NEWS FOUR TODAY. TOMORROW MORNING, STARTING AT 430. AN ANIMAL RESCUE IN HART COUNTY, GEORGIA ISN’T JUST SAVING DOGS RIGHT NOW. THEY’RE SAVING A DOG AND ITS VETERAN OWNER WITH THE HELP OF THE COMMUNITY, THOUGH, THEY DON’T HAVE A LOT OF RESOURCES, THEY’RE SHARING WHAT THEY HAVE TO HELP OUR PEYTON FURTADO HAS THEIR STORY, AND IT’S ALL NEW AT SIX. IT’S A RESCUE. YOU MIGHT ONLY HEAR ABOUT IN A MOVIE OR A TELEVISION SHOW, WITH A FUZZY LITTLE FRIEND AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL, AND IT ALL STARTED WITH A FACEBOOK POST. ALL IT SAID WAS, I CAN’T DO THIS TO HER ANYMORE. SHE NEEDS HELP. CAN ANYBODY COME GET HER? TIFFANY KOONTZ WORKS AT THE HART COUNTY ANIMAL RESCUE AND HEADED TO THE MOTEL. THIS MAN WAS LIVING OUTSIDE OF. HE’S GOT HER PROPPED UP ON THE BENCH ON A COMFORTER, TWO WATER BOWLS, FULL BOWL OF FOOD. HER LITTLE PINK COLLAR ON. HE’S SITTING ON THE GROUND NEXT TO THE BENCH. THE DOG, FINNEY WAS CLEAN AND WELL FED. BETTER FED THAN HER OWNER, A VIETNAM WAR VETERAN. YOU COULD TELL BY LOOKING AT THE SHAPE THAT SHE WAS IN THAT HE HAD DONE EVERYTHING HE POSSIBLY COULD, NO HUMAN, LET ALONE A VETERAN. NO HUMAN SHOULD BE LEFT IN THAT SITUATION. THE SHELTER SAYS THIS VETERAN FELL BEHIND ON BILLS AND LOST HIS HOUSE WHEN HE LOST HIS WIFE DURING COVID. HE FELL INTO DEPRESSION AND LOST HIS JOB. WE’RE TOLD THAT SPELLS DISASTER FOR A VETERAN IN HART COUNTY IN THIS DIGITAL AGE. THOSE VETERANS THEY MIGHT NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A LAPTOP OR A PHONE. YOU EITHER HAVE TO TRY TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT IN ATHENS OR DOWNTOWN ATLANTA AND MOST VETERANS, ESPECIALLY IF THEY’RE HOMELESS, THEY HAVE NO MEANS OF BEING ABLE TO TRAVEL TO ATHENS. SO TIFFANY TOOK PHINNEY HOME AND MADE SOME CALLS. WE FINALLY MADE A FACEBOOK POST LAST NIGHT. WE DIDN’T REALLY PUT MUCH ABOUT IT INTO THE WORLD BECAUSE FOR NOW WE HAD BEEN TAKING TURNS PAYING FOR THE MOTEL ROOM, VOLUNTEERS AND THE COMMUNITY HAVE RAISED MORE THAN $5,000 IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS TO BUY THIS VETERAN, A USED CAMPER AND COVER GROCERIES AND LIVING EXPENSES. WE’VE ALSO OFFERED HIM A JOB HERE AS A HANDYMAN. HE’S GOING TO HELP US OUT WITH KEEPING THE GROUNDS CLEANED UP, AND HE’S OBVIOUSLY A DOG LOVER, SO WE KNOW HE WILL BE FINE HELPING US TAKE CARE OF THE DOGS. WE REACHED OUT TO THIS VETERAN, BUT COULDN’T GET A HOLD OF HIM BECAUSE HE WAS HELPING A FRIEND MOVE. COUNT SAYS HE’S OVERWHELMED WITH GRATITUDE. HE SAID NO, I HAD NO IDEA PEOPLE WOULD HELP LIKE THIS. AND I SAID, THAT’S BECAUSE YOU NEVER ASKED FOR HELP. THAT WAS OUR PEYTON FURTADO REPORTING. WE’LL HAVE A LINK TO THIS RESCUE’S FUNDRAISIN
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Georgia animal rescue saves homeless dog and its veteran owner
An animal rescue in Hart County, Georgia, isn’t just saving dogs; it’s saving a dog and its veteran owner with the help of the community.Though the rescue doesn’t have a lot of resources, it’s sharing what it can after seeing a Facebook post pleading for help. The post simply said, “I can’t do this to her anymore. She needs help, can anybody come get her,” recounted Tiffany Counts, who works for the Hart County Animal Rescue.Counts headed to the motel where the man was living. “He’s got her propped up on the bench on a comforter, two water bowls, full bowl of food, little pink collar on. He’s sitting on the ground next to the bench,” Counts remembered.With tears in his eyes, the veteran said goodbye to his friend of more than a year. He never asked for help himself, just his dog. The dog, Phinny, was clean and well-fed, better fed than her owner, a Vietnam War veteran. “You could tell by the shape she was in that he had done everything he possibly could,” Counts said. “No human, let alone a veteran, should be left in that situation.”The shelter explained that the veteran had fallen behind on bills and lost his house. After losing his wife during COVID-19, he fell into depression and lost his job. In Hart County, where digital access is limited, this spells disaster for a veteran. “Those veterans might not have access to a laptop or a phone,” said Robert Sterling, a veteran and volunteer at the Hart County Animal Rescue. “You either have to try to make an appointment in Athens or downtown Atlanta. And most veterans, especially if they are homeless, have no means to travel to Athens,” he said.Tiffany took Phinny home and made some calls. “We finally made a Facebook post last night,” she said. “We didn’t really put much about it into the world because for now, we had been taking turns paying for the motel room.”Volunteers and the community have raised more than $5,000 to buy the veteran a used camper and cover groceries and living expenses. “We’ve also offered him a job here as a handyman,” said Counts. “He’s going to help us out with keeping the grounds cleaned up, and he’s obviously a dog lover, so we know he will be fine helping us take care of the dogs.”We reached out to this veteran but couldn’t get ahold of him because he was helping a friend move. Counts says the 70-year-old is overwhelmed with gratitude. “He said, ‘I had no idea people would help like this.’ And I said, ‘That’s because you never asked for help.'”
An animal rescue in Hart County, Georgia, isn’t just saving dogs; it’s saving a dog and its veteran owner with the help of the community.
Though the rescue doesn’t have a lot of resources, it’s sharing what it can after seeing a Facebook post pleading for help. The post simply said, “I can’t do this to her anymore. She needs help, can anybody come get her,” recounted Tiffany Counts, who works for the Hart County Animal Rescue.
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Counts headed to the motel where the man was living. “He’s got her propped up on the bench on a comforter, two water bowls, full bowl of food, little pink collar on. He’s sitting on the ground next to the bench,” Counts remembered.
With tears in his eyes, the veteran said goodbye to his friend of more than a year. He never asked for help himself, just his dog. The dog, Phinny, was clean and well-fed, better fed than her owner, a Vietnam War veteran. “You could tell by the shape she was in that he had done everything he possibly could,” Counts said. “No human, let alone a veteran, should be left in that situation.”
The shelter explained that the veteran had fallen behind on bills and lost his house. After losing his wife during COVID-19, he fell into depression and lost his job. In Hart County, where digital access is limited, this spells disaster for a veteran. “Those veterans might not have access to a laptop or a phone,” said Robert Sterling, a veteran and volunteer at the Hart County Animal Rescue. “You either have to try to make an appointment in Athens or downtown Atlanta. And most veterans, especially if they are homeless, have no means to travel to Athens,” he said.
Tiffany took Phinny home and made some calls. “We finally made a Facebook post last night,” she said. “We didn’t really put much about it into the world because for now, we had been taking turns paying for the motel room.”
Volunteers and the community have raised more than $5,000 to buy the veteran a used camper and cover groceries and living expenses. “We’ve also offered him a job here as a handyman,” said Counts. “He’s going to help us out with keeping the grounds cleaned up, and he’s obviously a dog lover, so we know he will be fine helping us take care of the dogs.”
We reached out to this veteran but couldn’t get ahold of him because he was helping a friend move. Counts says the 70-year-old is overwhelmed with gratitude. “He said, ‘I had no idea people would help like this.’ And I said, ‘That’s because you never asked for help.'”
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