Lauren Campanella

I started volunteering at our local shelter approximately 5 years ago. I walked in and the smell alone made me nauseous. The resonating sound of voices barking was deafening. Animals, especially dogs, have been my passion my whole life. Therefore, I can tell the difference between crying for help and the sound of laughter coming from a dog. The sight of them sent me running out the back door in tears.

The woman who helped me along my journey to rescue, said the most powerful words. The words that I will take with me throughout this entire journey. “Put your feelings aside and do it for the animals.” She was right. I had to put my own grief aside and realize that, for most of those dogs, their entire life will be spent behind those cages, so the 10 minutes I take out of my day to sit there to comfort them and assure them they’ll be ok, will make their lives. For 5 years that’s what I’ve been doing.

What “Through Their Eyes” means:

I’ve always tried to come up with words to describe what I see when I walk into the shelter. I wanted to help people understand what these animals are experiencing. Dogs speak a language that is incomprehensible to humans but their actions and expressions tell you their life story. Their eyes told me their feelings. Whether it was fear, depression, anger, joy, anxiousness…Through Their Eyes I can hear their voices loud and clear.

Andrea Sacco (Volunteer)

Hi, I’m Andrea and this is my story.

Michael Vick changed my life. I was never so sick to my stomach after hearing about the dog fighting and horrendous abuse that was going on. I would cry for days. It opened my eyes to a world that I had never knew existed. I felt I had to do something to stop the senseless abuse and death of so many Pitbulls. So when a 6 month old Staffy mix was abandoned at my husbands place of work it was a no brainer to take her home and give her a chance at a normal healthy life as a real pet and show the world how wonderful these breeds can be.

Fendi has been such a joy and pleasure to have that it blows my mind every day that someone threw her away. She is kind to animals, children and people of all ages, race and size.

After speaking with Lauren and Lauren about the rescue they were starting I jumped at the chance to help. Together we have saved over 50 dogs and spent countless hours transporting, networking and vetting each of them since that day in March when we officially became Through Their Eyes Rescue. Not all are featured on on Happy Tails page.

It is a constant soul challenging battle between the good and the bad of everyday rescue. Your heart leaps when you rescue or help to rescue a dog that deserves a chance and you are crushed to the core when you realize you cant save them all. Every day an emotional rollercoaster. But you have the best people in the world there to support you. Your fellow contacts and rescuers are never ending in their compassion.