Silk Road Rare Livestock Guardian Dog Breed Rescue

Hi, as you will see in the video, my name is Randy Carpadus, and I am the co-founder and CEO of Silk Road Rare Livestock Guardian Dog Breed Rescue INC, a 501c3 that includes the Sanctuary at the Silk Road Station. I am asking for your help to keep Silk Road Rescue and the Sanctuary from permanently closing.

I’ve been involved in Livestock Guardian Dog (LGDs) breeds like the Great Pyrenees since I was a toddler and with LGD breed rescue since I was 12. I’m also a 3rd generation firefighter so saving lives is something I was raised to do.

What are LGDs, and who are we?

Livestock Guardian Dogs are ancient breeds of dogs specifically developed over thousands of years to protect livestock from predators. Silk Road Rare Livestock Guardian Dog Breed Rescue (aka: Silk Road Rescue) is one of only a handful of dog rescues that rescues and rehomes working livestock guardians and is the only breed rescue in the US that specializes in rare LGD breeds that originated from along the old Silk Road route and its branches. We were spun off in 2016 from what had been the oldest Great Pyrenees rescue in the US to meet the growing need for a rescue that focuses on rare giant breed dogs that can be more “assertive” and harder to handle than the average dog. They offer unique challenges to rescuers and can often take a great deal more time and work to rehabilitate.

Purpose of fundraiser

Our rescue facility, the sanctuary and our only foster home (due to the unique needs of some of those that we rescue) are based on the property that includes my home. Because my job was outsourced at a time when I’m also aging out of the job market, we are in foreclosure, are losing our home, and everything rescue that that entails. I would love to save my home as we are set up for rescuing these dogs, but that would take about $300,000 to do so. Due to the falling housing market, we won’t be able to clear enough off the sale of this place to buy another. We should be able to clear enough to buy an old mobile home, so are looking to raise $150,000 (plus GoFundMe fees) before the end of February to buy a rural piece of property that we can move the rescue too, put the mobile home on, and build the facilities needed for rescue and the sanctuary. This would include a well, perimeter fencing, pasture fencing (for the goats and mentor dogs we use for LGD testing and training. We have five rescue goats that do fire prevention work here and testing the dogs), kennels, and shipping containers that we can convert to feed storage and a grooming/dog “maintenance” room

Where funds will go

• Rural land prices here run about $10,000 an acre, so we are looking at about $40-$50,000 for enough land to not have the dogs right next to the neighbors.

• Permits and fees: up to $10,000

• Well: $5-$6,000 depending on the depth of the water table.

• Perimeter and pasture fencing: $20,000. This is for 6ft tall “no-climb” perimeter fencing, pasture cross-fencing, and double “air-lock” gates (prevents new dogs from bolting through gates and escaping or getting in fights). LGDs require tall, tight fencing to keep them secure and teach them not to challenge fencing, which is one of the biggest issues with them and often why working dogs end up in rescue.

• Concrete slabs for the mobile home, dog-related shipping container rooms, and outdoor kennels: $25-$30,000

• Shipping containers for grooming/care room, feed room, and storage: $10,000

• Chain Link fencing for kennels: $3-$4,000

• Electric or solar service for the property & misc costs like grading, plumbing, etc: $20,000

Risks and challenges

Silk Road Rare Livestock Guardian Dog Breed Rescue INC is a California Non-Profit corporation # C4682130, Tax ID # 86-2812641. All donations are tax-deductible under our tax ID or the PayPal Giving Fund (who is handling GoFundMe’s payments) Tax ID #45-0931286

All property/items purchased by this fundraiser will become the property of Silk Road Rare Livestock Guardian Dog Breed Rescue. If we are successful and save our current home, it too will become the property of Silk Road Rescue.

We are already in talks with and will be working with a realtor that specializes in animal properties to try and maximize the return for our current home and if this is even at least somewhat successful, to find a suitable piece of bare land to move to. We are also working with a professional fundraising consultant who has donated time to help us craft this campaign.

So, what happens if we don’t hit our goal? Honestly, it depends by how much. Of course, the dogs will come first because that is who we are. We would try and ensure that at least the dog we have here currently will have a safe place for the rest of their lives, even if that means we sell all we own and get "creative" with housing. Worst case scenario is we don’t raise enough to do anything and will have to close Silk Road Rescue and the Sanctuary, and that thought terrifies me as there are new dogs of the breeds we work with every week just here in California that need someone to stand up for them and there are few in the rescue world that are set up or qualified to take them on. We’ve had to pass on helping a good many dogs due to not knowing where we will be in the coming months. We also have a couple of dogs here in sanctuary that, due to health or behavior, wouldn’t be able to be rehomed, so we must make something work.

If we do hit our goal and can get the work needed done cheaper (these are mid-range estimates, and we will be looking for price breaks, of course), any “extra” money will go to improving the lives of the dogs and expanding our capacity.

Note: You can donate property anywhere in the continental US to help with this cause. For various reasons, we need to stay in or close to El Dorado County CA, but we are more than willing and grateful to accept a land donation anywhere.

Learn more about us at https://SilkRoadLGDs.org and https://www.facebook.com/SilkRoadRescue