Twiggs County animal rescue partners with NBC Universal for ‘Clear the Shelters’ campaign

Middle Georgia animal rescues are at full capacity, facing low adoption rates and donations. Your support via "Clear the Shelters" doubles in August.

JEFFERSONVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Several animal rescues across Middle Georgia are operating at full capacity and struggle with low donations and adoption rates.

For the month of August, your donations can make twice as much difference during NBCUniversal’s “Clear the Shelters” campaign.

Dysfunction Junction Rescue in Jeffersonville started out as a small subsistence farm, but after seeing dogs frequently abandoned near their property, Joanna Tedder and her husband decided to take the dogs in.

“With the need being as great as it is here in Twiggs County with no animal control, we decided to pair down our farm animals, and escalated how many dogs we had,” Tedder said. “We were supposed to have 10 and now we have almost 40.”

The rescue has worked for the past four years – first as a foster home, then as a nonprofit – to help provide medical treatment and find homes for dogs in Twiggs County.

Tedder says every dog at Dysfunction Junction is fully vetted with up-to-date vaccinations, rabies shots, and heart worm treatment. They’re also all either spayed or neutered.

“Whatever needs to be done, we take care of. And we reach out to the community with that as well,” she said. “If they come to us with a need and want to keep their dog, we make sure that vetting gets done as well.”

All that said, caring for so many dogs costs money. Tedder says funding for the rescue is strictly donation-based, and with donations low, much of that money comes out of Tedder’s pocket.

That’s why Dysfunction Junction Rescue partnered with NBCUniversal for its “Clear the Shelters” donation and adoption campaign. During the month of August, Greater Good Charities and Hill’s Pet Nutrition are matching all donations to animal rescues across the U.S.

Tedder says she adopts out three to four dogs a month, but with help from adoptions and donations, she could reach her goal of adopting out 10 or more a month.

“If I can clear out dogs, then I can get more in, I can help the community to get our problem in the county and in the town of Jeffersonville under control,” she said.

You can donate to Dysfunction Junction Rescue by visiting their Facebook page and clicking the Clear The Shelters link. You can also see what dogs are up for adoption at www.dysfunctionjunctionranchga.com.