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By Mandy Haggerson

For the Clemmons Courier

Self-professed animal lover Sarah Hauser has always appreciated the constant companionship and stability an animal can provide. Hauser has felt that bond through all of her life’s various stages.

“It started with horses when I was a child, dogs, cats, you name it,” Hauser said.

Those relationships helped her feel the courage to take on many new opportunities and adventures, including moving to Switzerland as a child with her family for four years.

“I spent the majority of my high school over there,” Hauser said. “I attended an international school with many kids in the same boat as I was.”

When Hauser finished up high school, she decided to stick close to home and attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

“I initially was focused on psychology,” Hauser said. “However, when my stepmom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, I made the decision to move back home and be there for her. While I was living at home, I got a job in finance with the city of Winston-Salem. I realized very quickly how much I enjoyed it and was decent at it, too.”

That realization led Hauser back to school at Salem College to earn her bachelor’s degree in business administration in finance. After Hauser graduated from Salem College, she began a career at Learfield IMG College.

“I feel like I got very lucky because I started working for a company that allowed me to combine my love of sports,” Hauser said. “I started out in their accounts payable department and am now a senior accountant for them. My day-to-day allows me to monitor the finances for seat and ticket sales, which is a lot of fun. 

“I have also been able to balance working with animals in another capacity by having a pet-sitting business,” Hauser said. “My friend and I named it Fur Runners Pet Sitting because we both drive 4Runners, so we have enough room for all the animals.

“I always joke that I would pet anything, even an alligator, if I knew it wouldn’t bite me. We watch goats, horses, cows, dogs, cats. It’s so much fun, and we have some really special animals that we get to visit when we do.” 

Hauser experienced a serendipitous twist of fate last year, too, which would strengthen her bond with animals.

“My boyfriend found a stray dog in his parking deck at work,” Hauser said. “We tried to find its owner, and to no avail. We fostered her and found her a wonderful home. Not too long after that experience, we found two stray dogs running down the middle of the street in a very busy road. Once again, we tried to find their owners, and after checking microchips and posting on social media, we realized they, too, had been abandoned.”

Hauser called many rescues to ask for help and spoke to someone at the Humane Society of Davie County (HSDC).

“They were incredibly helpful with the process of us fostering them, getting the dogs medical care, and spaying and neutering,” Hauser said. “We knew that it would be hard enough to adopt out one dog, but two we knew would be even more challenging. HSDC stepped up in such a big way, we will always be forever grateful because those dogs have the most amazing life now. Our bonus dogs, which is what we call our fosters have the best life now thanks to them.”

After learning more about the passion of the HSDC non-profit and its dire need for financial resources, Hauser decided to step up and serve as the treasurer for their board of directors.

“After my first-hand experience with HSDC, I learned how much they care for the animals and how much our community really needs to come together to help support them,” Hauser said. “They receive zero financial support from the government or any national organizations. The only source of income for this rescue is through private donations. With rescues all over being inundated with calls and pleas to help, the only way places like HSDC can say yes is if everyone comes together and supports them.“

HSDC is currently trying to raise $50,000 to keep its doors open. If not, its members will have to close their non-profit because they just can’t afford the costs to care for these animals without the support of our community.

Hauser is hopeful that the community will respond to the cries for help.

“If not, it would be a huge hole in our community for the animals that have nowhere else to go. We are holding an online auction on June 23-30 to try and raise much-needed funds,” Hause said.

Those interested can pre-register at https://givebutter.com/c/Raise-a-Paw. All of the proceeds go straight to the animals.

“There will be some amazing items available,” Hauser said. “We’ve also been humbled by local businesses wanting to donate a portion of proceeds of their establishments to our race for $50,000 cause like Davie Tavern on June 26 from 5-9 p.m., Howlin’ at the Moon Dog Bakery, Petsense Clemmons hosting a raffle, Be Kind Coffee Co.’s giving tree, Sacred Wellness Animal Reiki donating $10 per session, Trade Craft Coffee Roasters donating tips and 5 percent of online sales, Katherine Sims donating 50 percent of her sales at her Etsy store Sunny Wildflower Art, and Elite Canine posting an ongoing fundraiser on Facebook.”

Currently, HSDC has raised $24,784 and has just a few weeks left to meet its goal to keep the doors open. If you are interested in helping it to do so, you can go to its website at hsdavie.org or Venmo it @HumaneSocietyDavieCounty.

Checks can be mailed to 162 Webb Way, Advance, NC 27006.

“With North Carolina being second in the country with euthanizing animals in our local shelters, I can’t imagine a world without HSDC making a difference,” Hauser said. “I hope others realize that we have to come together to be that difference.”