'Life in the Doghouse' documentary showcases pair who turned their home into an animal shelter

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Wednesday, September 12, 2018
'Life in the Doghouse' documentary shines light on animal rescue
"Life in the Doghouse" tells the story of two men who turn their home into an animal shelter, where they've rescued thousands of dogs.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In the new documentary "Life in the Doghouse," Ron Danta and Danny Robertshaw show just how far love can go when it comes to saving lives.

They've transformed their home into "Danny and Ron's Rescue" for dogs at-risk of being euthanized.

The two men began their dog rescue after Hurricane Katrina left so many dogs without homes.

"I think most people think when they hear somebody has 70, 80 dogs in their house, they think of a hoarding situation," Danta said. "But we are definitely not hoarders because we really want them to get loving homes."

"We make every dog, as far as we can tell, a ready to go package," Robertshaw said. "They're microchipped. They're wormed. Their dental has been done, so forth."

Their shelter is one of few that doesn't have an adoption fee and survives strictly off of donations. But the donations aren't always there.

"It's just real hard because we hit dry periods, where the donations aren't coming in," Danta said. "It's a very tough struggle emotionally for us. We've taken a lot of our retirement funds, you know, out to keep the rescue afloat."

Statistics show 2.5 million dogs are saved every year from shelters, but 4 million are euthanized each year.

Their message is simple: spay and neuter. And even if you can't take a dog home from a shelter, you can still make a difference.

"One thing you can do is go to your local rescues," Danta said. "Go to your local shelters, and block out 30 minutes and go from kennel to kennel. Just sit with them, talk to them, give them love. If you play guitar, take your guitar, sing to them because animals, all they want to do is be loved."