I plan to attend

[susan]

The Sentinel Newspaper

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Janine Guido was the type of child who brought animals back home with her, even if she didn’t have the space or the means to keep them there.

Now with $2.11 to her name and $2,200 in veterinary bills, Guido still plans on rescuing the pets that need her help, even if every cent she makes go to their well-being.

"Literally all my money goes into this," she said.

Guido started the Speranza Animal Rescue in June 2012, and the rescue is housed on a farm in Monroe Township. She is more-or-less a one-woman army for the rescue. She funds it from her pay working at a horse farm in York Springs, though she does get help from volunteer dog walkers who keep the dogs happy, busy and refreshed when Guido is working at her job.

Otherwise, she’s up at 3 a.m. taking care of the dogs and back at noon to continue to care for them.

Though she’s gone mostly solo in her mission to rescue dogs from kill shelters, her friends have pitched in to set up the first of what she hopes will be many fundraisers for the animal rescue.

On Saturday, Carlisle Theatre will have the Speranza Rescue Benefit Concert. The 7 p.m. show features performances from the Martini Bros. and Trailer Park Cowboys. In addition to those local bands, Mechanicsburg Middle School student Devon Rodriguez-Cayro, 14, will also perform a song she wrote about animal rescues. Devon often participates in fundraising and drives for the Humane Society Harrisburg Area and raised the most funds for the humane society’s annual Penguin Plunge. The teen raised just shy of $6,000 for the event.

At $20 per ticket, Guido hopes to see some progress made in helping care for the animals.

“I would love to get my vet bills paid now,” she laughed. “I’d also like to see more people involved, and just to get our name out there, that we are a rescue. I want to educate people on pit bulls and other dogs.”

Hope

“Speranza” means “hope” in Italian, and Guido hopes to bring just that to the animals she saves.

So far, Guido has 14 dogs and most of them are pit bulls that were on “death row” at various kill shelters across the country.

“(Some) were literally hours away from being killed,” Guido said. “I’ve worked with a Philadelphia shelter. Facebook is a wonderful thing. I’ve been getting quite a few (dogs) from South Carolina.”

In addition to taking on a breed that often gets overlooked in area shelters, Guido also tries to help the most helpless animals.

“I definitely have a soft spot for handicapped pets — the animals nobody else cares for,” she said.

Of the dogs she’s caring for, Guido said she has a puppy with luxating patella, a condition where the knee cap pops out of place. She said it isn’t enough to require surgery now, but it was enough for a kill shelter to put the dog on its list to euthanize.

Guido also has a dog who came to her without the use of its hind legs — it had a broken femur and dislocated hip. That dog was also set to be euthanized, but Guido instead saved it and paid the $1,100 veterinary bill to fix its legs. The dog is currently fine and has use of all of his legs.

“I just want to give the dogs a chance,” she said. “I pull a lot of dogs off of death row.”

Guido is looking for more dog walking volunteers to help socialize the animals and will accept offers to donate the animals. She can be contacted through Facebook on the page for Speranza Animal Rescue or through her phone at 713-8149.

Tickets for Saturday evening’s concert can be purchased at the Carlisle Theatre box office, Boiling Springs Animal Hospital or Knisely’s Pet and Farm Center in Carlisle

[michele5611]

Let us know how it goes.