House of Hope Animal Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Cecil County, MD, and run by a 100% volunteer staff. Not a single donated dollar goes to pay anyone – all of it goes to the medical, transportation, and fostering expenses needed to help our dogs.
The dogs pulled from shelters by House of Hope are primarily black labs or lab mixes (as they have the highest euthanasia rate of any other breed/color combination in the country), but we also extend a helping hand to dogs of all other breeds that find themselves in high-kill-rate shelters throughout the southern US. No dog is too old, too injured, too sick, too untrained, or too “anything” for us to help save and place in a good home.
Not all of our dogs follow traditional adoption models – we have provided service dogs for veterans affected by PTSD/TBI, dogs trained to support law enforcement or search and rescue operations, and pet therapy dogs. Please feel free to reach out to us about your specific needs, we love when we can put our rescue network to use saving both dogs and humans.
At House of Hope, we believe there is a perfect home for each and every dog.
And we are committed to finding it for them.
Some of our dogs require medical care before we can find their forever home. We will never adopt out a dog before they are fully vetted, whole and healthy.
Many HOH dogs test positive for Heartworm. Heartworms are easily prevented with proper medication, but once they are contracted, a dog receives 3 rounds of treatment over the course of 6-8 weeks. This treatment costs roughly $1500 per dog, and requires special care by one of our dedicated fosters during treatment and recovery.
A Story of Hope
House of Hope’s founder, Patti Clifton, has always been an animal lover. She started her career as the youngest licensed female horse trainer at Delaware Park and continued to train horses all over the country for 22 years. She had adopted Lucy, a black lab mix, from the Delaware SPCA and had a special bond with her – Lucy was her “heart dog”. When Lucy crossed the rainbow bridge in 2010, Patti wanted to do something to honor her loving spirit. She decided to start a rescue that would give “other Lucy’s” a chance! In May of 2010, Patti rescued Hope (another black lab mix) from a shelter in GA. Hope was severely ill and required round-the-clock care to recover. Hope’s strength and courage inspired the name of Patti’s new rescue – House of Hope Rescue was born.