How “rescue” replicates the alleged sins of dog pounds, only worse

Near-fatal attack at Kentucky boarding kennel & alleged mass hoarding case in California spotlight how “rescue” hobby has evolved into big business

            LOUISVILLE,  Kentucky––The two biggest dog stories of the third week in March 2026 riveted attention on a March 21 horrific attack by two XL Bully pit bull variants at Shamrock Acres County Kennel in Louisville,  Kentucky,  that left three people in reportedly critical condition,  all now understood to be recovering,  and––the day before––a Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control raid on Rock N Pawz Rescue in Lake Hughes,  California,  that impounded 316 allegedly neglected animals in all:  250 dogs plus 66 cats.

Fatality in Alachua

A less publicized third week of March dog event left Moraima “Mory” Simon,  61,  dead in Alachua,  Florida,  on March 19,  2026 from an alleged attack by her son Brian Faulk’s two pit bulls,  while Simon was walking with Faulk’s two-year-old son.

Simon was the 21st U.S. dog attack fatality of 2026,  and the 16th to be killed by a pit bull.

But it was the Shamrock Acres and Rock N Pawz Rescue cases that set social media abuzz.

Superficially starkly different,  the Louisville and Lake Hughes catastrophes share a back story about the early 21st century transition of “rescue” from a backyard hobby to,  in some cases,  big business as dog-related businesses go.

“First to God goes the glory”

“First to God goes the glory,”  posted March 21 hero of the day Kevin Calbert to Facebook later that day,  after rescuing a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old,  later identified as Lily Brewster and Paysli Johnson,  from a nearly fatal double attack at Shamrock Kennels that soon became a triple attack,  nearly fatal to Calbert as well.

Two other young women,  identified as Ryleigh Herndon and Haylee Michelle Flores,  were also in jeopardy as they tried to effect a rescue.

“The dogs were not pits,  they were XL Bullies over 100 pounds,”  Calbert began,  apparently unaware that “XL Bully” is a name relatively recently applied to the super-sized pit bull variant previously known as the American Bully,  Ambull,  and Johnson Bulldog.

The XL Bullies were “trying to kill the girls,”  Calbert narrated.  “I could hear their screams,”  Calbert testified,  “but I couldn’t get through the gate.

“When I finally got through,  the girls were lying on the ground.  One dog was trying to kill one of them.  The black dog bit me as I came,  but let me go.  I tried to get that dog off of her.

“Poked him in the balls”

“I poked him in the balls with my aluminum pole,”  used in Calbert’s lawn care work to set mole traps.  “It didn’t stop.  Then I shoved it through his eye.  He opened its mouth and let her go.

“I tried to kill him by shoving the pole down his throat.  When I did that he lay down.  His brother also lay down.

“The girls were in trouble and we kept telling them not to move or make a sound.  Then the sirens,  and those damn dogs stood up again,”  Calbert wrote.

“The brown one locked onto my arm and every time I was going to deal with him by attacking his other eye,  the black one would come to me.  It happened twice,  so I made sure I didn’t fall and kept the bar in my left hand.

“My right hand stayed in his mouth,”  Calbert continued.  “He kept shaking like he was trying to rip it off.  I grabbed his ear to keep his head still.  Then the cops came in.  They took about five seconds to access the situation and I yelled ‘Shoot them!’

Lousiville Metro Police officer Ken Koester finally did.

“The girls were messed up real bad”

“The black one was shot three times.  Then the brown one let go of my arm and they shot him.

“The girls were messed up real bad,”  Calbert assessed.

“I should have been there earlier,”  Calbert said,  acknowledging that when he first heard the victims’ screams,  he did not respond because he failed to recognize the sounds as human.

Louisville Metro Animal Services later acknowledged that the same two XL Bullies who attacked the Shamrock Acres Country Kennel workers in October 2025 sent to  hospital two employees of another local boarding kennel,  the Pet Station Country Club.

“Potentially Dangerous Dog and Dangerous Dog” charges reportedly issued after the October 2025 attacks were said to have been dismissed in court.

Neither XL Bully was neutered;  only one appeared to be microchipped.

Both XL Bullies are understood to be owned by Louisville Metro Police officer Nicholas Greene.

“Our girls are trained”

Shamrock Acres Country Kennel manager Lindsey Simmons told Joel Schipper of WDRB television news in Louisville that the 17-year-old and 19-year-old female kennel workers were walking the two XL bullies when they began fighting,  “before turning on the employees,  who were unable to get them under control,”  Schipper summarized.

“Simmons said the dogs had been dropped off at the kennel the day before,”  Schipper continued.  “Staff had not been told they could be aggressive.  Simmons claimed they were very sweet with staff when they first arrived.

Insisted Simmons,  “This is a horrible accident.  Our girls are trained.  We know dogs and we live this every day.  People who don’t live this every day don’t understand.”

What ANIMALS 24-7 has lived every day since beginning to log fatal and disfiguring dog attacks in 1982,  including more than 800 pit bull-inflicted fatalities and 6,300 pit bull-inflicted disfigurements,  more than 70% of the totals in each category,  is that pit bull attacks are not an accident at all.

Pit bull attacks are a predictable and frequent contingency,  resulting from 500 years of inbred behavioral characteristics,  which no amount of training can prevent and only firearms,  fire extinguishers,  and enforced breed-specific legislation have any significant history of stopping.

Shamrock Acres & Shamrock Foundation

Louisville police officer Nicolas Greene,  according to “multiple rumors from multiple sources” reported on Facebook by one “Rose Doberman,”  may have adopted the XL Bullies who mauled the Shamrock Acres Country Kennel and Pet Station Country Club workers from Louisville Metro Animal Services.

Whether or not those two XL Bullies came from any dog pound,  shelter,  or rescue,  though,  Shamrock Acres Country Kennel,  founded in 1980,  and Pet Station Country Club,  founded 2017,  both operate on business models that include housing multiple dogs for multiple shelterless rescues in the Louisville area.

Shamrock Acres in fact has a parallel nonprofit twin,  Shamrock Foundation,  with revenue of over $608,000 in 2024,  according to the most recent Shamrock Foundation filing of IRS Form 990,  and assets of more than $1.4 million,  not including any land,  buildings,  or equipment.

Works with other rescues

Shamrock Acres works closely with Adopt Me Bluegrass Pet Rescue,  of LaGrange,  Kentucky,  with 2024 revenue of just under $370,000 and assets of more than $200,000.

Shamrock Acres also works closely with a rescue entity called Operation New Leash on Life,  which extensively promotes rescue dogs including pit bulls and pit mixes on social media,  but for which ANIMALS 24-7 has been unable to discover an IRS Form 990.

Operation New Leash on Life admits to having kept one pit bull /German shepherd mix named Delta,  who cannot be adopted out to a home with other dogs,  for more than three years.

On March 23,  2026 Louisville Metro Animal Services said no charges were expected to be filed as result of the attack at Shamrock Country Kennels.

No charges in Montrose Bully Breed Club case,  either

This echoes the decision of police in Gunnison,  Colorado that no criminal charges will be filed in connection with the February 4,  2026 death of seven-year-old Leelan Lokie,  “fatally attacked by a pit bull that a rescue group placed inside a Gunnison home,  days after an animal shelter planned to euthanize the dog over its aggressive behavior,”  recounted Olivia Prentzel for the Colorado Sun.

(See What were vet tech mom & Montrose Bully Breed Club thinking of?)

“I have not seen such a strong case for criminal charges”

            Commented Kory A. Nelson, retired former senior assistant city attorney for the City and County of Denver,  “I have not seen such a strong case for criminal charges, and the Gunnison Police are dropping the ball by not even referring the case for review by the district attorney’s office.

“The past aggressive behavior of this pit bull was well known by several people,  including the group in charge of placing the animal,”  the Montrose Bully Breed Club,  “yet they whitewashed its aggressive tendencies.

“This case should result in those individuals being charged with the wrongful death of this child,”  Nelson posted to Facebook.  “Everyone working with pit bulls knows they can kill a child, and a pit bull with past acts of aggression should NEVER be placed with a family.  This is wrong!”

Rock N Pawz Rescue

The Rock N Pawz Rescue alleged mass neglect case in Lake Hughes,  California,  meanwhile involves an entity which appears to have been operating on a scale that would dwarf most shelters since 2000,  claiming IRS 501(c)(3) status since 2019,  yet apparently without ever having filed IRS Form 990,  according to both the Pro Publica archive of IRS Form 990 filings and Candid,  the online archive of IRS Form 990 filings that recently absorbed Guidestar,  the former IRS Form 990 archive host.

Charges against Rock N Pawz owner Christine DeAnda had not yet been filed,  as of the most recent information available on March 24,  2026,  but were reportedly pending.

DeAnda has indicated online and to news media that she intends to vigorously fight any charges brought against her in court,  and to seek recovery of all 316 impounded animals.

Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control has fought and won many similar cases during the 25-year tenure of director Marcia Mayeda,  who is currently the longest-serving big city animal care and control chief in the United States.

Where & when “rescue” started

A short history of shelterless dog rescue,  or just plain “rescue” as it is usually called by participants,  the phenomenon involved in both the Louisville and Lake Hughes cases,  and in the Montrose Bully Breed Club case as well,  begins in the mid-1980s.

“Breed rescue is an idea that has recently gained support in purebred dog circles,”  wrote Sacramento Bee real estate reporter Gina Spadafori in April 1990,  “as recognition spreads that pounds and shelters are taking in huge numbers of unwanted purebreds.

“One dog in four received by major west coast shelters is a purebred.  In the northeast,  it’s as high as two dogs in five,”  Spadafori explained,  citing data gathered for her by ANIMALS 24-7.

“The statistics belie the traditional belief that only mixed-breed dogs get dumped,”  Spadafori continued.

“Best breeders have always taken their own dogs back”

“The best breeders have always taken their own dogs back,”  Spadafori said,  “but today they realize that’s not enough:  they have to help other dogs of their breed,  no matter where they came from,  no matter where they are.  They know if they’re going to allow more dogs to be born,  they’d better be more responsible for the overflow.

“Breed rescue proponents pull some dogs out of shelters,  and take others home before they get that far,”  Spadafori detailed.  “They evaluate the dogs,  looking for good health and temperament, and make sure they’re neutered before placement into carefully screened new homes.  For people looking for purebred dogs,  a rescue group is an outstanding source for healthy,  well-mannered dogs.”

The American Kennel Club embraced the breed rescue concept as a way of defusing animal advocacy blaming breeders for pet overpopulation and animal shelter population control killing rates that then averaged,  nationally,  above 70% of shelter admissions of dogs,  and 90% of cats.

Project Breed

Breed rescue became popularized,  far beyond the American Kennel Club,  through the Project Breed Directory,  two editions of which were published by an organization called Breed Rescue Efforts & Education,  founded by Shirley Weber (1924-2011) of Germantown,  Maryland.

The first Project Breed Directory,  issued in 1990,  listed 1,500 rescuers by the dog breeds they handled.  The second,  issued in February 1993,  listed “nearly 2,900 contacts for dog rescue,  plus contacts for ferret and bat rescuers,”  Spadafori mentioned.

Non-breed-specific rescue took off through the combination of the debut of the World Wide Web in 1994 with the rise of the “no kill” movement.

The first edition of the No Kill Directory,  modeled after Project Breed Directory,  appeared in 1995 from Doing Things for Animals,  founded by Lynda Foro,  who went on to host ten annual No Kill Conferences,  1995-2004.

Fostering

Shelterless rescues to that point mostly operated through the fostering programs of local animal shelters.  Participants typically took animals,  mostly dogs,  into their own homes for training and socialization done by themselves and their families.

Dangerous dogs,  particularly pit bulls,  were before 2005 relatively seldom released into fostering and rescue programs,  to hold down shelter liability for dog attack injuries and fatalities.

Post-Hurricane Katrina in late August 2005,  however,  the Best Friends Animal Society in particular pushed pit bull fostering,  initially to cope with an influx of pit bulls pulled out of flooded New Orleans,  the longtime national hob of dogfighting and pit bull breeding,  and of a sporadically held “World Series of Dogfighting” that surfaced in mainstream national news reportage at least three times between the late 1930s and early 1960s.

Best Friends built pit bull “rescue movement”

Public sympathy rallied by the Best Friends Animal Society for the pit bulls impounded from football player and Michael Vick in April 2007 rapidly thereafter built pit bull rescue into the leading edge of a “rescue movement.”

Pit bull rescue initially operated at odds with the mandate of animal control agencies to protect public safety.  After the Best Friends Animal Society popularized a “live release” rate above the 90% as the threshold for “no kill” status,  however,  both nonprofit humane societies and animal control agencies eager to obtain “no kill” recognition came to easily surrendering problematic pit bulls to anyone who would take them.

Accounting for no known human fatalities from the introduction of shelter adoption programs in 1858 to 1988,  rehomed shelter dogs accounted for just five more human fatalities in the U.S. over the 20 years from 1988 to 2007,  but have accounted for at least 65 human fatalities by 106 former shelter dogs since then,  including 71 pit bulls.

How many more of the 686 total U.S. pit bull-inflicted human fatalities and 6,000-plus disfigurements have involved pit bulls rehomed from shelters through shelterless rescues is unknown and unknowable.

Growth of “rescue” into money-making business

But over the same time frame two additional trends have overtaken shelterless rescue,  to the point that Shirley Weber and Lynda Foro might not even recognize the rescue world as it exists today.

Going in the opposite direction from the pit bull pushers,  rescues taking dogs not from animal shelters but directly from “puppy mill” commercial breeding operations have become big business––bigger,  perhaps,  than the traditional retail puppy-selling business done through independent local pet stores.

On the one hand,  the big national retail pet supply chains,  notably PetSmart and Petco,  decades ago quit selling puppies,  or never did,  in favor of housing adoption centers staffed and supplied by local animal shelters.

On the other,  the market for dogs other than the pit bulls,  Chihuahuas,  and often problematic mixed breeds typically filling animal shelters has moved from pet stores to breeders selling dogs online,  and to shelterless rescues marketing breeders’ culls,  “spent” breeding females,  and dogs who have not sold before aging out of puppyhood.

Out-sourcing

Some of this business is done under nonprofit incorporations,  some strictly for profit,  and quite a bit through the cash-only “underground economy,”  evading taxes.

Parallel to that,  much of the rescue world,  including both the sellers of purebreds and small dogs on the one hand,  and the pit bull pushers on the other,  now operates out of boarding kennels.

This,  in effect,  out-sources the “production” of the “merchandise,”  just as a retail business would do.

Sometimes the “rescuers” barely ever see the dogs they sell.  The dogs stay at contracted boarding kennels until rehomed,  while the “rescuers” vigorously promote them through social media.

Boarders & hoarders

The home-based training and socialization that were the hallmarks of rescue as Shirley Weber and Lynda Foro knew it are still practiced by relative small-timers,  handling only a few dogs at a time,  but home-based training and socialization are not even a part of the business model of many of the biggest “rescue” operations,  which are really just sellers––or sometimes hoarders––of “used dogs.”

For the dogs,  boarding kennels and hoarding situations have come to replace shelters.

At boarding kennels,  the dogs may be walked once or twice a day and they may get some training,  but the only real difference for the dogs is that boarding kennels do not euthanize long-term inmates––not that many shelters do these days,  either.

Dogs caught in hoarding situations are,  unfortunately,  in much the same plight that animal sheltering evolved to prevent.

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