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Belly Rubs Basset Rescue just took in four basset hounds from a filthy backyard breeding operation near Dumas, Miss. JJ, Tasha, Molly and Mercy, were standing in mud with tin sheds as their only protection from the cold and heat of the Deep South. In the best of times they were fed and bred, but never knew the joy human touch can bring.

Their life was grim, like Stalag 17 for bassets.

Tasha, Molly and Mercy made puppies twice a year for which meant there were 6 litters of bassets being born into that dreck every year. Seems like everyone we ran into in this rural county claimed to have one of Tasha's puppies. She must have been pregnant her entire life to satisfy the local demand for basset pups.

The dogs stared out the bars of the pen, wondering what life was like out there in the world. And wondering what they did to deserve this. They were good dogs. They could sit on couches and chase balls, for pete's sake. Why were they stuck here?

Then one day the man who brought them food each night stopped coming. They got hungry. The man stopped bringing water, too, so they had to drink out of mud puddles. The man had died, and the woman who remained didn't want to take care of the man's dogs. Molly, Mercy, JJ and Tasha got skinnier, sadder, hungrier. Their nails curled under their feet and their ears got dirty and infected with mites. It dawned on JJ they weren't ever going to get out of there. They were going to stay there and starve to death, and no one would know or care. He got deeply depressed, quit eating and crawled to the back of the pen that had marked the boundaries of his small, bleak world vowing never to trust a human again.

Then a pair of kind volunteers from BRBR showed up with a big van and carted Molly, Mercy, JJ and Tasha all away from the empty food bowls, the dry water bins, the mud, the rusty tin shelters and the fence. The nice people took them to the doctor and to a dog groomer for their very first bath. The groomer said she washed acres of dirt and armies of fleas off poor Molly, Mercy, Tasha and JJ. And best of all they fed the four bassets every single day.

Thanks to the volunteers of Belly Rubs Basset Rescue, Molly, Mercy, JJ and Tasha are safe in rescue now. But these four bassets still have medical needs that must be taken care of. JJ has heartworms and is very skittish around people. He's extremely thin and will need to gain 12 to 15 pounds before he can begin his lengthy heartworm treatment. Then he'll need to be neutered. He'll also need special food to make him strong,  time with a trainer to help him get over his fear of humans and a loving foster familiy to teach him to be part of a human pack. Tasha needs a dental, because her teeth have been neglected into tartar-encrusted horrors. She also needs a spay. Mercy and Molly need to gain some weight and get spays done. They may need dentals as well; their teeth were a bit battered beyond their years.

Saving these four beautiful bassets was the right thing to do. BRBR volunteers from Tennessee and Mississippi worked together to get these bassets to safety.

But now we need your help paying for the medical care needed to get JJ, Tasha, Mercy and Molly back to their former beauty and health. Please give $5, $10, $20, even as much as $100 if you want to get JJ, Tasha, Mercy and Molly back in full bassetude. Once you donate, we'll send you updates on how the Mississippi 4 are progressing.

Donating through this website is simple, fast and secure. It is also the most efficient way to support BRBR's fundraising efforts for these hounds.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too! Let's get some viral basset marketing going here.