One Woman Stopped the Car and Changed Thousands of Lives

When Zully Vasquez Ventura moved her family to Cleveland, Texas, in 2019, she thought she was giving her dog, Bella, a better life. After years of apartment living in Houston, she dreamed of a backyard, open space, and room to run. What she didn’t expect was to arrive in a neighborhood where dogs were everywhere and not in the way anyone hopes to see.

As Ventura settled into her new community in Colony Ridge, she began noticing dogs roaming the streets daily. They weren’t strays passing through. They were everywhere. Dogs sleeping in empty lots. Dogs searching for scraps of food and water. Dogs suffering from hair loss, extreme malnutrition, and untreated injuries, all under the relentless Texas sun.

Each drive became harder than the last.

She learned quickly that the problem was deeply rooted. Colony Ridge sits outside Cleveland’s jurisdiction, and Liberty County does not operate an animal control program or shelter. There were no officers to call. No system to step in. The dogs had been left behind in every sense of the word.

While many people kept driving, Ventura couldn’t.

She began carrying dog food in her car, pulling over to feed dogs in the worst condition. It was never part of a plan. It was instinct. One dog at a time. One stop at a time.

Then, in 2022, she saw a red Labrador mix whose eyes stopped her completely.

The dog was exhausted, burned, and begging for food. A neighbor told her someone had thrown hot oil on his back to chase him away. Devastated, Ventura took photos and shared his story online, hoping someone would help. At first, no one did. The silence was crushing.

But she tried again.

This time, a rescue organization saw her plea and stepped in. Ventura was asked to foster the dog overnight. The rescue named him Rusty, got him the medical care he desperately needed, and eventually, he healed and found a forever home.

“If I did it once,” Ventura realized, “I can do it again.”

And she did. Again and again.

Armed with food, water, and her phone, Ventura began documenting what she saw every day. She told the dogs’ stories with honesty and compassion, helping people understand the reality on those streets. One day, she spotted a mother dog and her puppy struggling to survive. She rescued the puppy first, then returned day after day, patiently feeding the mother until she earned her trust. Eventually, both were safely taken in by a rescue.

Each small victory fueled the next. To date, Ventura has helped rescue more than 5,000 dogs.

Even after giving birth to her daughter, she was back on her feet within weeks, continuing the work that had become her life’s mission. Alongside a friend, she founded a nonprofit called The Daily Kibble of Cleveland, TX, focused on feeding dogs, providing vaccinations, rescuing those in danger, and promoting low cost spay and neuter programs desperately needed in the area.

She also built a small kennel to foster dogs herself. While more rescues have begun to help and community members continue to push for systemic change, Ventura carries the emotional weight of the dogs she hasn’t been able to save.

Ventura’s dream isn’t to rescue dogs forever. Her dream is the day she no longer has to stop her car. The day there are no dogs left wandering the streets, hungry and alone. She believes awareness is the first step toward that future.