ABOUT US
Cleft Pup Brigade (Fred's Friends 501c3) specializes in cleft lip/palate puppies and special needs neonatal puppies.
We realized after being in rescue for a few years that there was a dire need for help with cleft puppies.
Sadly, they are typically euthanized at birth since they cannot nurse.
We were the first organization, 8 years ago, on the West Coast to specialize in these special animals.
We are an experienced group of individuals that tube feed these newborns around the clock.
They typically don't require corrective surgery, except on rare occasion.
They can live perfectly normal lives and eat on their own once old enough.
FOSTER HOMES and TRANSPORTERS ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED
We are happy to help train any and all, who are willing to help.
Please complete our foster application and we will be in touch as soon as we can.
PLEASE NOTE:
We're located in Northern California, with direct contacts to the Bay, Sacramento, and Los Angeles areas
We work with a wide range of volunteers who help us transport from:
Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and all over California.
Cleft Pup Brigade Team
ABOUT RACHELE
RACHELE-Founder/Executive Director
About 9 years ago Rachele, the Founder/Director of Fred’s Friends was given a tiny kitten, whom had been tossed into a Sheriff’s patrol car by some young kids. The Deputy had no idea what to do with this tiny kitten, so, like any of us would do he thought to take it to his local animal shelter. When he arrived with this pint size little creature the staff looked at him and said “If you leave that here it will be euthanized; it can’t eat on its own and it is under 2lbs.” Mortified, the deputy took the kitten to the next best place, a 911 operating facility, where of course, everyone offered to take this little kitten in and bottle feed him. Rachele’s best friend was one of these kind-hearted people and she brought the kitten to Rachele, knowing Rachele’s passion for animals . Rachele took him in, bottle fed every 3 hours and named him after the wonderful Deputy who saved him, Zooby. Zooby opened a door to a whole new world for Rachele, a world she never new existed, filled with so many unwanted litters of kittens and puppies that were being euthanized in our shelters everyday.
Since then, Rachele has taken in over 2000 kittens and hundreds of puppies, all of whom have needed round the clock bottle feeding and care. She has lost numerous babies due to illness and unexplained causes. She finally decided after 5 years of rescuing on her own, that she needed to make a bigger stand in the community, she needed to get the word out to as many people as she could. She needed to start a non-profit animal rescue. And so began Fred's Friends. She has raised over 850 cleft pups now! See Rachele's favorite pics below!
