Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue
Treating the abandoned and wounded By Kendal Norris | Art of Affection Photography
In the Gainesville area, dog and cat rescue efforts abound. It’s that type of community. But Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue takes those efforts to another level because local veterinarian, Dr. Linda McCollough, offers medical treatment to abandoned, wounded and suffering pets. She said, “We take the more serious medical cases, including pets with severe skin and dental disease, bone fractures and heartworm disease and do as much as we can to make them healthy so they can live a happy, comfortable life. Even the three-legged and one-eyed animals that would most likely have been euthanized, are able to find homes and become part of a family.”
and the Gainesville Vocational Rehabilitation and Center for Independent Living. As Kirk explained, “We’ve instituted a three month program that allows an individual who is challenged with disabilities an opportunity to receive training and education about animal care. These employees learn to provide compassionate care for the animals on a daily basis and assist in helping place the animals in a permanent home. This partnership is one way of enabling us to become independent, as well as increases the number of animals that we can save and helps create a work force for the animal rescue community – a win-win situation.”
Since opening up her own veterinary facility, Haile Plantation Animal Clinic, 18 years ago, Dr. McCollough has continuously been engaged in rescue work, culminating about nine years ago in the establishment of the not-for-profit, Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue. Today, Executive Director Kirk Eppenstein, formerly the director of the Gainesville Humane Society, noted, “It’s our mission for Haile’s Angels to become financially independent from the clinic. We are pursuing every viable avenue, such as fundraisers, grant writing and sponsorships and are using social media to promote awareness of the importance of helping these needy animals. Developing a strong and reliable volunteer team is also vital as the animals need constant, daily care.”
Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue typically saves between 500-600 animals per year, at an average cost of $500.00 per animal. Recently, Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue joined forces with local restaurant, Limerock Road Neighborhood Grill, for a “Spayghetti” dinner in which sixty percent of the dinner sales were donated by owner, Gordy Braund, to Haile’s Angels. “We want to give back to the Gainesville community so that we can all be a support team for each other,” said Dr. McCollough.
One of the ways these efforts have been successful is the partnership between Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue 36 | TheVillageJournal.com
Learn more and support Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue at www.hailesangels.org or by visiting their new adoption center located at 5231 SW 91st Drive in Haile Village Center.