A New Project for Everyone

[Lori Jordan]

I forgot this link this is pretty much what we are about and what we do at the Ottawa Valley Border Collie club im sure you will all like ithttp://www.ovbcc.com/

[Ginger's Mom]

Can someone post about experiences they've had with breed rescue? I only know of one person locally who was given such a run-around, and then her calls were not returned, and she eventually gave up, even though she would have been an excellent home, and was willing to follow the group's protocols. It was quite disheartening.

I think a lot of breed rescue group are very small individually run programs. I fostered for an American Eskimo breed rescue that covered from Massachusetts through New Jersey. That rescue organization was actually just two women who also had full time jobs (and one had a husband and son to care for), who just cared very deeply about the breed. They would receive many many e-mails from people who wanted to adopt, just wanted more info. about the breed, wanted to turn in their unwanted Eskies, etc. And they were extremely busy answering those e-mails, transporting dogs, and doing home checks. Please don't get discouraged if it takes a while for a breed rescue to get back to you, as I said it is usually only a small group of people who do this in their "spare" time. I think that breed rescue does try to match the right dog with the right home, and "rescuers" are always there to answer questions about the breed if certain problems should pop up once you get the dog home.

[Sudilar]

Can someone post about experiences they've had with breed rescue? I only know of one person locally who was given such a run-around, and then her calls were not returned, and she eventually gave up, even though she would have been an excellent home, and was willing to follow the group's protocols. It was quite disheartening.

When you go through a breed rescue, it can be quite disheartening. The reason for all the things we make potential adopters go through is for the good of the dog. The dog in rescue has been uprooted already once, so a permanent forever home must be found. This takes a lot of work. First there is the application...I believe ours is 10-11 pages long with lots of questions with a vet referral and other referrals which we do check. Next is the home visit. Then the application and home visit is reviewed. If the applicant is approved, then we will see if there is a dog that will fit that particular home. Sometimes it is not the dog that the potential adopter had his eye on. If we don't feel the fit is good, then it will not happen. Many times the potential adopter will have to wait til a dog that fits his needs comes along...and that may take a while. Then there is the "Meet and Greet" where the potential adopter meets the dog. If all goes well, then shortly after that the adoption will be approved and the dog goes off to his forever home (hopefully). We do everything in our power to place the dog in a forever home. It is all about the dog. Sometimes it may seem too strict, but it is what is necessary so that the dog is not returned to us.
If you go to http://gsdrni.org/forms.htm you can see what the application looks like and what our policies are.

[Lady'sOtherHuman]

Remember, we want to let people know how you found out about your local shelters - like, Lady's Human, how did you first find Dog Orphans?

We found Dog Orphans online. LH did a search on the web for local shelters.
I believe we paid somewhere around $85 dollars for the adoption. That basicly covered her spay/nuetering. And they were nice enough to cover the first vet visit after we brought her home. They had us fill out a questionaire that included things like "How often will someone be home with the dog?" "How often will she be allowed to go outside?" How many hours a day will the dog be home alone?"

One thing you should ask the shelter person when looking to adopt is why the animal was brought to the shelter in the first place. Also you'll want to make sure the animal you bring into your home fits in with your current family situation i.e. kids, other pets. You want to make sure that everyone will get along.

[Sus]

Bella and I think that this is a very good idea! Most of you live in large countries with a zillion breeders, kennels and rescue organizations and it must be a confusing task to identify the good ones! Here, in itty-bitty Denmark there are only a few rescue organizations most of them are commonly known to people who care for animals.

I am totally in favour of the idea of obtaining one's new pet from a shelter or rescue home! But I would like to contribute another thought - that one should always keep in mind one's own situation (space-, time- & moneywise) when rescuing an animal from a shelter! Otherwise one may inadvertedly turn a less than optimal situation for the animal into something worse... Or in other words: Don't let your good heart talk you into acquiring more pets than you can care for properly....! I don't think good rescue homes ever do that!

Lots of love,
Sus and Bella

[moosmom]

Personally, I think the best website for any animal is Petfinder.com

But here is my contribution:

Helping Paws - Colchester, CT

http://www.listnow.com/helpingpaws/

Catales - Middletown, CT

http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/CT104.html

I volunteered with both Catales and Helping Paws. They are wonderful organizations and I highly recommend them both!

[DrKym]

Can someone post about experiences they've had with breed rescue? I only know of one person locally who was given such a run-around, and then her calls were not returned, and she eventually gave up, even though she would have been an excellent home, and was willing to follow the group's protocols. It was quite disheartening.

Karen I used St Louis Purebred rescue to adopt Rusty the amazing felon, he is vWB and has thyroid issues but they were amazing! I am sorry to hear your friend had a problem with a rescue, but Donna was amazing, she emailed me back the same day, called that night to talk in depth arranged a meeting in our home with Rusty as he had never been around cats or small dogs or guinea pigs, or small kids for that matter. She arrived at 9 am stayed until 3 and Rusty has been an incredible addition, she still emails us and drops a line now and again. She bent a few rules so we could adopt him as he fit so perfect.(our fencing wasn't fully up yet and we lived out of state) so I would reccommend rescues highly btw Rusty is a red doberman.

[ratchet22]

Yes I agree petfinder.com is the best place
I am at www.arlingtonkittensandcats.petfinder.com

[GreyhoundGirl]

Hey King I never knew you lived so close?
Missisauga is like 15-20 minutes from me.

same here

my favourite rescue is Greyhound Rescue Montreal. The web site isn't up to much, but I'll post it anyways...

www.greyhoundrescue.bigstep.com

[MajesticCollies]

I love working with Tri State Collies. I foster collies inbetween transportation legs and those being readied for a home. Sometimes the rescue is full and I will take one in for as long as it takes.

http://www.tristatecollierescue.net/collies.htm#pups

If your in ohio I hope and refer anyone to a collie that needs a forever home. Also I recommend looking for a community affair that may be giving a Meet the Breeds area to educate dog owners to be on what breed will fit your family and lifes For all of you in the Findlay, Ohio area I will be at the National Duchsund Races this year in the Meet The Breeds area with my collies. Tell all your friends to come out and meet the different breeds that will be out there. Would love to meet some of you all also.

[wolflady]

What a great resource, Karen!

KAK pretty much covered the gamut of the local animal rescues here, but I can definitely vouch for FOSMAS (http://www.fosmas.org/).
I volunteered there for quite some time, and the people there were wonderful.

Some other sites that I had perused when trying to find the right dog for my home included:

Bay Area Siberian Rescue: http://www.bayareasiberian.org/dogsForAdoption.html
A neighbor of mine adopted his two huskies from this organization.

Northern California Sled Dog Rescue:
http://www.norsled.org/

Central Coast Northern Dog Rescue:
http://www.ccndr.org/

German Shepherd Rescue of Northern California:
http://www.savegsd.org/
A friend of mine recently adopted his dog from here

Dogworks Canine Rescue (dobies and greyhounds)
http://www.dogworks.org/
The woman that runs this also volunteers for FOSMAS, and lives about 2 miles from my house!

In terms of finding some of these places, a simple Google search for the type of pet your looking for + state, city name usually yields pretty good results. For example, if someone were to type into Google "german shepherd rescue, bay area", they would likely find several GSD rescue group options.

A great resource about Puppy Mills is: http://www.nopuppymills.com/
This site has been redone a couple of times, but I believe all of the same information is still there. Very good resource.

Adding to the list for "reputable" breeder questions, here are a few more (can you tell I worked in a vet office? *laughs*):
1. what is the difference between "pet quality" and "show quality"?
2. do you require that ALL pet quality pets be spayed/neutered? (this answer should be yes)
3. how many different breeds of dogs do you breed?
(if it's more than one, this could be a red flag. A reputable breeder shouldn't breed more than one...maybe two (if they're very similar like Tervs and Malinois) different breeds of dogs.
4. What steps have you taken to decrease defects in your dogs?
5. What are the good and bad points of the parents, and what titles do they have?
6. Where were these puppies raised? How have you socialized them?
(a good answer will be in the home, underfoot, with other animals, kids, cats...etc.)
7. Do you offer a Health/Hearing/Temperament guarantee with your puppies?
8. Were there any temperament problems in the ancestry of the puppies? Have the sire and the dam been temperament tested?
9. How much time do you spend planning your litters and rearing the pups ?
10. How many litters do you have per year? (this is to see if there is any "overbreeding" going on)
11. Are the sire and dam OFA Certified? BAER tested? Do you have certificates for me to see ?
12. What is the incidence of deafness, allergies, infections, thyroid dysfunction, seizures, stone formation, hip dysplasia, etc., in the pedigree?

Ok...that's all for now.

**hugs**
Karen

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

This is such a great project, Karen!!
I fear it is useless to add links form my country, since I am the only Belgian member.... .

Lots of the info given in all the links already mentioned are useful for me too, as I speak English rather well (well, I hope I do )

[mruffruff]

In the South there are two organizations that I can recommend.

Southeast Pug Rescue of Atlanta. GA deals in Pugs and pug mixes. They screen homes for new adopters. All dogs are spayed/neutered and up to date on shots. They have a contract as well as an application form. Prices vary, usually around $150.

Pets, Inc. in West Columbia, SC takes in and adopts out all breeds of dogs and cats. They spay/neuter all adult animals and require adopters to have younger ones done at the age of 4-5 months (Deposit required which is returned on proof of surgery). All animals are seen by a vet, updated on shots and given "Home Again" tags. The contract is two pages long and has a $300 charge for failure to live up to it. Prices start at $99 and go up to $175 for a pure bred. Seniors citizens can get a break on price. Also, some animals are less, some are "Two-fers" and payments can be arranged.
Their web page is petsinc.org.

[Reachoutrescue]

REACHOUTRESCUENFP

THIS IS MY RESCUE BASED IN HOMETOWN, ILLINOIS. WE ARE COMPLETELY NOT FOR PROFIT. WE ARE NOT GOVERNMENT OR STATE FUNDED. IT IS RIGHT OUTSIDE OF CHICAGO AND OAK LAWN, ILLINOIS. WE HELP ANIMALS ALL OVER ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA.

PAWSCHICAGO

THIS IS A NOT FOR PROFIT SHELTER AND CLINIC LOCATED IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. THEY OFFER LOW-COST VACCINES AND SPAY/NEUTER. PEOPLE ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE RECIEVES FREE SPAY/NEUTERING FOR CATS/DOGS.

[cassiesmom]

We'd also like people's thoughts on the questions I posed and any others - like what to ask a shelter employee, and what you should expect to pay - if you can list examples what your shelter charges, that would be helpful.

1) My shelter fee was $50, but that was 10 years ago. It went up to $75 and then to $100. The shelter affiliated with the Petsmart at which I shop also charges $100. That seems to be the "going rate" around here. There are fund-raisers for potential adopters who can't afford the $100, and my shelter can refer cats to free or low-cost spaying/neuter programs for families that qualify.
2) I had to agree that I would not have Cassie declawed. Her front paws had already been declawed when I got her, and I have never had a reason to have her back claws removed. That would be another question I'd ask - must I agree not to declaw?
3) What steps do I take if the adoption does not work out and I need to readmit the cat to the shelter for some reason?
4) Can you help me obtain a copy of the cat's medical record from the shelter DVM (if I'm not planning to continue using the same doctor).
5) What follow-up can I expect from the shelter - if I have a problem, can I call you? Will you call or e-mail me to see how we are doing?

Terrific cat book: Cats for Dummies, by Gina Spadafori and Dr. Paul Pion. I have the first edition but there is a second edition out now.

Let me know if I can help! Thanks - Elise, Cassie's Mom