one person can. But what if we could build a sustainable business model where the primary goal isn't profit, but impact? That is why I founded Last Hope Dogs LLC.