128 SIDELINES APRIL 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Ron’s Rescue brings them directly to the horse show. It’s great for
the riding community to have the rescue dogs so accessible, while
also increasing awareness. They make sure to educate people
about adopting rescue dogs, which is really important.”
The Beginning
From an early age, both Danny and Ron were raised to rescue.
“My mom used to take me to the shelters and explain to me that
you don’t want to buy something, you want to save something,”
Danny explained. “It was a value that was instilled early on, and
something that both Ron and I advocate strongly to this day.”
In the late 1990s, the local rescue near their farm in Camden,
South Carolina, the Walter Crowe Animal Shelter, had to close due
to repairs and renovations, leaving hundreds of dogs to face the
possibility of death. With the horse trailer pulling behind, Danny
and Ron headed to the shelter where they rescued 36 dogs and
brought them to their home.
That was only the beginning.
In 1996, Danny had back surgery –leaving him out of the saddle
for several months, but giving him the time to become even more
involved in the rescue work. He would save shelter dogs one at
a time until one day he met a pair of kennel mates that he knew
must be saved together, so he took both home. The rescue began
to blossom. To this day he remembers the names of those dogs
and the names of their adopters.
In 2005, when the levees in New Orleans broke due to
Hurricane Katrina, more than 80 percent of the city and parishes
were flooded. Families were transported to different locations
throughout the United States, with many having to leave their
animals behind. Danny and Ron responded to the call to action—
rescuing hundreds of dogs from numerous warehouses and
bringing them home for rehabilitation and adoption.
They funded every medical procedure with their own money,
even paying to fly one of the Katrina dogs to Houston to reunite
with his family. It was around that time that attorney Danielle
McClusky contacted Danny and Ron and offered to work pro-bono
to make Danny & Ron’s Rescue a 501(c)3 organization. She did
not know either of them on a personal level, but she had followed
their efforts and tracked what they were doing. Always putting the
dogs first, they had already burned through the majority of their
retirement account to cover veterinary care.
The average expense of a single dog after rescue is around
$500, but Danny & Ron’s Rescue is one of the only organizations
in the nation that does not charge an adoption fee. Each dog
is spayed/neutered, and then has a routine medical exam that
involves dental, worming, heartworm testing, microchip insertion
and all vaccinations. It may also involve heartworm treatment and
extra medical care.
Georgina Bloomberg described her connection to the
organization, “I have always respected the work that Danny and
Ron do. I think that they are incredibly dedicated and selfless, and
that everyone respects how much time and money they put in to
make a difference. I have rescue dogs from them, and I support
them in every way. Many people don’t realize just how much time
and effort they put in. They put every dime of their own money
into the rescue, and the dogs live in their house. The fact that they
don’t have to do this, but they do it because they care so much
about the dogs, is incredibly admirable.“
Ron, left, Kim Kolloff and Danny
show off a few dogs looking for
their forever homes.
Continued on page 130
