Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Gavitt.
Hi Heather, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been in animal rescue and advocacy throughout my life growing up on the East Coast of Florida, I was around horses, dogs, cats, and many other animals in my childhood and into my teens. I have always had a passion for saving animals since they have no voice to help themselves.
After moving to Georgia with my now 16 year old daughter, I started with horses and then in 2019, I realized there was a need for a dog rescue in my rural county. There’s no municipal animal shelter and the quality of life for many animals, but especially dogs, is subpar. The way animals are treated in this county, really throughout all the south, is horrible.
We currently have 180 dogs (130 on property), 18 horses, goats, pigs, bunnies, and many more animals at the rescue that depend on just a few of us to take care of them 24/7. We don’t shy away from those that are broken, mangy, or in need of a lot of care. SGER is a “free range” rescue that has 8.5 acres that the dogs are allowed to roam during designated hours during the day when my trusted volunteers or myself are on property. When we have to leave for a few hours for errands, overnight, and during bad weather, they each have a kennel. The kennels are equipped with fans for the summer and heaters for the winter, dog houses, water and food bowls.
SGER is 100% nonprofit with no paid staff and I rely on donations and a few grants, fundraisers are hard in our area due to poor community support and economical limitations. The volunteers and supporters I do have work hard to help as much as they can, but many have their owns lives that include full time jobs, families, and animals to care for on their own.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road getting to where SGER is today has not been easy.
The struggles of slow adoptions and lack of monetary support are some of the hardest we deal with on a regular basis. The dogs on rescue property eat 100-150lbs of dog food each day, and that doesn’t include treats, medications, and other needs being met. We take in a lot of medical cases because no one else will, and we don’t want to just help the cute “easily” adopted animals.
The area the rescue is located in is not supportive, including the city and county leaders. The rescue has dealt with law enforcement at the gate, belligerent locals saying that their dogs have been stolen by us, threats against ourselves and our animals, all without backup. SGER, and those involved, do not steal dogs. The false accusations don’t hurt us, but it hurts the animals that are in our care due to the negative impacts these lies have on our organization.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
South Georgia Equine Rescue isn’t like other nonprofit animal rescues in the sense that we don’t keep our dogs kenneled 24/7. We have dogs that can’t be with others, can only be with the opposite gender, can only be in small groups, but we make it work with a rotation setup and free range. We have outdoor kennels with fans for the summer and heaters in the winter, dog houses, bedding, water and food bowls, and that are cleaned daily, but our dogs aren’t in there 24/7.
We have anywhere between 30-40 dogs that are let out to free roam our 8.5 acres from around 9am-12-1pm depending on the day and then again 5pm-8pm in the evening, with hours changing some in the winter months.
The dogs that need no group or a small group? They have fenced off play yards that they are in during the day or overnight so they have ample time out of their kennels to play and get some exercise. We don’t believe in keeping our dogs in a 5×10 or 10×10 kennel all the time.
Adopting this type of rescue environment, has helped us to spend more time with the dogs, allows them to be social, and helps them to be better equipped when they are adopted. Furthermore, kennel induced anxiety is greatly decreased with having a free range method in place.
Along with the free range environment, we specialize in helping dogs with skin infections like demodex mange and secondary infections when it’s been left untreated. They come in with bleeding wounds, pus, and in horrible conditions, but we help them heal both inside and out.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
There’s not much that isn’t known about me or that would be surprising. I’m an open book and not afraid to speak my mind about topics that are important to me.
I guess one thing that may be surprising to some people and may find shocking is that while I’m serious with the public and about my animals, I can be a total goof ball. I love to make jokes, be teased by my friends and family, and have a fun. I love to laugh at weird jokes that are made everyday at the rescue and just have a good time with those close to me. It’s my stress relief.
Pricing:
- Our adoptions are $150-$400
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.equineremedy.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouthGeorgiaEquineRescue/
- Other: https://www.petfinder.com/member/us/ga/waynesville/south-georgia-equine-rescue-inc-ga987/
