Tilted Acres Rescue and Adoptions

This beautiful boy - we named him Tommy - was hit by a car and a Good Samaritan brought him to Longleaf Animal Hospital in Southern Pines. He has a shattered Pelvis and needs surgery at Quartet Specialty Clinic in Cary. He’s only about two years old and a super trooper and we want him to have a second chance and find him a home once he recovers. Estimated cost is $3,500 for his medical care.

More information about Tilted Acres Rescue and Adoptions: We rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome the homeless pets in Cumberland, Hoke, and surrounding counties of North Carolina. Our foster-based rescue system means we have no building or volunteers so most of our funds (excepting funds for insurance and other necessities) go directly to the care of the animals.

When you first see RePete, a 6 to 8-month-old male mixed-breed dog, you may think that he’s shy or frightened because of the curve of his body.

He’s not.

He is in extreme pain.

RePete carries all his weight on his front legs. His back legs are bent in a permanent crouch position that makes him suffer tremendous pain. He cannot sit properly. 

We are not sure if his condition was caused by a birth defect or due to being kept in a crate too small for his size for the first six months of his life. We do know that RePete was abandoned in the woods. Left to die cold and alone. Thankfully, a gentleman found him and brought him to LongLeaf Animal Hospital where he experienced vet care for the first time.  

RePete was underweight, covered in mange, and obviously, couldn't walk properly. We have treated the mange, added five pounds to his frame, and now, have the answers we need about his legs.

Yet, for all that he has endured, RePete is a sweet and loving dog. He loves getting his ears scratched. He gives sweet puppy kisses. Starved for any human contact and affection, RePete ignores the pain to interact with his foster as much as possible.

As rescuers, we want to save as many animals as we can. Sometimes we have to make the hard choice to ease an animal’s suffering instead of trying to fix them. But, this dog - this dog we can save. Our vets at Longleaf Animal Hospital have conferred with bone experts who believe his condition can be fixed if we can straighten out his bones and help him shift his weight.

The estimated cost of RePete’s surgery is $5000. If we cannot manage to pay for his surgery – quickly – we must not only consider but must choose to do the responsible thing and end his pain. Please help us save RePete.

T.A.R.A. HOKE 50 $5 CHALLENGE!!!

T.A.R.A. is dedicated to assisting the Hoke County Animal Shelter with the mass surrender of 50 dogs. We are currently working out a system with the shelter and the owner to surrender the dogs over time so we can manage them. We are vaccinating, spay/neutering, flea treating, and de-worming all of the dogs. We are also heartworm testing all of the dogs and treating those that are positive. We are expecting, at least, half of the dogs to be heartworm positive. The funds required to accomplish all of this is unimaginable for our small, donation based rescue. So we are challenging our FB followers with the HOKE 50 $5 CHALLENGE. If just half of the 7500 people who follow our Facebook page donate $5 we will be able to treat 25 dogs for heartworms. Doing all of the medical care I just mentioned is going to cost a significant amount of money. We are going to figure it out, but we desperately need your help. 

So are you up for the challenge?! 

More information about Tilted Acres Rescue and Adoptions: We rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome the homeless pets in Cumberland, Hoke, and surrounding counties of North Carolina. Our foster-based rescue system means we have no building or paid employees, just volunteers, so most of our funds (excepting funds for insurance and other necessities) go directly to the care of the animals.

As with so many other animals, TARA received a call for help that we could not ignore. Animal control transferred Duke to our care after charges of abuse and neglect were filed against his former owner. When we picked him up, Duke was not able to stand up on his own and could barely walk a few feet to the car. We whisked him to the wonderful vets at Small Animal Emergency Care. We were hopeful that Duke would survive. There was a spark of life in his eyes, but his condition was grave, and we prepared for the worst.

Duke is a five-year-old pure breed Great Dane. When we placed him on the scale, Duke weighed just 91 pounds. He was a full 75 pounds underweight. He was heartworm positive. He had an upper respiratory infection. He had an enlarged prostate and was fully intact. His teeth were so bad, we initially thought he was much older. Worst of all, some condition caused the muscles in Duke’s throat to stop functioning correctly making it almost impossible for him to swallow food. This dreadfully neglected dog now had the added burden of dealing with megaesophagus.

Miraculously (meaning thanks to the treatment of Dr. Staudt, Dr. Turner, and Dr. Whitehead from Small Animal Emergency Care), Duke survived the weekend. He was transported to Longleaf Animal Hospital where Dr. Erin Barney took charge of his care. Inch by inch, slow agonizing step by step, Duke began to improve. He now watches the veterinary nurses intently as they go about their jobs and watches his food being prepared with a light in his eyes that is heartbreaking to see.

The road to recovery is still a long and twisted one for Duke. When he is released from the hospital he will need a special chair (a bailey chair) to help him eat due to the megaesophagus. Considering the chair (estimated at $400) and future needed care (to include a neuter when he is healthy enough for it), Duke’s total cost of care is estimated to be around $6,000.

None of this would have been necessary if his owners had cared for him properly. Humans have let Duke down for the past five years. TARA will not. We ask that you consider donating to TARA to help alleviate Duke’s medical bills. Donations can also be made directly to the vet’s office (Longleaf Animal Hospital at (910) [phone redacted].

Thank you. For sharing Duke’s story, for donating, for adopting, for volunteering. For whatever you do; thank you.