About Us

In 2010, Eileen Gideon’s family gave her the gift of an adorable bloodhound puppy for her birthday.  She named him Jethro.  When Jethro had his first vet appointment, Eileen discovered that he had some hereditary health issues. Jethro, it turned out, like many puppies, had come from a pet store that purchased their puppies from an Amish puppy mill.  This discovery led Eileen to begin researching puppy mills, breeders, and the overwhelming number of pets in shelters and rescues in need of homes.

The more Eileen learned the more she realized she needed to become actively involved.  Eileen founded Uniting to Save Animals (U2SA), a 501(3)c organization dedicated to decreasing the number of unwanted, homeless pets in our area. Between 2011 and 2022, U2SA provided over 3000 free and low-cost spay and neuters to those in need, as well as assisting with dozens of veterinary bills for local rescues. From 2017 until 2025, U2SA funded the Happy Hounds Prison Dog Program in Hagerstown, MD.  This program provided positive-based reinforcement training and behavior modification for dogs at risk of euthanasia as well as dog handling skills and training for Inmates they can use to obtain employment post-incarceration. In 2025, the prison dog program was unfortunately forced to close it's doors. 

In early 2022, Jethro passed away but his influence on our organization has remained steadfast with our spay/neuter and medical assistance programs.