A Cop, A Dog…And A Gracious Community

While traveling down highway  211 on a dark , cold, snowing Wintry night, Off-Duty Senior Police Officer  Hunter Damber, a Seven Lakes resident with the Village of Pinehurst, saw something out of the corner of his trained eye.  A small object laying on the black pavement of the desolate road.

As Officer Damber exited his vehicle to investigate, he found a small Jack Russel dog that was hit by a vehicle and was left all alone to die from his injuries including a suspected broken front leg.  Luckily Officer Damber was able to call a friend Lynn May who in conjunction with Amber Schwanger operate a small dog rescue service “Rescue Moore“, in West End.

Officer Damber scooped the dog up in his arms and transported him to his friend Lynn so she could provide a temporary  home. 

The little dog now named “Riff“, spent the night at Lynn‘s house.  Lynn felt as though she could not manage little Riff‘s pain adequately and turned to Officer Damber for assistance once more.  Officer Damber came to Riff‘s rescue because of the icy roads that morning and transported the dog to the veterinarian at the Small Animal Emergency Center center in Vass.  He was placed in care under the account of Unchaining Moore Dogs operated by Noelle Lenser. 

Our newspaper was notified  of the little dogs plight and the need for donations through social media and that is when Seven Lakes News got involved in Riff‘s injuries.

Our social media team went into action on all social media platforms  asking for donations.  The Seven Lakes community  and West end responded immediately to help Riff.  The bill at the clinic was fully paid in full.

Riff then returned to the foster care of Lynn May and will need a amputation of his front leg, and his lungs were bruised.   According to Lynn Riff was  resting, quietly, on a heating pad, in a warm house. He wasn’t eating yet, but she was working on that.   They will choose a clinic to amputate his leg after trying to locate the owner and the stray hold is not in effect. Lynn picked him up for transport to Longleaf Animal Hospital where the operation will be performed on Riff.

As Lynn said, “we all came together for a small brown and white dog. I cannot express my gratitude in words.“ Lynn said that Riff wanted to thank every single person for their donation to save his life.

He knows he would not be alive without so many people who cared, and called in a donation for him.

To volunteer or donate to Rescue Moore call Lynn or Amber at

910-315-5881

By:  Victoria Levinger