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In 2013, she started her own non-profit, Lucky Tails. Lucky Tails is a dog rescue organization that places abandoned dogs with foster families before permanent owners, or ‘forever families’, adopt them, saving them from shelters especially in high-kill situations.

The idea came to Claire after a personal experience.

When Claire adopted her dog Tuggles from a shelter, it became pretty clear something wasn’t right-- he was limping around, unable to walk properly. Claire soon found out that before she adopted him, he had had a rough life. He had been homeless as a puppy and was eventually hit by a car, injuring his leg. Turns out, the previous surgery had been done incorrectly, so Tuggles was still in pain and needed help. While Tuggles is ok now, Claire realized she wanted to help other dogs like him.

"Researching rescue dogs and adopting a homeless dog made me realize how many dogs need homes and just how many are going to be killed.” she told VetStreet.

“Once I did all the research, I started making phone calls, writing emails, trying to find people that wanted to work with us,” Claire added. “The hardest part was finding foster homes.”

Since then, Claire has gotten 15 dogs permanently adopted.

While she loves all the dogs she has helped, there is one in particular that is close to her heart—the story of Molly, the Pit Bull.Pit Bulls are often given a bad rep, Molly included. Lucky Tails rescued Molly from a high-skill shelter in Georgia where she was on the euthanasia list.

Molly had a lot of scars on her face and neck, and possibly had spent most of her life in a crate due to an unfriendly breeder. Many people were weary of Molly because of her possibly abusive history that could’ve given her a bad disposition, but Claire knew there was more than what met the eye. 

“Given everything that people had done to her, she never stopped loving. That just breaks my heart,” Claire said.

Lucky Tails trained Molly, got her use to being around people and other dogs, and showed her the love she deserved, and now she’s as sweet as can be.

Just goes to show what a lil' love and effort can do!

As long as Claire has enough people willing to help out, she plans to keep Lucky Tails open as long as possible and eventually work with dogs when she grows up. 

Check out the vid below to learn more about Lucky Tails.

(Photo credit: youtube.com)  

by Kate Radin | 2/1/2016