Calling all animal lovers: A local rescue needs your help.
Lucky Tales Rescue has been in operation since 2015, but this is the first time the nonprofit has been in the red due to high vet bills. To help with the bills and to keep the rescue running, the nonprofit has started a “vetting campaign” to raise $10,000.
The rescue is in Fort Thomas but is all foster-based and doesn’t have a physical facility. Laura Morgan said that when she and her husband, Spencer Morgan, started the rescue, they decided that they would never run open balances at their vet offices. They pay their vet bills in full at the end of each month.
“What put us in this hole, you could say, is we had a dog that cost almost $20,000, so it just took a toll, and so we got to a point where things were starting to pile up,” Laura Morgan said.
She said that as the rescue enters the new year, it has a large balance at one of its vet offices that if they were to pay off in full today, they would not have anything left to pay for the animals in their care. The rescue currently has eight dogs and a litter of seven puppies but can have anywhere between 20 and 30 animals at a time.
The rescue has closed its intake while it works on fundraising. Laura Morgan said they hope to have the funding by the end of January to reopen intake.
Spencer Morgan said the rescue’s biggest fundraising event, “Woof and Wiggle,” didn’t produce as much money as they anticipated to be the cushion they needed moving into 2025.
“Just like many places, we’ve just been struggling,” Spencer Morgan said. “Vetting costs have steadily increased, just like everything else, but our donations and money inflow, has just decreased.”
Aside from a lack of funds, the rescue also needs foster homes for both cats and dogs, but Laura Morgan said that puppies and large dogs tend to be the hardest to place.
“A lot of times, we can find people to do the smaller dogs and cats, but we really, in the last six months, it’s been really hard to pull anything like over 50 pounds as far as a dog,” she said.
Lucky Tales covers all of the vetting, food and supplies needed for each fostered animal. Those interested in fostering an animal can fill out the form here. Besides fostering, the rescue also seeks volunteers and help with grant writing.
If the rescue can’t raise the $10,000, Laura Morgan said they are at risk of closing.
“I really don’t want to close. It’s not something any of us want to do, but we just can’t take the risk of bringing animals in and not being able to pay for something if there was an emergency, especially, you know, if there was an accident,” she said.
Aside from emergency bills, the rescue also pays for routine things like spaying and neutering, vaccinations and heartworm testing for the animals.
“This is the first time we’ve had a real plea campaign, like, ‘Hey, this is what the reality is like,’” Spencer Morgan said. “We have to have these kind of funds.”
To donate to Lucky Tales Rescue’s 2025 vetting campaign, you can Venmo @LuckyTalesRescue, donate through its Facebook page, PayPal luckytalesrescue@gmail.com, or send checks mailed to PO Box 315 Ft. Thomas, KY 41075. They are also accepting business sponsorships.
