Tropical Storm Debby was on her way to Charleston; the weather channel warned of extreme flooding and the city instituted strict curfews. The timing couldn’t have been less ideal. I was in the middle of a huge project – one I’d risked my, and my family’s, financial stability for.
In 2022, I founded a social impact publishing company, Witchcraft, and we were two weeks away from launching our first book. I had edits to approve, partnerships to oversee, PR packages to send, and a cover left to design – it all had to get done regardless of how much rain was forecast, how much the streets flooded, or how many times the power cut out.
I launched a publishing company in 2022 to spotlight the work of nonprofits, and generate revenue for their mission
Life outside of work wasn’t a walk in the park either: my nine-month pregnant sister-in-law was due at any moment; I read up on how to deliver a baby, just in case. My father had arrived at our home with his dog, Gideon, to hunker down because the boat he had decided to live on post-divorce wasn’t going to stand a chance in the storm. And then, while an evacuation notice blared through the TV speaker, I received a text from my husband: “Berkeley County Animal Shelter needs fosters through the storm. They are afraid of the kennels flooding. I’m going to pick up a dog.”
The story of The Man That Rescues Dogs is our debut book
During Storm Debby, local animal shelters requested help from the local community to take in animals
My mind whirred. Another dog would put our house at three adults and five animals during the storm… We already had my dogs, Giannis, a Malinois mix that came from a shelter in Georgia, and Holiday, a tiny lab and pit mix with two broken back knees that we found in a ditch on the side of the road, plus our rescue cat, Lombardi, who we discovered at six weeks old all alone in a Burger King parking lot. I’d crawled under a stranger’s car to get to him and snuck him into my hotel room that night, washing the fleas off of him with dish soap from the dollar store. And Gideon, a sweet pit bull that I had pulled from a high-kill shelter to foster just before Christmas. I’d managed to get to Gideon minutes before he was scheduled for euthanasia. It only took hours for my dad to fall in love with him, and about a month into my first foster, my dad decided to adopt him. We were a house full of rescues, a mess of misfits ready to brave the storm together.
Another dog would mean chaos. Plus, they’d need to be separated for their safety – all dogs are good dogs, I’ve learned, but that doesn’t mean all good dogs get along… But how could I say no?
My mind whirred. Another dog would put our house at three adults and five animals during the storm…
We already had my dogs, Giannis, a Malinois mix that came from a shelter in Georgia
After scrambling to put up the gates, the rain began to pour down, and I jumped on a call with my work team to let them know my situation.
“Stephen is bringing home another dog to foster through the storm,” I told them. “He says he wants to do his part and that he feels he needs to do this.”
I watched the smiles spread across their faces. They were picking up on something that I wasn’t yet; I was just trying to get through the meeting without them seeing how stressed I was feeling in the midst of our first launch.
My team and I had spent the last year producing and preparing to publish a book about a man in Thailand who gave up a comfortable life as a chef with his own restaurant to rescue dogs full-time. Known as The Man That Rescues Dogs, he now has 776 dogs in his care and 400 more he feeds on the streets daily. We had even visited the sanctuary together to investigate this story in the months before I took in Gideon as my first foster. It’s an incredible story, and I knew this book was something I needed to produce. I needed to help the dogs, and I knew how I could.
Holiday, a tiny lab and pit mix with two broken back knees that we found in a ditch on the side of the road
Plus our rescue cat, Lombardi, who we discovered at six weeks old all alone in a Burger King parking lot
I’d started my publishing business to help nonprofits like TMTRD. By sharing their stories, we could raise awareness and publicity for their cause and also generate revenue. Unlike traditional publishing houses, Witchcraft’s model favors the organization that our book is about, flipping the royalties into their favor. Instead of the typical 5-10% authors receive, 70% of the royalties are donated back to the organization as a way to fund their mission.
And Gideon, a sweet pit bull that I had pulled from a high-kill shelter to foster just before Christmas
It only took hours for my dad to fall in love with him, and about a month into my first foster, my dad decided to adopt him
My husband had traveled with us to Thailand, as I wanted him to see in person what I was working so hard for. This book would be the first that I produced and published, and I wanted him to see the impact I wanted to make, and who it was for. I knew it was going to be a project that required long nights and extra work on weekends. It was important to me that he had a chance to connect to the cause, too, so that we could lean on empathy and compassion when the workload meant we wouldn’t be spending time together.
We were a house full of rescues, a mess of misfits ready to brave the storm together
Another dog would mean chaos. Plus, they’d need to be separated for their safety
And then I realized why my team was smiling in that work call. Even though our book is yet to launch, the impact of our work was unfolding in front of my eyes, and in my own home.
It was enough to me that my husband had supported me when I brought home a rescue cat, a rescue dog, and then a foster. It was enough when he agreed to come to Thailand with me and offered to volunteer. It was enough when he sat with me during late nights and long weekends and fed me when I got too busy to feed myself. And it was certainly enough for me when he gave me pep talks every time I cried over my fears for this project and how badly I wanted it to succeed so that I could help the dogs at the sanctuary.
My team visited the TMTRD Shelter in Thailand, and my husband came along. I had no idea how much of an impact it would have on him
But now… he was no longer just supporting me. He was taking action of his own. He answered the call to help because he was inspired to do it. He decided that he could do more, and instead of letting the inconvenience of the storm and the other dogs be a factor, he decided that those things didn’t matter. My team members were smiling because we now had evidence that our work was making a difference.
“I can do more” is a strong theme in the story of The Man That Rescues Dogs. And I’d questioned if that message would translate in our work to help save dogs, locally and abroad through this publication. I never expected my answer to come through my own husband.
My team and I had spent the last year producing and preparing to publish a book about a man in Thailand who gave up a comfortable life to rescue dogs full-time
Known as The Man That Rescues Dogs, he now has 776 dogs in his care and 400 more he feeds on the streets daily
After the storm cleared I learned that all of the animals in the surrounding shelters in my area in South Carolina had been saved by do-gooders, with many storm foster families admitting that they had failed as fosters and planned to formally adopt. They, too, had decided that they could do more and the story made national headlines.
But that’s the effect dogs have on us. They connect us to the deepest parts of ourselves, expanding our thresholds for compassion and inspiring us to do what is right regardless of inconvenience. They guarantee love in our lives and joy in our hearts. It’s them that help us weather the fiercest storms.
That’s why I’m here. That’s why my team is here. That’s why Michael J. Baines, the author of our upcoming book and founder of The Man That Rescues Dogs Sanctuary, is here. And that’s now why Stephen, my husband, is here. For the dogs.
The ripple is small, but that’s where it starts. If each of us, who have the capacity to do more, can each create a small ripple, the effect becomes profound.
TMTRD is home to 50 handicapped dogs named The Wheelchair Mafia
My husband had traveled with us to Thailand, as I wanted him to see in person what I was working so hard for
Our book, ‘Home. Made.’ is set to launch on International Dog Day (August 26th) – a day we’ll be celebrating the impact of dogs around the world, and the first day of our week-long virtual party! Everyone is invited, and everyone is welcome. (Sign up at www.heywitchcraft.com to learn more).
If you are a dog lover, please join. If you are dog-curious, please join. If you are in need of uplifting content that leaves you feeling hopeful, please join. And if you know you can do more to give back to these animals the unconditional love they give to us, please join.
Do it for the dogs.
I wanted him to see the impact I wanted to make, and who it was for
But now… he was no longer just supporting me. He was taking action of his own
Our book, ‘Home. Made.’ is set to launch on International Dog Day – a day we’ll be celebrating the impact of dogs around the world, and the first day of our week-long virtual party!
Please join us. Do it for the dogs
