" A YEAR WITH UNIQUE CHALLENGES"

As we began our journey in October as an official non-profit rescue organization, we never imagined our organization to blossom as it has. We officially became a 501(c)(3)on October 09, 2023. We took in our first two strays on October 28, 2023. On November 15, 2023, we were contacted about a sweet American Pitt Bull Terrier located at Fort Bend County Animal Services who was on their P.U.S.H list. That night we took in Alice who had been in the shelter for 2 years and scheduled for an untimely death the following morning. On November 28, 2023, a fellow foster reached out to us for assistance with a neonatal bottle baby we named “Tex.” When Tex came to us, he was just 2 ounces and in need of experienced bottle feeders such as ourselves here at DARS-TX. On December 02, 2023, we took in Tex’s brother whom we named “Austin.” Both Tex and Austin were fighters however they were just too small and weak. Despite our best-efforts Tex and Austin both passed away peacefully in their sleep within hours of each other. This was a tremendous loss for everyone. On December 03, 2023, we were contacted by a paramedic who had a litter of 6 kittens abandoned at their station, we knew we needed to help. Without a second thought we jumped into action and took the “HFD 36” into our care. These 6 required around the clock care to meet their needs and feeding schedule. All 6 (Keegan, London, Flint, Blaze, Aidan, and Enya) are all thriving and in great health. We are working on getting them fully vetted as they reach the age-appropriate milestones to be vaccinated and altered so we can get them into their forever homes. We held our very first mobile adoption event on December 10, 2023, with Petco. During our event our very first foster puppy “Stella” was adopted and went to her forever family. On December 14, 2023, we took in 2 owner surrenders whose previous owner had passed away. Ringo is a 6-year-old male tuxedo with a rear leg amputation. Baby is a 2-year-old smoke gray DSH. Both are thriving here at DARS-TX and looking for their future forever home. On December 17, 2023, we worked with a local resident who was moving to trap 7 feral cats on their property, this was a first for us. We were able to trap all 7 cats within a few short hours. We evaluated the colony and determined 3 of the kittens were used to human interaction and could be adoptable once vetted, we named the “80’s Ladies” (Smudge, Patches, and Trudy.) All are thriving and scheduled for total vetting January 10, 2024. We worked with Fort Bend County Animal Services to spay-neuter the remaining 4 and then released them back on the property they were originally tapped on with the property owner’s consent.

As the year came to an end, we were contacted by a family looking for a cat for their children, we got a meet and greet scheduled on December 30, 2023, and “Dante” our second intake was adopted and went to his forever family.