You inspire! Heather and Blue's story

When we reached out to you last month to help Reiki, a service dog who needed emergency surgery, we were overwhelmed by your generosity. Heather, a fellow supporter, was especially inspired by the way our RedRover community came together to help Reiki. You see, Heather has her own incredible rescue story, and she knows how much it means when the community rallies together to support a family in need.

One day, when Heather was volunteering at her local animal shelter, a man brought in a female pit bull named Blue and a box of her nine puppies. Blue had two broken ribs (an indication of abuse), and the shelter population had a respiratory infection spreading throughout the kennels. Knowing the chances of the new mom and babies getting sick and the potential for them to be euthanized, Heather took Blue home with her newborn pups and vowed to find them all loving, responsible homes when they were old enough to be adopted.

After a month of raising Blue and her pups in a safe and caring environment, Heather ran into a big problem. Her landlord discovered she had 10 dogs in her small apartment and threatened to evict her in 2 weeks if she didn’t re-home the puppies right away. Heather knew time was running out for the little family, so she reached out to her local community in desperation.

Heather and Blue’s story hit the local news, and through the coverage and support of her local community, she found nine wonderful homes for all of Blue’s puppies. Heather adopted Blue and uses her shining personality to show others the positive side of pit bulls to help end breed discrimination.

That was two years ago, and Heather has since been inspired to help other animals to make a difference. When she learned that Reiki the service dog was suffering from a life-threatening condition, it brought up memories of her rescue story with Blue. Heather wanted to do everything she could to help save Reiki’s bond with his caregiver. Heather donated what she could, but also shared Reiki’s story far and wide with her friends, family and other followers on social media.

With people like Heather sharing Reiki’s story, RedRover has been able to provide RedRover Relief grants to countless families who need help for pets like Blue and Reiki.

Heather tells us, “Only God knows what Blue has been through, but I knew that I would spend the rest of her life making it up to her. I do believe that she and her babies were led to me for a reason: to change my life and theirs. They are the reason I am so involved with wanting to help so many animals – and I’m doing what I can to make that happen.”

Have you been inspired to help animals like Reiki and Blue? Here’s what you can do: 

• Share RedRover stories on Facebook or Twitter
• Help animals by donating to our RedRover Relief program
• Learn about becoming an On-Call Angel to make a special impact on an animal’s life

With your support, we can help more families and strengthen the bond between people and animals. Thank you!