A few days ago I received a phone call from a gentleman stating that there had been a small white dog out in one of his fields just running in circles for the past several hours. Obviously, there was something wrong with the animal but he wasn’t sure what to do. He couldn’t get close enough to see what the matter was because the dog would just run in a bigger circle and move away. I must admit I was a little skeptical but I loaded up a crate and slip lead and headed out. When I got there, sure enough a little white dog was out in this huge field just running like there was no tomorrow! I have to say I had never seen such a strange site. I walked out in the field and could not get in catching distance of him. It was obvious that the little dog was blind and very frightened as well as exhausted. On my way back to the truck, the gentleman asked me how I thought I was going to catch him. My response was that hopefully I can get in front of him and he will run into me! Well, putting away any thought of what this might look like from someone passing by, hobbling, since I had sprained my foot two weeks earlier getting up in the middle of the night to feed a baby squirrel someone had brought to AGC, I went back out to the field to see if I could somehow get the little dog to run to me and then I could just slip the leash over his head as he passed by. Fortunately, the good Lord was looking down on me and on the first try was able to get the leash over his head at which point, the dog just collapsed! He never made a sound, just laid there panting, covered with dirt, wet and scared. I picked him up and went to the vet.

Derrick is now sporting a new hair cut and is adapting amazingly well. We have started him on some eye drops twice a day and it looks like he might be able to have some limited vision. For now though, Derrick is staying with me and comes to the shelter every day with Conner and myself.

For this little guy to be put out on the side of the road (there was no other way he could have gotten to where he was alone) is one of the cruelest things that could have been done to Derrick. Imagine how he must have felt being somewhere not being able to see or was even remotely familiar, just running, running, trying to get home but couldn’t. We should all try to put ourselves in this position and by doing so, know that this not the way another living thing should be treated. After all, we are all God’s creatures.

Dear Friends,

I lost my best friend recently due to cancer. He came into my life just two weeks before I lost another best friend. Jasper was an exceptional friend. He always put my needs first; his patience would make Job blush! His love and loyalty was without question.

Jasper came into All God’s Creatures one August day, found on Old Stage Coach Road, chasing horses and waiting for his people to pick him up again. When my phone rang and my friend said, "I have a Jack Russell Terrier that showed up. Can I bring him to you?" What could I say?

Once he was with me, we went to see Dr. Rauton. Jasper needed to be neutered and one back leg had been broken along with his tail. Those injuries could have been easily fixed but ... Jasper lived with a crooked back leg and tail. But, he didn’t hold a grudge.

I tried to place him once, a few weeks after he came to AGC. The person brought Jasper back the very next day saying he had stood at the window and cried all night (and she did too)! When I met her to retrieve Jasper, she said, "Do not try to place him again, he’s yours!" As they say, the rest is history.

Jasper was my constant companion. He went from elementary schools to do pet care classes to Lowe’s, festivals, meetings and every where in between. He truly was the best friend I have ever had. Jasper’s love was completely unconditional and for five years was the most perfect ambassador All God’s Creatures could have ever asked for.

The hardest decision I have ever had to make came on August 3 of this year. Jasper now rests with my other dear, dear friends in our special place at home. A friend like this is very special so I wait for God to send another one to me. It is difficult and lonely at times but I’m trying to be patient.

For those of you that say "I don’t want to go through the pain again of losing a pet," I say having your heart broken is the price you gladly pay for the privilege of loving a pet. For now, I have a huge hole in my heart and life that Jasper left, but my heart is open, waiting for my next dear friend and what he/she will bring to my life.

Please, if you have lost your 'best friend," don’t cheat yourself or the animal that needs to be loved and is just waiting to be that friend. Open your heart and I promise you won’t be sorry.

Sincerely, Denise Holcomb

"Sweet, Old Mare"

      She had a long way to go but her heart and spirit were strong. Even being in extreme pain, due to lack of proper hoof care, she valiantly hobbled her way to the awaiting horse trailer that would take her to a place that would give her all the care that she needs and deserves. She is extremely underweight and flies biting her legs until they bleed. Her difficulty in walking is due to not having her hooves properly trimmed. So over time, the hooves curled up and she was left to walk on the bone that should have been up inside the hoof. When I looked into her soft, brown eyes, I knew the sweet, old mare had just been waiting for someone to help her. Once we had cut the rusty, old barbed wire and made a gap for her to walk through (she couldn't walk to the gate, it was too far away), it took three long hours to get her from where she had been standing for several months, if not years, to the trailer just 150 feet away, loaded, driven the 9 miles to her sanctuary and then put into her new home. For a normal horse it would have taken 30 minutes, at most. The mare greeted her new roommate with great enthusiasm. You could tell she had been alone for a long time. If she could have jumped for joy, she would have!

We started her on good feed, slowly, she wasn't used to anything but some hay and that was not near enough. After being wormed and getting a steady diet, the sweet, old mare did start to gain weight. That alone told us she had not been getting what she needed to sustain quality life. She was, at least, 200 pounds under weight, all ribs showing, back bone and hip bones and due to her lameness, her muscles had atrophied.

Before the vet could get to see her, the mare went down. All day, I stayed in the lot with her. Twice a friend came and helped me get her up, just hoping she would be able to hang on. I carried water to her and dribbled it in her mouth, begging her to please get up, knowing that that was our only hope of saving her. Unfortunately, her prognosis was not good. The vet stated that she had been so neglected that she would never be pain free even if her hooves were salvageable, which they were not. The sweet, old mare was humanely euthanized that morning.

I ask any of you that are reading this if it even remotely sounds cruel and neglectful? If so, we have a responsibility to demand that this kind of treatment is not tolerated and should be punishable in some form. This horse gave 25 plus years to owners that decided it was easier to stop caring for her and just wait for her to die. This mindset is completely unacceptable for any animal, large or small!

This sweet, old mare is now resting, no more pain or hunger. Unfortunately, it didn't have to be this way for her. Her issues were completely avoidable. It would have only taken normal hoof care and diet for her to have lived several more years. Please, don't let this happen again in our county. Our animals deserve better than this and we are the only ones that can change this kind of treatment.

Denise Lee Holcomb, Founder, All God's Creatures Pet Rescue

ALL LEGAL ACTION WAS DROPPED AGAINST THE OWNER. IT SEEMS THIS SWEET, NEGLECTED HORSE DIDN'T MATTER ALL THAT MUCH.

We have a large problem in our county that I would like to address. The problem is abandoned pets.

The picture you see is that of a dog that was brought to All God's Creatures. She was probably 2 years old. You wouldn't know it to look at her, would you? She had been hit by a car at some point. The accident dislocated her hip, and because she received no medical attention, the injury calcified and therefore crippled her, leaving her in constant pain.

Now let's add to that the fact that she had no vaccinations or heartworm preventative and was not spayed. she led a life of trying to feed puppies, five, all starving and dehydrated when found. . . And that's just this litter!

We couldn't save the mother due to her being crippled and having heartworms. The five puppies are doing well. They have had their first set of shots and have been wormed, along with receiving good food. They are thriving now, a chance their mother was not given due to an uncaring owner.

Please don't put a pet out thinking that they can survive because after all, they are animals. They are totally dependent on us as their caregivers. This is a task that I take very seriously and pray that those of you who read this letter will take this task seriously too.

Dear Friends of All God’s Creatures,

I sit in my living room this muggy August evening and I keep thinking about the recent national news story concerning dog fighting. I’m trying to comprehend just why anyone would do or be involved in, such a cruel activity. To think that making a creature that was put here to help us, comfort us and love us, fight until maimed or dead, is going on in our country and even our own state, is incomprehensible.

To try and excuse these actions as anything less than cruel, heartless and being egotistical, is also absurd. These animals are not born mean or vicious. They are a product of inhumane and ignorant people.

To have such a heartless consideration for a life, whether it is four-legged or not, is more than I can absorb. A so called sport, that involves a trusting, caring, completely dependent creature, is the ultimate betrayal of responsibility and trustworthiness given to us, as caretakers of dependent lives.

Please, please, think before ever considering that this activity is remotely acceptable in our society and in the eyes of the one who created both human and animal.

Sincerely,

Denise Lee Holcomb, Founder, All God’s Creatures

The phone rings, the voice on the other end is shaking and somewhat winded. She has found a dog on the side of the road, too weak to run and obviously in need of help. I told her I would meet her at the vet's office. I walk into the waiting room, I see a fairly large dog consisting of bones (you could see his whole skeleton) covered with a short coat of hair. His eyes are infected and his hip had been knocked out of the socket (the hip was an old injury). He was so weak and looked at me as if to say, "I just want to rest". Once the vet started the exam, I knew it wasn't going to be good. The dog was in the last stages of heartworm disease, too weak for treatment and his injured hip was a constant source of pain.

Needless to say, his life had been full of suffering, but, to know that his last few minutes of life were spent in comfort and being touched and talked to in the kindest way, was all I could give him.

The next day I met someone at the vet's office to get a dog that has been abandoned by her owners. You see, they moved a week ago, their pet was left chained to a car, no shelter but a bush. Food and water were scarce. She was very thin and had never been given vaccinations, preventative medications or spayed.

The solution for these owners was to have someone come by to take the car and turn the dog loose to survive on her own. Thank goodness, a neighbor came over and said they would take the dog. That's where All God's Creatures comes in. I'm on my way to meet that kind neighbor and get the dog. Hopefully, she will have a chance for a good, new life, in a loving home. These days make all the rest worth while.

      Four days before Christmas, the phone rings and a little girl's voice asks me if Maya was still up for adoption. I said that she was, and the little girl put her mother on the phone. We spoke for a while and set up a time for the family to meet Maya. We were waiting in Aiken on the sidewalk when a little girl came running up crying, "My dog, Maya!" She literally dropped to her knees and threw her arms around the dog's neck. It was definitely love at first sight for Maya and the child. I have to say, it brought chills to my arms and tears to my eyes to see such joy. The mother had made a promise to her daughter that if she brought her grades up, she could look for a dog. She went to our website and found Maya, a sweet, beautiful golden lab mix. I'm not sure when I've ever seen such pure joy or complete pride in achieving a goal as I did that Saturday morning standing out on the sidewalk. As I watched the family walk away with Maya, I was once again reminded why rescuing God's creatures is so important not only for the pet, but for the people that receive the unconditional love and loyalty that the pet brings to their lives.Happy New Year, and remember, we are ALL God's creatures.

Denise Holcomb, Founder

"TOBY"

"GRANDPA"