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LOVABLE PAWS RESCUE
2144 Grays Highway, Ridgeland 843-422-1549, lovablepawsrescue.org Founder Steve Allen is a Maine transplant who arrived in the Lowcountry in 2004. After working for a number of rescue operations over a decade, Allen decided to found his own in 2016. “We just saw there was a need for a higher standard of care for these dogs, and we wanted to fill that need,” he said. “The fact is that the need is constant. Dogs are everywhere, and since the height of the pandemic, adoptions are down.” Lovable Paws provides temporary and long-term comprehensive care to lost and at-risk animals. Allen and his team of eight volunteers operate on a five-acre plot in Ridgeland, constantly working to complete rescues of at-risk dogs, fund raise for the food and supplies to take care of dogs on hand and work to find fosters and adoption families. Events like a recent Memorial Day fundraiser go a long way to keeping ahead of the constant needs. The organization completed 532 rescues in 2021 alone, with 486 of those dogs nursed back to health and ultimately adopted out to forever families. “We just can’t thank this wonderful community enough. The giving and the hearts of the people here, they give us the fuel to keep on fighting for these dogs,” Allen said. His next project: taking over the Broken Tails community fund for emergency care of sick or injured animals from the
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