Hope For Cleo Inc.

Rebuilding After a Heartbreaking Flood

On August 18th, 2024, our Long Island, NY foster-based nonprofit, Hope For Cleo Animal Rescue, faced an unimaginable tragedy.

A severe storm brought catastrophic flash flooding that completely devastated our rescue home, turning the lives of our beloved pups and dedicated volunteer's upside down. In an instant, everything we had worked so tirelessly for was lost.

Our rescue, which has been a safe haven for hundreds of furbabies abandoned on the streets of Texas, is now uninhabitable. The floodwaters destroyed all of our dog food, toys, treats, computers, office equipment, 2 washers, 2 driers, tall refrigerator, tall freezer, rumba vacuum, Miele vacuum, 2 dehumidifiers, 4 air purifiers, and even the beautiful epoxy floor we had spent months fundraising for.

The damage was overwhelming, as gallons of water poured in through a shattered egress window, and the door buckled under the pressure of the flood.

The most gut-wrenching moment came when we were rescuing the last animal—a terrified mama dog, who had only recently arrived from a horrific hoarding situation in Texas. She had been so severely abused by other dogs that she cowered in fear, standing in the freezing water that was rising around her small chihuahua body. We refused to leave without her, even as the fire department urged us to evacuate before the water reached the live outlets. After hours of battling broken glass, rising water, and pure fear, we finally got her to safety.

During this chaos, one of our founding members was injured while trying to save the dog, with shards of glass from another window lodging into his face and eye. Thankfully, he has regained his vision and is now healing.

Because we are not in a designated flood zone, we did not have flood insurance. Despite New York declaring our area a State of Emergency, we’ve been informed by our insurance adjuster that our damages will not be covered. We are now faced with the daunting task of cleaning up, covering remediation costs, and making repairs—all out of pocket.

Hope for Cleo

We are looking to make our dream of Hope For Cleo come true.

It has been almost three years since Cleo left us. Her struggle was met with courage and determination, making her story unique. In her spirit, we have vowed to continue helping other unfortunate dogs.

It started when we took in a pregnant foster dog rescued from a high-kill shelter. Pregnant dogs are often euthanized first in these shelters as they do not have any additional room for the puppies. She came to us scared and uncertain of her fate. We loved her and gave her a home to give birth in… she trusted us to help care for her babies. She became the proud mother of six healthy and safe puppies, all adopted to their new homes. Watching them grow, it became clear what Hope for Cleo was meant to do. Since then, we have saved five other pregnant dogs and over fifty puppies that are healthy and loved in their new forever homes.

There are more dogs out there that will need a safe haven. So many abandoned animals face an uncertain fate, Hope for Cleo wants to help as many as possible, even if it’s only a few. With help from our friends like you, we can make this possible… just like we made Cleo’s journey possible. All Donations will go to supplies and veterinary costs needed to support these dogs. Our goal is to be able to build a structure that could house several dogs and give them room to grow and play until they find the love of their new home as well.

Cleo’s story

Cleo was a young and energetic french bulldog. Full of life and always happy to meet people. But Cleo was not just any dog. One of her people, Logan, a six-year-old girl who had hand-picked Cleo from a pen full of puppies, had been diagnosed with epilepsy. Cleo discovered that she could detect when Logan was about to have a seizure and would warn Logan’s parents moments before. She indeed must’ve saved her life a couple of times. The two grew up together at each other's side. Cleo was the protector… until one day that changed. Cleo began to have trouble walking. After many vet visits and frustration, the diagnosis was GME, a neurological disease blocking the communication from her brain to her body. She quickly lost control of her hind legs and some body functions. We were advised to have her put down. But we could not just let her go with everything she had done. Logan insisted on helping her as Cleo had done for her. She sold crafts to raise money and even participated in a pageant to promote her cause. Hope for Cleo was born, and people came from all over to help this paralyzed little Frenchie. The overwhelming amount of love and support we received was terrific. To everyone who helped with the gifts and donations, we love and thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts, and we cannot even begin to express how much it means to us.

Cleo fought for three years until her little body finally gave in, and she let us know that it was time to let her go. We miss her so much, and not a day goes by that she is not remembered.

In Cleo’s spirit, we have decided to start Hope for Cleo, Inc. A Non-Profit 501c3 Animal Rescue In which we can help support animals that are sick, unloved and abandoned.

We hope for these animals as we Hoped For Cleo.

Cleo’s story now lives through us.