Organized by The Animal Cause, Inc.
Tornado destruction turns into animal welfare mission!
This is not the story I planned to tell.
I have been in animal rescue in Texas since 2012. I built an organization. I built programs. I built partnerships. I knew this state’s shelter system better than most — the kill rates, the data gaps, the million animals a year that disappear without anyone noticing.
I thought I knew how hard this work was.
Then everything I had built my life around got stripped away. The tornadoes that hit Temple, Texas were the beginning of a collapse I am still climbing out of. What followed was a long, brutal unraveling that ended with me and whatever I could carry — on the road with nowhere to go.
I am not going to lay out every detail of how we got here. What I will tell you is this:
When the moment came to choose between the foster animals in my care and my stability — I chose the animals. Without hesitation.
I have been in animal rescue long enough to know exactly what happens when a dog or cat walks through the doors of a Texas shelter without someone fighting for them. I was not going to let that happen to these animals.
So I loaded them into rental vans.
For months I drove across Texas and into 12 states — calling every rescue organization, every shelter, every animal welfare group I could find — asking if anyone had capacity for even one animal.
Not one organization said yes.
On December 1st, 2025, I was able to find and purchase (a running) old school bus. It became our home. It is still our home today, with seven animals breathing easy inside it.
We have been turned away from RV parks. Harassed and forced to move in the middle of the night. Thrown off parking lots by police while semi-trucks sat ten feet away doing the same thing without anyone blinking. Treated like a problem to be removed rather than a mission to be supported.
I have not complained. Neither have they.
I am not writing this for sympathy. I am writing this because what I am building is real, and it needs your help to survive.
WHO WE ARE
The Animal Cause, Inc. is a Christian nonprofit animal welfare organization incorporated in 2014, operating in Texas — the state that kills more shelter animals than any other in the nation. We are talking about an estimated one million animals every year. Most Texans have no idea. Most don’t know their own tax dollars fund the killing happening in their county right now.
We exist to change that.
Our flagship program — The Shepherd’s Ark — is a mobile rescue and transport unit: a purpose-equipped bus that picks up animals in crisis and transports them to safety, while carrying supplies and resource guides for vulnerable people encountered along the way. Rescue and ministry on wheels, rolling through the state that needs it most.
The bus I bought on December 1st is that vision becoming real. It is our first major milestone. It is not pretty yet. But it is ours, and it is going to move.
WHAT WE NEED
Every dollar goes directly toward getting The Shepherd’s Ark road-ready and operational:
▸ BUS WRAP & NONPROFIT BRANDING — Right now we are a battered school bus that gets us thrown off parking lots at night. Wrapped and branded, we become a visible, credible, moving testimony to this mission. Every mile becomes a billboard.
▸ ROOFTOP A/C UNITS — Texas heat is not negotiable. Animals cannot be transported safely without climate control. This happens before the first official rescue run.
▸ TIRES, BRAKES & MECHANICAL — The bus must be safe and road-ready.
▸ REGISTRATION & LICENSING — Required for legal operation as a nonprofit transport vehicle.
▸ ONGOING ANIMAL CARE — Food, vet costs, medications, and supplies for the seven animals who have ridden every mile of this without a single complaint.
Meet our furbabies!
Cali is estimated to be 8 years old as of July, 2026. She is spayed and heartworm negative. She is a wiggle butt! She is a small stature dog. She's only about knee high. And she loves to dart around. She will be stationary for a second and then dart off, it is hilarious!
She is house, kennel and leash trained. She's also been through basic training. She and Cricket both came from a cruelty case and she has no lingering effects. She’s great one on one versus a multi-animal setting. She’s very affectionate! She is very playful.
She's good with other dogs and goes outside with multiple other dogs without any issue. She previously exhibited food aggression but has been fed separately since so I don't know if she still would or not. She does enjoy chew toys but not much for throw toys. She's a Darling dog and too cute for words!
BB Boo is Smiling Jack's sister. She'll also be 6 years 7/2026. She's spayed and is heartworm positive but it's an old / dead infection - no live worms. She has had one round of treatment via Emancipet in Austin. She was the runt of the litter and she's very lean. She needs an environment where she's the only dog. She was adopted when she was a puppy and was abused.
She was traumatized by being kept outside alone so she doesn't enjoy being outside alone. She has anxiety and needs lots of attention.
She needs someone to help work her through her trauma and trust issues. She is very, very loving otherwise.
She’s been through basic training. She’s house, kennel, and leash trained. She loves chew toys!!!
Smiling Jack will be 6 years old as of 7/2026, he's neutered and heartworm negative. He's kennel, leash, and house trained. He weighs between 41- 45 pounds. He's also been through basic training and does obey commands.
He loves toys and playing. He's very playful and has such a sweet disposition.
The thing to note is that he paws playfully. He loves hugs and kisses as well as being sung to before going to sleep.
He requests a kiss before going outside for a bathroom break as a matter of fact.
He is a watchdog and well alert to strangers etc. He has such a sweet disposition!!!! He will make someone a fantastic pet/fur family member!
Meet Cricket! Cricket is a Texas Blue Lacy. She is super lean bodied, grey-hound like. She weighs about 30-38lbs. She is little hard of hearing. She is estimated to be 8 years old as of July, 2026. She's very playful and good around other dogs. She's fascinated by cats but won't hurt them. She's very timid in demeanor and will not fight other dogs. She'll just stand there if another dog "tries" her. She is spayed and heartworm negative. She's leash, kennel and house trained. She's been through basic training to understand commands. She's always been fed separately - can't testify to any food aggression.
She's very affectionate and loves attention!!!!!! Loves toys and being outside. She often lays outside taking it all in. She has an overbite that gives her a shark-like muzzle and when she's sniffing she sounds like a little machine gun; it's terribly cute! She's hilarious!!!! When she's running wide open she tucks her rear end under her. She has such a cute hopping walk. She has yet to learn to play with toys or frisbees. She loves attention and being brushed. She loves to cuddle next to me while on the couch and falls asleep feeling safe.
Meet Bonita! As of 1/2026, she is at least 7 years old. she is spayed and vaccinated.. She’s a medium hair domestic. Weighs 15.1 lbs.
She is housed with other cats and has co-habited with dogs.
She is very playful and energetic. She's vocal and makes noises when she jumps from thing to thing. It's terribly cute! She (playfully) bites ankles if you're ignoring her! She wants to play with toys or other cats.
She was street savvy but it's been years since she's been outside fending for herself.
Also “in-tow” are Mamacita and BB Boy, members of our permanent family.
These featured furbabies are adoptable! You can find them and adoption applications on our website: animalcause.org!
Handsome Jack, Dorita, Skittles, and Punkin were adopted; we are thrilled they found forever homes!
WHY THIS IS BIGGER THAN SEVEN ANIMALS
Genesis 1:26 gave humanity dominion over the animal kingdom. Not ownership. Not disposal rights. Stewardship — the same faithful care that God exercises over us.
We are watching that mandate abandoned at enormous scale. People surrender pets to kill shelters because they are moving, because it is inconvenient, because no one ever told them they were accountable. A million animals a year die in Texas and most Texans have never once thought about it.
The Animal Cause, and the Shepherd’s Ark is going to change that. One run at a time. One rescue at a time. One conversation at a time.
We are still here. We are still moving. We are not stopping.
Will you help us keep going?
The Animal Cause, Inc. — animalcause.org
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