10 Rescue Videos That Should Have Over a Million Views (But Don't)
It is hard to believe that 18 years have passed since we began our mission. What started as a local effort to save the forgotten and abandoned has blossomed into a global community. Thanks to your incredible hearts, Hope For Paws rescues have generated an estimated 5 billion views and television impressions worldwide - sharing these miracles on News Outlets, The Today Show, The Bonnie Hunt Show, The Queen Latifah Show, regularly on Right This Minute, and of course, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Yet, the internet is a strange place. While some of our videos have reached tens of millions of people, a handful of our most profound, emotionally powerful rescues have never even hit the 1 million view mark. To us, every single animal deserves to have their story told and celebrated, so I created a special list of 10 Rescue Videos That Should Have Over a Million Views (But Don't).
Before I share this special list, I want to share some incredible news. To honor our 18th anniversary, we are launching a special Matching Campaign. This means that right now, any amount you donate to our rescue efforts will be instantly doubled by a group of longtime Hope For Paws supporters, allowing us to save more innocent lives. Please consider clicking the donate button below to make twice the impact for an animal in desperate need today.
First video: Norman. I could have died for this one. I drove by the first time looking for him, but the freeway was moving fast. I believed he was dead, and Loreta happened to call me. I told her I need help from the police to do this safely, and drove to a nearby station. It was CLOSED! No one there, just a phone on a desk saying “Please dial this number”. 😓
I dialed, but no one picked up. I decided to go back and do this on my own - risking my life and everybody else on the freeway.
Second video: Jiminy. This is a very cool rescue because in this video, Loreta applied the trick she learned from me during Jessie's rescue (his rescue has 14.5 million views). This is an important one because kittens often find themselves in the most challenging situations, and I would love for more people to know how to save them all over the world.
Third video: In Search of Hope. This video was a collaboration between Hope For Paws and YouTube/Google, and it was to celebrate the creation of the Donate Button directly on our videos. You all know that I don't like being on camera, but for this special event I agreed.
Fourth video: Perdita, Pongo, and the puppies. This rescue was challenging and took two days to accomplish! Initially, I went alone for this long distance mission, and then I realized this was going to be complicated, so I called for backup. Katie and Kai (is was her first rescue mission with us) helped me complete this rescue in a huge enclosed area, drove back to Los Angeles, and 36 hours later… the miracle of birth happened!
Fifth video: Sushi. Please watch this video to see one of the places where we rescue kittens. For this video, I will propose two options:
1. You sign up to volunteer to crawl with me next time I am in a place like this.
2. You make a $5 recurring donation, and I promise not to call you in the middle of the night for a rescue.
Sixth video: Mickey, Minnie, and Mortimer. Usually, we are called to rescue either a dog or a cat. On this rescue, I ended up with both. Doing these rescues alone is very tricky, but because we are a small team, sometimes we have to split to accomplish different tasks.
Seventh video: Fortuna. Some animals are so badly injured, and they are also too scared to come to humans for help. Both Fortuna and I could have fallen to our deaths on this rescue - if she didn't save herself at the last moment or if I got lightheaded or lost my balance at the wrong moment there, this story would have had a very terrible ending.
Eighth video: Dahlia. This rescue just shows how desperate some of these dogs are for our help. She had a foxtail in her eye, a metal chain around her neck, and she was abandoned in the middle of nowhere. On this rescue, I had to scream HELP! in order for someone to pull over and help me complete it successfully.
Ninth video: Wellington. This little dog had a 99.999999% chance of being dead, and then a Hope For Paws supporter called me. After a full day of work, I drove all night from Los Angeles to the Oregon border. I got there at 6 A.M and started one of the most challenging rescues of my life!
Tenth video: Champ. WARNING - This video is the most GRAPHIC video I have ever posted! The injury Champ sustained (my guess is that he was hit by a train, considering the location I found him) was the most severe I had ever seen - it's a miracle he didn't die shortly after impact. This is NOT FOR KIDS, and NOT if you're extra sensitive, but it shows the severity of the situations we're dealing with. Without your support, he had no chance of survival. If we didn't get the call, Animal Control would have, and then it's all over.
I have no idea how these videos didn't make it to a million views, but please feel free to grab the link to this blog post, and share it on your Facebook page or email it to a friend who should see it.
Without your support, we can't do this work and that would be a tragedy for so many animals.
Your donation will be matched until we reach $50,000: https://www.hopeforpaws.org/campaigns/18th-anniversary
In this picture, some of our rescues: Empress, Jessie, Gremlin, Miley, Champ, and Jordan - all are grateful for your generosity.
Thank you! 🙏❤️
Eldad
