About Us
Meet Rhodie.
Abandoned and left to survive on his own in the farm fields of Knightsen. Rhodie was shivering in the dark night and pouring down rain when we came across him. Untrusting and scared as he was, we were able to overcome his defensive growling with our turkey and bacon dinner leftovers and loaded him up in our truck.
It was apparent Rhodie had not had the best life. There was definitely abuse in his past. We discovered he was a fear biter....most likely a behavior developed from an abusive situation. He was very fearful of men, but took a liking to my husband....who had helped me rescue him.
We took Rhodie to several different professionals to get advice and help with his behavior, and we were advised that he was not 'trainable' and he was a liability to our family.
We knew because of this he was not adoptable so taking him to the shelter or a rescue was not an option. We were his only chance at a life. Rhodie was happy and comfortable with us. He loved our other dogs, and could play tug of war all day long with our lab/pit mix Hunter! He even had a best friend, our black cat Blackie. Rhodie had some health issues too. He had a thyroid condition that he took medication for. He had nerve damage (maybe from the abuse?) that effected his motor skills making him 'clumsy' when he tried to run and play. Sometimes he would even trip over his own feet and fall when chasing a ball. It didn't stop him though! He had alopecia and skin tags that would grow rather large and we had to constantly get them removed. But despite all that and everything else he had been through before us...
Rhodie lived a long and happy life on our ranch with many doggie friends and his favorite companion Blackie. More importantly, he was loved, well cared for and safe. Rhodie was 15 when he crossed the rainbow bridge. Little did he (or we) know what he had started....and how many dogs would be saved because of him, and now in his name.
Rhodie’s Rescue is a 501c3 non-profit organization based out of East Contra Costa County. Our main focus is on rescuing, rehabilitating, and ensuring permanent placement of dogs from the high kill shelters in Contra Costa County, and in the lesser served areas of San Juaquin and Stanislaus counties. When possible, we provide community support with neglected and/or abandoned dogs.
Rhodie’s has no paid employees and is completely staffed by volunteers who love dogs, each with varying levels of experience in dog rescue, but all whom are committed and dedicated to their welfare.
Rhodie’s is a foster based rescue which means we do not have a shelter to house our dogs. All of our rescued dogs live in foster homes where they are lovingly cared for and nurtured by their foster families until they are adopted into their forever homes.
Rhodie’s is solely funded by donations from the public. We receive no government subsidies or assistance. All donations made to Rhodie’s Rescue are tax deductible.
OUR GOALS:
*To help reduce the overcrowding of pets in our local shelters and thus reduce the rates of euthanasia of adoptable dogs.
*To help end pet overpopulation through education of the public about spay/neuter of pets and the detriments of purchasing pets from backyard breeders.
* To help stop the abandonment of unwanted dogs on the streets of our communities.
*To help educate owners of the responsibilities of dog ownership.
*To help stop the needless suffering of dogs used for dog fighting and bait dogs.