The Strong Paws Fund

Beagles And Bentleys Animal Rescue is dedicated to providing loving homes for animals in need. Our mission is to maintain affordable adoption fees, ensuring that each adoption covers the basic medical costs associated with the animal being adopted. This approach improves adoption accessibility,  but when an animal requires extensive medical care, the costs can significantly exceed our standard adoption fee.

Supporting Thor and Dogs Like Him

The Strong Paws Fund is a new initiative designed to address the gap between our adoption fee and medical costs for our animals. This fund aims to to support medical costs that extend beyond the funds generated by our adoption fees. Our inspiration and mascot for The Strong Paws Fund is Thor, a magnificent dog whose story embodies the very essence of what this fund seeks to achieve.

Many dogs like Thor are often overlooked in shelters or denied by nonprofit rescues due to the anticipated additional medical costs they may incur.  Thor’s initial need for an ACL repair, coupled with the general risks and costs associated with caring for a dog of his size (140 lbs), made him a less desirable candidate for many rescues.

As a foster-based rescue, our philosophy is simple: if we have a foster who says "yes," then so do we. When Thor entered our care, we discovered he had more medical needs than we initially thought, including Ehrlichia, Lyme disease, and epilepsy. His seizures, occurring primarily during sleep, likely went unnoticed by shelter staff, as they would happen after hours. The good news is that Thor's epilepsy is manageable with medication and routine monitoring, and it does not diminish his quality of life.

Undiscovered Medical Needs

This fund will support not only the dogs who go overlooked due to the cost of their care, but also those whose medical needs go undiscovered. Shelters often have limited budgets, and animals may not be able to receive a full workup to uncover issues such as heartworms, bladder stones, breed specific surgeries, high parasite loads or other GI infections. These dogs may languish in shelters for months due to the unknowns surrounding their care. Some may even be moved up on the euthenasia lists simply because their condition may cost too much to treat.  The Strong Paws Fund will help us support these animals, ensuring we never have to worry about the "how much?" when a foster says yes to a dog.

Reporting

We are committed to transparency and accountability. All contributions to The Strong Paws Fund, whether monthly or one-time, will be used directly for the medical expenses of animals in our care. We are dedicated  to providing regular updates on how your donations are making a difference, including stories of the animals helped and the specific medical treatments funded. This approach will not only promote transparency in our operations but also provide valuable educational opportunities, shedding light on the medical conditions many of these animals face, often as a result of poor preventative care or neglect. Our aim is for you to always feel appreciated and see the tangible impact of your generosity in saving overlooked animals.

Our Goal

We are incredibly grateful for our community's consistent support during intermittent emergency needs. However, we aspire to do more! The Strong Paws Fund will be a dedicated resource to support dogs like Thor, enabling us to rescue overlooked dogs, both big and small, who require specialized medical attention.

This fund will directly cover medical expenses that exceed the standard adoption fee. By supporting The Strong Paws Fund, you will help us ensure that no animal is left behind simply because their medical needs are too extensive.

Fundraising

Our initial fundraising goal for The Strong Paws Fund is to secure 100 dedicated members for our monthly giving program, each contributing $10 per month. These founding members will receive a special "Strong Paws" t-shirt as a token of our profound gratitude. While our primary focus is on establishing stable monthly donations, we also gratefully accept one-time donations of any amount.


July Highlight

July Strong Paws Highlight is Sturgeon

Sturgeon is a 10-12 week old Great Pyrenees mix. He came in with his littermates, after his mother was shot and killed when he was only 5 weeks old. They were living outside without food, shelter or water. He was loved and cared for by our team as we weaned him and helped to nurse him back to health. During this time, we got to see his intelligence and his spunky, darling and inquisitive personality. 

Unfortunately, Sturgeon recently fell sick with a particularly aggressive and virulent case of bacterial pneumonia. He was rushed to the emergency vet overnight and has been receiving around-the-clock ICU-level care. He is currently on oxygen and receiving various IV medications to help him fight this sickness. 

As of today (July 1), his bill is estimated at around $7,000 and is expected to grow the longer he remains in the ICU. We will give him all of the support he needs and do everything we can to aid his recovery. We are not able to 

Thank you for your monthly support or one time contribution to The Strong Paws Fund. Our goal is to reach 100 monthly contributors. As of July, we are 32 donors strong!

Become a monthly contributor today, any amount, no matter how small, will help <3

Shop our clothing campaign to support The Strong Paws Fund!

“As a foster based rescue, our philosophy is simple, If a foster says “YES”, then so do we.”

-Beagles and Bentleys