Rufus had a horrific puppyhood. He was brought to the vet's office by some kind people who saw him being thrown out of a moving car tied up in a burlap sack! We can only imagine what horrible things had happened to him before that. Rufus stayed in the vet's kennel for months, and two of the vet techs did their best to socialize him, but he needed more work. Rufus spent several months in the home of one of our best foster moms, who helped him learn to trust people. He's now kenneled at our adoption center so he can get used to even more people who are happy to see him and pet him. Rufus will require a very special person to give him a forever home---patient, loving and consistent. In spite of his earlier experiences, Rufus wants someone to love. Nothing can kill the spirit of a dog, and Rufus is living proof of that!
News
Project Zero, LLC, remains a private, limited-entry non-profit rescue organization. We are looking at how we can best serve the Cherokee County animals who need to find homes, and reduce the numbers of adoptable pets who are euthanized at the shelter each year.
We continue to have successful adoptions of locally needy animals.. After they complete our assessment process and are fully vetted, adoptable animals are placed in our kennels or into foster care pending permanent placement. We are committed to making Project Zero the most affordable place for individuals and families to find a healthy, friendly and well-adjusted new pet.
We do not adopt small puppies or small dogs to families with children under 10 years old, because experience has shown us that, although they may not mean to, small children can accidently hurt or kill small puppies through what they think of as just playing with them. We believe it's only fair to notify potential applicants of this policy.
We also prefer not to adopt house pets to smokers, since recent studies show that second hand smoke is also a serious heath hazard to pets. Their respiratory systems can be compromised in the same way as a human's from second hand smoke---only quicker because their lung capacity is much smaller.
We do check references and require an application to begin the adoption process. Because we sometimes receive multiple applications for the same pet, please be patient as we compete the process.
As of December 1, 2008, our adoption fee for each animal is $125.00. This includes all vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery, heartworm test (dogs over six months), microchip (in most cases), heartworm and flea/tick provention. Our rescued pets are fed high-quality natural meat-based diets, with no corn or wheat. Most dogs will have been trained to walk on leash and sit on command. When we have enough foster homes available, smaller dogs are housetrained.
We welcome inquiries about our adoptable pets, and also would love to talk with you about fostering one animal at a time. If everyone who says they love animals would foster one shelter animal at a time while they wait for a home, Cherokee County could be a no-kill community within six months.
Who We Are
PROJECT ZERO is committed to creating improvements on both ends of the pet overpopulation problem in our community. By promoting prevention through education about the importance of spaying and neutering pets, referrals to area low-cost sterilization programs, and providing rescue and adoption to needy animals, we hope to reduce the numbers of euthanizations of adoptable animals. In cooperation with others, our goal is to bring the number of unwanted pets in Cherokee County to ZERO.. That's our Project!
We ask applicants to understand that we take the time necessary to make sure that the person or family is the best possible match for the pet to be adopted. Since we are not a shelter, and none of our pets are at risk for euthanasia, we are not concerned with finding the FIRST home for each of them. Rather we concentrate all our efforts on finding the BEST home for our rescued pets so that they'll be there for the rest of their lives.
Contributions are not tax-deductible, but 100% of any money donated is applied to either spay/neuter fees, vaccinations, or other related care for rescue to adoption pets. A complete accounting of all income and expenditures is available upon request.
Adopting a friend !
For your convenience we now have our application available online
please complete the form and send it to us using the submit button.
We have chosen Kuranda dog beds for our boarding facilities
because they are so good for our dogs. We still don't have enough
for all of our kennels. If you would like to donate a bed so another
dog can sleep in proper comfort, please
click here.
Come Visit Us!
We are not a shelter and is impossible for us to be open to the public for regular hours. We work strictly by appointment. Most of the animals on our Petfinder site are not at our office location, and once the application is approved, we make an appointment for you to come meet the pet you've chosen.
All adoptions are finalized by appointment at our adoption center, where you'll have all the time you need to interact with and get to know your potential pet. We reserve the right to deny any adoption if we find there is not a good match. Project Zero is committed to permanent placement of pets and will take every precaution to make sure that the family is the right place for the pet. We also insist that if any placements that do not work out for any reason, the adoptive family will return the pet to us with no questions asked. In spite of our best efforts, sometimes things just don't work out, and we would rather find another home than have a pet we've nurtured and fostered be taken to shelter.
PLEASE CONTACT US VIA EMAIL (projectzero@hughes.net) AND WE'LL RESPOND WITHIN 24 HOURS. WE ARE AN ALL-VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION AND DO NOT WORK ON SUNDAYS OR WEDNESDAYS. PLEASE RESPECT THAT WE DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO ACCEPT PHONE CALLS ABOUT THESE LISTED PETS. AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE AND PROCESS YOUR APPLICATION WE WILL CONTACT YOU.