Strength of Shadow Dog Rescue, Inc.

We are so excited to be part of Give Big Kern for the 8th year in a row. This year we are also celebrating the 8 year Anniversary of SOS Dog Rescue. What a ride it has been. We have been able to save about 230 dogs from shelters within Kern County. We have built Shadow Ranch, a place to offer care, rehabilitation and training for most of our dogs. We have implemented our community care program, Operation Keep Pets In Home. Through this program we have provided collars and tags for over 1000 dogs, we have supplied over 100,000 lbs of dog and cat food, we have provided spay & neuter services for over 500 animals... all of this has been free of charge or low cost for all low income residents of the Kern River Valley. In 2023 we launched Fix Your Pets to Fix Your City  where we sponsor 4-8 low cost spay and neuter clinics to residents within the Bakersfield area of Kern County. To date we have provided surgical services over 10,000 dogs and cats. In 2024 we co-founded Kern S.A.F.E., a coalition of rescues and shelters, that canvass underserved communities and offer an array of resources and education to help with responsible pet ownership. Give Big Kern has been a big part of being able to accomplish all of this. 

Strength of Shadow Dog Rescue was built on the dreams of Robbie Miller and his 1st dog, Shadow.

After spending his youth making some poor life choices Robbie found himself incarcerated in the State of Oklahoma for 12 years. Upon completing the first 9 years of this sentence, Robbie decided he wanted to start giving back to the world instead of taking from it. During the next three years he obtained his GED, began to work and also became a mentor to many of the inmates. Upon his release in January 2014, he asked his mother if he could get a dog when he arrived home. Here enters Shadow!

Shadow had been found by Kern County Animal Services in Ridgecrest during freezing temperatures, abandoned in a single dog crate with two other large dogs. Robbie and Shadow had an instant bond - both skittish of people, both survivors of traumatic situations, both looking for unconditional love. About a month after adopting her Shadow began coughing up blood. After multiple emergency vet visits it was discovered that Shadow had been living with a 40 caliber bullet in her lung very close to her heart. She was airlifted to Los Angeles for emergency surgery. These were the longest few days of Robbie’s life. He had just found her and couldn’t imagine life without her.

Thankfully Shadow made a full recovery and their bond just continued to grow. In August 2014 we added Dallas to the family. He was just a young puppy who had been rescued by the same animal control officer as Shadow many months prior. Having these two dogs in his life was just what Robbie needed to heal and grow into the man he wanted to become. At this time is when Robbie decided to dedicate his entire life to saving dogs and placing them with the people that they needed to save, just as Shadow and Dallas have done and continue to do for him.