WHAT IS RESCUE
The following information may seem harsh and perhaps even rude. You may not agree with some of the things said on this page, but please understand that these are the realities of many rescues. It is meant to give you an idea of what rescues deal with on a daily basis. It will explain why sometimes you will come across rescues who never reply to your email, never return your phone call, never contact you about your application, wouldn't let you adopt a dog, wouldn't let you foster a dog, or the rescue person was just plain impolite to the point of being rude.
As you read the following page you will be given an insight to a rescuers day/week/month, and perhaps you will begin to see why so many rescuers are hardened, snippy, crabby people who don't seem to be living in the same world as everyone else.
This is meant to help educate you about rescue....what it is and what it isn't.
WE'LL START WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND
RESCUE IS NOT A SERVICE FOR YOU ... PERIOD .
Rescue is a service for the dogs. We care about them, the dog is who we are here to help. Our main concern here is the dog and what is best for each individual dog we take into our rescue.
RESCUE IS NOT HERE TO MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU TO GET RID OF YOUR DOG.
Some people think that Rescue is here to bail them out when they no longer want to care for a pet. They think that a Rescue can just take any animal and by magic make room for it and have all the time and money needed to take care of its needs.
Well, Rescue is not that! We are humans with only two hands and our days have only 24 hours. We are people, with families of our own, with pets of our own, with a home which needs to be taken care of, cleaned and fixed when needed, with limited income that is used to cover our expenses, to pay home mortgage, cover utility bills and buy food, for us and our pets. We have full time jobs and lots of home responsibilities, yet we find time to take care of our pets, as well as those who are dumped on us because someone didn’t think it through when they went and bought a puppy, or because they are moving to a new home, or simply because they no longer want to spend their time or money on what they use to think was a cute puppy.
WE DO NOT HAVE UNLIMITED RESOURCES TO TAKE CARE OF WHAT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO PAY FOR.
It is amazing how many people contact Rescue asking us to take their old sick dog because they do not have the money to pay for vet care.
Just to make it clear, Rescue organizations do not have unlimited funds to pay for surgeries and treatments when you cannot afford paying for it. Yes, Rescue organizations get donations, but it hardly covers the basic expenses of pet supply, food, vaccinations, spay/neuter surgeries and whatever else the dogs need. Fact is that most rescue people end up paying out of their own pockets for some or all of these expenses.
RESCUE IS NOT A SHELTER THAT YOU CAN JUST STOP BY TO VISIT, OR CALL AT ANY TIME OF THE DAY.
Rescue is a group of people that love their breed. Those people open their homes and hearts to the dogs, give them a place to live, and love them until they find a loving home. We take applications, screen them, and then have people come and visit with the dogs in our homes. We do not have “operating hours”. There is a private home on the end of any phone number you are given. Please respect that.
RESCUE IS NOT DIAL A PERSON TO UNLOAD YOUR DOG AFTER YOU'VE HAD IT FOR 10 YEARS SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE TIME FOR IT ANYMORE.
Rescue is a phone number or e-mail that reaches a private home of a volunteer who has little time to deal with the guilt you are feeling over giving up your dog. Please do not think us cold or callus, but we don’t have time for every person giving up a dog to cry on our shoulders. We’ve already heard all the reasons for giving up a dog, including : allergies, moving, housebreaking issues, money issues, new baby, too hyper, barking, sick, injured, nasty, uncontrollable, landlord doesn’t allow, parents said no, owner died and nobody wants the dog, divorce, marriage, too many animals, doesn’t like new dog, doesn’t like old dog, chases cars, chases cats, sheds too much, too much trouble, new job, wants too much attention To the other extreme, which includes it’s cross-eyed, it’s ears don’t stand up, it doesn’t match the new couch, it looks at me funny, he doesn’t like it here, and he’s told me he’s not happy.
We’re not cold hearted, we simply have too many things to do and not enough time to do them all and still listen to how sorry you think you are about getting rid of your dog. We understand sometimes things happen in people’s lives that make hard choices a necessity. We are not judging those who have done everything they could yet still have to give up the dog. We just want those who haven’t taken the responsibility seriously to understand that we are not here to offer emotional support to them when they’ve made a stupid decision and refuse to take responsibility for it.
Rescue should be one of your last resorts. Try obedience training, try crate training, try everything you can before you make the decision to give up your dog. When you’ve done all that you can, then call us and let us know why you’re giving up the dog in the least amount of words you can. We’ll ask questions, you answer them. Quick, Simple, and Honest.
RESCUE IS NOT A PERSON SITTING AT THE COMPUTER OR PHONE ALL DAY JUST WAITING FOR YOU TO CALL OR EMAIL.
Rescue is usually ONE person who already has a life, a family, a full-time job, own dogs and foster dogs, who is getting hundreds of e-mails a day from people looking to adopt or give up a dog, lots of phone messages with questions and problems, calls from shelters needing a rescue to take a dog who is about to be put down, not to mention applications to process, vet appointments for foster dogs.....and countless other things that rescue involves.
Don’t get upset with a Rescue if you do not get a response to your phone message or email. We’re probably dealing with other urgent matters.
RESCUE IS NOT A WAY FOR YOU TO FIND A PUREBRED DOG FOR LITTLE OR NO MONEY
Rescue is a safe haven for dogs of a specific breed, with people that know and understand the quirks and personality of that breed, and have the knowledge needed to handle that breed, it’s medical requirements, and who can access an application to be sure it would be an appropriate home for that breed.
If you are looking for a specific breed, we are glad you are considering a rescue. But there is an adoption fee. If you thing adoption fees are too high, consider how much you would pay if you covered the cost of food, vet exams, vaccinations, microchip, HW test, HW preventatives, spay/neuter surgery, fecal tests, deworming, special baths, mange treatments, x-rays, Heartworm treatments, crates, toys, treats, bedding, not to forget all the time we spend driving back and forth as well as high cost of gas money.
RESCUE DOES NOT PROVIDE FREE VETTING ADVICE.
Do not call us if your dog is sick or injured. We cannot determine what is wrong with your dog. If you are concerned about your dog’s health, please contact your vet’s office.
CAN I GET A DOG FROM YOUR RESCUE THAT IS NOT SPAYED OR NEUTERED?
Rescue is not a place where you can pick up a “girlfriend” for BUTCH or a “boyfriend” for FIFI. All rescue dogs are spayed or neutered before adoption. Furthermore, if you have an unaltered pet at home, we will decline your application. There is NO reason why your pets should not be spayed/neutered, unless it is a show dog or it cannot have surgery due to a health reason.
You won’t get a dog unaltered, don’t even bother to ask.
RESCUE CANNOT TAKE YOUR AGGRESSIVE DOG
If YOU don’t want to deal with your dog that bites, whom you’ve loved for 6 years, what on earth makes you think that someone else would want it biting them or their family? Why would you think we can take it and put our kids and our other dogs at risk?
RESCUE IS NOT A MAIL ORDER SERVICE TO FIND YOU THE DOG OF YOUR DREAMS.
We never know what dogs we’ll be getting and when. The dogs we get come from various situations. Some were strays, and we know nothing about their background, some are owner surrender. Many have special needs. We work with each dog to make them better pets than they were when they entered rescue, but we aren’t miracle workers.
Every dog has his own personality, and we will list everything we know about the dog, but since we have the dog only limited time, what we know may not be much. Please do not email us asking for us to tell you “more” about the dog, but feel free to ask specific questions.
We will do our best to test the dog so we could match it with the right home, but dogs are animals and nothing is set in concrete, so expect to put in some work to make the adoption work.