Rescue of the Quarter:

The Tampa Bay Animal Rescues We Support

Made to make a difference.


Close-up of a happy white Labrador retriever with one eye closed, mouth open, and tongue out, standing on green outdoor surface with another dog and dog ramp in background.
A birthday cake with lit candle on top.

One Rescue at a Time


Every quarter, The Salty Dog Candle Company picks one of the Tampa Bay animal rescues doing the hard work and sends them $2 from every candle sold, and $1 from every wholesale candle. We tell their story here, post what your candles have funded, and keep every past rescue on this page so nothing gets forgotten.

Abstract flower shape with orange and yellow petals on a pink background
Sunny sun with rays extending outward
A lit birthday candle on a blue cake with paw print decoration
Green palm tree silhouette on a black background
Katie McDuffee Katie McDuffee

This Quarter’s Rescue:Mercy Full Project

Mercy Full Project focuses our efforts mainly in Animal Rescue by helping the helpless animals in our community. We take in all animals from all different situations such as: Medical Cases at shelters that face euthanasia, Behavioral Cases that need longer and special training sessions, Owner Surrenders that come to us for a variety of reasons, Stray Animals found all over Florida, Animals facing euthanasia at overloaded shelters (even from shelters outside of Florida such as Georgia and Alabama), and Emergency Cases where the animals are injured from accidents or abused.
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Katie McDuffee Katie McDuffee

Previous Rescue: Rags to Riches Animal Rescue

Rags to Riches Animal Rescue is a foster-based rescue in Tampa that takes on the medically needy and disabled animals who often get overlooked. This quarter, $2 from every candle goes to them.
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Made to Make a Difference

This started with a cat named Sasha, a few foster dogs, and a grant for a local rescue. Katie saw up close how much these organizations do with how little, and wanted to build something that kept helping instead of a one-time gift. That’s the whole idea behind the Rescue of the Quarter: one rescue at a time, with real money and a real story behind it. You can read how it started on the About page.

Local rescues run quietly with small teams, limited funding, and overwhelming need. They provide:

✦ Medical care

✦  Foster homes

✦ Transportation

✦ Second chances to animals in need who might never find safety otherwise

They rarely get the credit. This page is our small way of changing that.

A person in a pink fleece jacket holding a ginger tabby cat with orange fur and darker orange stripes. The cat is resting comfortably on the person's arm, looking alert with wide eyes and ears perked up.

Past Rescues We’ve Featured

Every rescue we’ve featured stays right here. Scroll through to see who your candles have helped.

“When buying a candle from this company not only are you getting a quality smelling candle- you are supporting local Tampa animal rescues as well as supporting a growing small business- it’s a win-win situation!

— Sarah N.

Shop and Give Back

Want to help? Light a candle! $2 from every one goes to this quarter’s rescue, and the Mercy Full Candle was made just for them. The whole program lives on one page too: candles that give back. Know a rescue that should be next? We’d love to hear about them. Thank you for being part of this!

Orange paw print on a white background.
A bright, stylized sun icon with rays extending outward.
A birthday cake with a lit candle on top and paw print decoration
A stylized green palm tree on a black background.