Friends Of The Hemphill Hounds

My name is Steve Rothrock, and I run a rescue for abandoned and abused hunting Coonhounds on a mountain in the Smokies of North Carolina called the Hemphill Hounds. I need your help to help me take care of them. Those who know my hounds understand that my mission is to take in unadoptable former hunting Coonhounds and to help them become adoptable using the stable influence of my rehabilitated hounds, and it works. I am approved by my county and a local rescue to foster these remarkable creatures. I believe the practice of hunting Coonhounds is immoral and should be illegal. They are like no other breed. They function much like a pack of wolves. And a cohesive pack can bring down any prey on Earth. But the process of turning a Coonhound into that force of nature is both brutal to the hound and to their prey. It is abusive, and I both wish to rehabilitate them from lives they would never choose and keep advocating for them on a national level. My health has deteriorated due to M.S. and neuropathy, and that has resulted in my inability to both physically and financially finish their sanctuary. Once complete the financial concerns I have encountered will be resolved. I just need help right now to help my pack and to take in many more. After spending two decades working with child abuse victims as a Clinical Social Worker I have developed a good understanding of trauma work. Now I focus that energy onto saving Coonhounds. They are by far the most unwanted dog breed in these mountains. But the same dedication they have as a pack when hunting makes them the most loyal and compassionate breed you will ever meet when they no longer have to hunt. Thank you for helping me save them. The Hemphill Hounds and I are eternally grateful for all the interest and love folks have shown them over the years.