Help our rescue repair their new home

I started JR's Pups-N-Stuff out of my home in 2007. Since starting, we have been fortunate enough to save over 10,000 dogs from life threatening situations. We have now rescued about 900 cats, dozens of guinea pigs, some rabbits, chinchillas, hedgehogs and even a pot bellied pig! (That's the -N-Stuff!). I've not been good about asking for help, so this has been tough for me. But I need help.

We have been leasing a facility that is becoming more and more cost prohibitive as the expenses just keep rising. We stumbled on a property over the summer that will allow us to move our operations to our own space. We made the purchase with our retirement funds and a large mortgage and after we are able to finalize things, will sell our current home and move onto the property full time. It has 5 acres for the dogs to play and we are so excited for them and the fun they will be able to have on this property once its fixed up! A rescue dog from a bad situation will have a bit of heaven while searching for their forever home.

My husband and I both still work full time and have been fortunate enough to be able to help financially when the rescue was short on funds. We have donated our time, energy and funds to this cause for nearly 20 years. Although we have a small staff to care for the animals 7 days a week, I have never taken a salary/paycheck. I do this because its a passion and I want to be part of the change.

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Unfortunately the previous owner of this property was not honest. They covered up damage to the kennels, including holes that go all the way through walls. They left behind a massive mess which has (so far) required multiple 30 yard dumpsters to clear out their JUNK they left behind. The plumbing is completely backed up in the rescue building. The washer and dryer they left doesn't work. They assured us there were new floor drains and even showed us where the patching was done to put them in, but they had their stuff all over. Turns out there are only 2 in the entire facility which means we will need to add more. All that patch was patch to get to the plumbing. NOT more drains. The storage building for supplies was severely damaged, including a fully cracked and dropped floor which caused the soffits to twist and break. So in addition to raising the concrete, the soffits and siding need more repair than expected as well.

We expected to have to do some painting and cleaning and replace the wooden guillotine dog doors. We did not expect to find there was zero support in the dog door and simply holes cut into the exterior walls, weakening the structure. Now we need to build supports. We knew there would be some fence repairs, but there is significantly more than anticipated as we find damage and rusted panels everywhere. Previously covered by their things that we cleared out. We have cleaned, etched and sealed all the exterior kennel concrete to eliminate the strong smell of urine that was left to seep into untreated concrete.

We did have an inspection done and the company was great, but when people have so much junk piled up with a claim of preparing to move, things are blocked and hidden. Sadly, things were missed in the outbuildings and the house. The house is our problem, but the rest of the facility is for the animals.

Raising the concrete, repairing the holes, stabilizing the structure, adding drains and then refinishing the floors after the plumbing is fixed will cost upwards of $75,000. I also had not anticipated paying for 3 properties overlapping for these months. I can certainly hold off on redoing the driveway/parking that is in bad shape, but they can wait.

At this time we have drained our funds completely and still have so much work to do to prepare this forever home for our rescue. We're also running out of time as we pay this mortgage and the rental lease and are still be required to sublease our current space. And of course, Wisconsin weather will be ending our ability to continue this work shortly. I am hoping and praying for help.

Please join me in making a difference? Any donation will help make an impact. All donations are tax deductible. If by any chance we were to raise more than what is needed for the repairs, the funds would go to outstanding medical expenses for the animals (which is currently sitting around $25,000), and to addition work that needs doing for the longer term comfort and safety of the animals.

Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause. We are blessed with an amazing team of volunteers that work tirelessly for this cause as well. We can all only do what we do because of your help!

More information about JR's Pups-N-Stuff : JR's Pups-N-Stuff began with one goal in mind - to save animals from life-threatening situations. We are a Foster-Home based rescue organization, with a small short term facility, which receives animals resulting from Owner Surrenders or Placement Programs with other animal shelters. Often, these are animals that might otherwise be euthanized in their current shelter environments due to housing overflow/shortage.

All animals adopted through JR's Pups-N-Stuff are spayed/neutered, micro-chipped, receive all age appropriate vaccinations and flea/heartworm preventatives. All adult dogs are heartworm tested and treated if a positive result is received.

Our intention is to find the right match between adopters & these animals with the hope of a forever home. If you'd like to learn even more about us please feel free to visit our website at www.jrspupsnstuff.org.