Origin Story
Sir Alfred the Great (Dane)
The rescue came to be for a multitude of reasons, but none more so than an animal I saved from euthanasia in 2016 after bouncing between four homes, all prior to a year old, that quite literally saved my life.
Alfred was my heart dog. He was a gigantic Great Dane at 178lbs that I jokingly referred to as my Yard Pony. I heard about Alfred through a friend of mine and reached out to his owner at the time who was terrified of him, deeming him “dangerous.” Truth be told, humans had failed him. They failed to train him, they failed to correct him, they failed to socialize him, they failed to set attainable and clear expectations. He was basically a huge bowling ball and would use his full weight to knock you down if he decided he wanted to. I took one look and knew I could help.
A few months after taking him in, I was attacked in my sleep. Alfred got in between the two of us, backing him down the hallway and out of the house. I was terrified, but Alfy saved me. I knew I had to leave, I was going to die there if I didn’t. Numerous times after that incident I leaned on him to get through everything: divorce, moving, and starting over. I promised Alfred once I made it through I would rescue more animals, and give them the chance at a new life—the same as he had given me. I just didn’t know the scale for which I would be able to do that.
I had 4 beautiful years with him after I moved. He was with me when I bought my house and the first to play in my fenced in yard. He played with so many puppies in 2020 as I slowly stepped in to assist small litters of puppies. He loved kittens the most though. He would pick up my neonatal kittens and go put them in his bed to cuddle. They were always terrified at first, but after a few times they would seek him out for snuggles. He would hang out with my chickens, and he never met another animal that he didn’t want to be friends with.
On December 14th, 2020 Alfred woke me up at 2am crying in pain. I knew then it was bad, but the next four hours I couldn’t have prepared myself for. Alfred was rushed down to Wilmington with a suspected gastric torsion, and that’s exactly what all of the diagnostics pointed to as well. My best boy couldn’t be saved. His intestines had been without bloodflow for too long. I lay on the floor with him telling him what an amazing partner he had been in my life, how I could never repay him for saving me, and how I wish beyond all things that I was able to save him then too. He softly licked my face as if to say, “I’m okay momma, keep saving those babies.” So, I kept following up on the nonprofit status and truly began to focus on what was important in my life: Animal Rescue.
Please spay and neuter your pets.
-Margaret H. Founder
