Scribbles was ADOPTED!!!!!!

You don't even need to bother to read the rest of this post.  I gave away the entire plot in the title.  I couldn't help it - I'm so excited!  She's only been living here for like a gazillion years.  Maybe not quite that many.  But it seems like more.  It would have been fine if she liked it here.  But she didn't.  She wanted to be the only pet.  And as you can imagine, that made my house about as far from ideal as you can get.

So when I found out she didn't like other pets, I hoped she would be adopted rather quickly.  She is young and healthy and pretty and has a great temperament when there are no other pets around.  But at adoption events she would hiss and take swipes at anyone who got too close.  Some cats hide under their beds when they are scared.  Scribbles' first impulse was to fight, and she would constantly issue pre-emptive attacks - especially when any dogs were around.  So it wasn't surprising that she didn't get adopted.  Months went by - then a whole year.  Finally, a year and a half after waiting for a home, she found the perfect family.  Two adults, no other pets - I couldn't ask for a better fit.  I think Scribbles is finally HOME.

Update on my Fosters

Once again it's time for an update on the current foster pets at my house.  These pets are all available for adoption, so if you see one you like, let's talk!

Ziggy is a seven month old American Pit Bull Terrier mix.  He is deaf, and he is silly, and he is sometimes demanding, and sometimes sweet.  He is mostly lazy, and prefers the indoors to being outside.  He likes to chew anything he can - especially if he's not supposed to chew it.  Shoelaces are a favorite of his.  He barks a lot when he wants something, and his favorite place to lay is at the top of the stairs, unless he has something to chew, in which case he prefers to lay on the couch.  His favorite place to hide when playing is under the futon where the other dogs can't reach him. 

Simon is Sampson's brother.  He is possibly visually impaired, although he doesn't act like it.  He is one of the sweetest foster cats I have.  He loves to cuddle and get affection.  Occasionally he chases the other cats, but most of the time he just watches the rest of the action. 

Sampson is Simon's brother.  He claims he is Simon's Seeing Eye Cat, but I don't usually see them anywhere together, so I have my doubts about that.  Sampson is very sweet when he wants to be, but sometimes he likes to pick on the other cats.  He can be a bit of a bully, quite honestly.  But when it comes to people, he's the most affectionate cat of the bunch. 

Scribbles - The long-timer.  She is sweet, but only on her terms.  If you try to make her do something she doesn't want - like get in a cat carrier to go to PetSmart for an adoption event - she may very well scratch you and bite you.  Not that it gets her out of going.  It just means I have to call in reinforcements (in this case, my husband Dave) to get her into the crate.  Then once she gets back home, she comes around purring and being all affectionate, just so I forgive her for the scratches she gave me that morning.  Hmph. 

Rudy is an interesting cat.  He is affectionate, but he'd rather rub against my legs than sit on my lap.  He likes to sit by the window and watch what is going on outside.  If I let him, he'd go out and see for himself.  He does okay with other cats and with dogs, but he's kind of a loner.  So he'd probably be perfectly happy as an only cat. 

Victoria - This beautiful girl is one of my favorite cats.  She's shy and won't come very close to me, but if I go to her, she'll let me pet her and she'll roll over and start purring.  She needs to get more used to people before she is ready for adoption, so I want to take her to adoption events each week to help her get used to the noise and the people.  But she finds the very best hiding places in the house, and so far I've only been able to find her and take her to one event.  Of course if anyone wants a cat who is very beautiful and very easy to care for, she's the one for you.  You may never know she's there - but at least she isn't constantly following you around and asking for attention like the rest of the cats at my house! :-)

Mia came into rescue when her owners moved and left her behind.  A neighbor took her in and cared for her, but couldn't keep her because her dog was trying to eat her.  So I took her home, and she's been living at my house for the past month - until yesterday.  Yesterday she got to go up to the adoption center at our vet's office!  So I am hopeful that someone will see her there and want to adopt her soon.  She is front declawed, and very sweet and affectionate, so I hope it won't take her long to find a home. 

So those are all of my foster pets as of today.  Well, except for Butterscotch.  I'll tell you about him tomorrow!

Sunday Scoop

As usual this week, I've received several requests for help from people wanting to turn in their pets. And as usual, I feel awful as I tell each person that I can't help. I understand what they're feeling. They have a wonderful pet - one that anyone will be lucky to have - and they want to do the right thing and give it to a no-kill shelter since they can't keep the pet any longer. And instead they hear that the no-kill shelters are full. All of them. They may be given a list of 20 or 30 shelters or rescue groups in the area, and every single one turns them away. Sometimes the people who turn them away are rude. More often, they don't receive any response to their phone messages or e-mails. And when they do receive a response, it's only to be told "sorry, try someone else". It's got to be hard. I understand their frustration. They just have no idea how many pets are out there needing help. And how many requests we receive, just like theirs, day after day. Their pet that they love and think anyone would be lucky to have? We already have two more just like them, waiting for a home. Cats especially are difficult. First, most people want to adopt kittens, not adult cats. Once they are over 6 months, they're pretty much out of luck in hopes of a quick adoption. Second, pick any cat color and any cat personality, and I can come up with several cats that will be a perfect fit. Right now there are 1,551 cats available for adoption within 100 miles of me. So I can understand why Scribbles is having a hard time being chosen for adoption. And why I have six adult cats at my house that are waiting for homes. And why I don't expect to have room for any more anytime soon. But turning people away is hard. Especially when they're just trying to do the right thing. Please, spay and neuter your pets. And when you're ready for another one, choose to adopt from your local shelter or rescue group.

Want to find out how many cats are waiting for a home in your area? Go to the Petfinder website, and on the left side of the screen, put in the Animal type as "cat" and the location as your zip code. Then just hit Search. Right next to the arrow to go to the next page, it will tell you the total number of matching pets it found. If you check this out, please let me know in comments how many cats in your area are waiting for homes. I'm thinking of moving to somewhere that Scribbles will have less competition.

Scribbles and Ziggy - the adventure of the Staircase.

In our house, the dogs have to go down the stairs to get to the door that leads to the backyard.  Scribbles likes to sit in the windowsill next to the staircase.  This has brought about an ongoing saga between Scribbles and the dogs.  Here's the story from my foster dog Ziggy:

I'll just sit here at the top of the staircase and ignore the cat.

Noelle said whatever I do, just don't make eye contact. 

I'm not looking!

Maybe just a quick glance.

Hee hee - I think I got away with it!

Uh oh. 

Okay, whatever you do, don't make eye contact with the cat!

Waiting

I got a call from someone about two cats that were picked up as strays.  They were said to be young, healthy, and good with other animals - could I help?  So I said sure, and brought home Kiwi and Scribbles.  Sadly, the only part that was accurate was that they were young.  Kiwi needed $900 of dental work, and Scribbles?  Well, she's not so good with other animals.  Kiwi was eventually adopted, but its been 15 months, and Scribbles is still waiting for a home.  Waiting in a house filled with other animals (four dogs and seven cats).  This cat is Not Happy. 

She used to have her own bedroom, so she could live the quiet, peaceful life she wanted, but she got lonely.  An affectionate cat like Scribbles cannot happily live without human attention for months on end.  So I started leaving her door open, and she started coming out into the rest of the house.  When the dogs were outside, she'd come find me and jump on my lap.  If she saw another cat, she'd hiss at them, but as long as they left her alone, she was fine. 

After a few months, she got braver, and she hardly ever goes into her private room anymore.  Okay, that could be because some of the other cats took it over.  But even when it's empty, she prefers to be wherever people are.  And when the dogs are inside, they've learned to avoid her.  They will actually hug the wall going up the stairs in order to go around her if she's sitting on the staircase.  I can't blame them - I'm scared of her too when she's upset - and dogs make her very upset.  But Scribbles improves every day - lately she even comes in at night to sleep on the bed occasionally!  Still I feel bad for her having to live with all these other animals.  She just wants a nice quiet house with a warm lap and no other animals.  She'd even be happy in a house with another cat or two, as long as there were no dogs.  But although she goes to adoption events week after week, she can't seem to find a home.  And so she waits.  And she makes her displeasure at waiting known.  So we all wait.  Anxiously.  For a home for Scribbles.  Please, let it be soon.

Update on my Pets

Yep, it's that time again.  Time for you to catch up on what all animals are at my house, and what they've been up to lately.  First are my own pets...

Remi - a four year old Harlequin Great Dane.  We adopted him when he was one and a half.  He'd already been through several obedience classes, and came to us well trained.  He gets along great with other dogs, and lets the cats walk all over him (literally).  He is my dog and prefers to be with me as much as he can.  Until 8pm which is his bedtime.  Then he goes and waits to be let into the bedroom so he can go to sleep.  I don't know how he knows what time it is, but he always knows. 

Noelle - Totally a Daddy's girl.  She follows Dave around the house, and he lets her get away with anything she wants.  She is the most loyal, loving dog I've ever met.  She loves to cuddle, and loves to show how much she loves us.  Lately she's taken to climbing up onto my lap while I type on the computer.  All 60 pounds of her.  And of course I let her, because I love her too. 

Merlin - The last official member of the family.  I am crazy about this cat, and Dave is going crazy because of this cat.  It's a nice balance, I think.  I let Merlin get away with anything he wants, and Merlin thinks he owns the house.  He meows to get attention or to have a door opened for him.  He jumps on counters and steals people food.  He follows me around and sleeps on my pillow at night.  And I encourage him in all of it.  I love this cat.   





Now for the foster animals... in order of arrival at my house. 

Scribbles - arrived Jan 2009. This is Her Fluffiness when she takes on one of the dogs.  Scribbles eventually got tired of living in our spare bedroom and has joined the rest of the family.  She now usually hangs out in the living room or the kitchen.  And what is great is if any of the dogs decides to bother one of the other cats, Scribbles jumps to their defense.  And ALL the dogs keep their distance from Scribs!

Simon and Sampson - arrived Dec 2009. These two have made themselves at home.  Usually one or the other is sitting on my lap, and they both enjoy drooling and then rubbing their face on my face.  Someone told me its a sign of affection in cats.  Its one I could do without.  But I am glad they like me.

Ziggy - Arrived Dec 2009.  Ziggy has improved greatly since I brought him home.  He gets along well with all the other dogs, and loves to wrestle with them.  All those possessive behaviors he exhibited when I first brought him home are gone, and other than being so mouthy, he's turning into a very good dog.  Which means he is sure to get adopted soon.  Because as soon as I get them trained, they get adopted and I have to start over again.  It's the curse of a foster mom.

Rudy - Arrived February 2010.  This is my newest foster cat.  He kept trying to sneak out the door at his previous foster home, so I offered to let him come to my house.  Three or four large dogs trying to come in or go out whenever I open the door have prepared me to handle door-darting cats.  Rudy is a sweet cat.  He's very affectionate and seems to be fitting right in. 

And that's it right now for fosters!  Only one dog and four cats - its like a vacation at my house!  Duke the Beagle/Coonhound is still at my friend's house.  He's still doing well, and up to his usual antics (more on that later).  Babette the Persian cat went to stay at PetSmart, and she appears pleased with the change in environment.  I am hoping to take Kermit the Heartland dog home, but have to wait for approval from his shelter caretakers.  So my next foster dog is probably going to be Emma's sister, named Shadow.  Another black lab - hopefully this one doesn't mind baths so much!

A Detective Story - part 2

If you have not already done so, please read part 1 of the detective story in order to familiarize yourself with the scene of the crime. 

And now, let us turn our attention toward the suspects. 

Remi - Great Dane

Motive: Remi has recently been put on a diet.  Perhaps he decided to supplement his food with drywall? 

Means: Remi has long nails, but they are probably too thick to do this kind of damage. 
Opportunity: Never crated, and allowed run of the house even when everyone is asleep and no one is home - Remi had plenty of opportunity

Detective Notes:  While I do not believe that Remi was capable of this crime, he was most likely present - lying on the couch nearby - when the crime was committed.  Unfortunately, this eye-witness refuses to testify.

Merlin - Orange Cat

Motive: Boredom. Merlin often complains that I don't spend enough time playing with him. He may have become a vandal in retaliation.

Means: Merlin has claws. Very sharp claws which I'm in the process of trying to get clipped. So far he is not cooperating.
Opportunity: Merlin is the only cat that constantly hangs out in the living room regardless of what dogs are around. He had plenty of opportunity to vandalize without fear of any dogs coming by.
Detective Notes: It doesn't look good for Merlin - he has motive, means and opportunity. But Merlin has been living in the home for many months now, and has no previous known history of vandalism. 

Noelle - American Pit Bull Terrier

Motive: Noelle seems to enjoy being naughty, so it is no stretch to believe that she realized this would be naughty and jumped at the chance.
Means:  Noelle has nails that are definitely capable of scratching up a wall. 

Opportunity: Noelle is usually not left alone due to her tendency to be naughty at times, but she may have managed to sneak away for a short time without someone noticing.

Detective Notes: Dave claims that Noelle is not capable of such destruction, but since it is a well known fact that Dave has a blind spot when it comes to this dog, I am not ready to rule out Noelle as a suspect.

Babette - Persian Cat

Motive: Just look at her glare at me.  I think her obvious dislike for me is excellent motive.
Means: Babette has sharp claws. 
Opportunity: None.  Because she also glares at the other cats (and hisses at them too!) she is in solitary confinement. 
Detective Notes:  I am confident in ruling out Babette as a suspect due to the lack of opportunity she had to commit the crime. 

Duke - Beagle/Coonhound mix

Motive: Duke always wants to hide his bones, and could easily have decided to dig up the wall in order to make a new hiding spot.
Means:  Duke has shown to be a good digger, as evidenced by the holes in the back yard.  He is definitely capable of this crime.
Opportunity:  Duke has been crated when I am not watching him, so he has not had much opporunity to commit this crime. 

Detective Notes: Since either Dave or myself are responsible for constantly watching Duke, and Dave claims he did not fail in his supervision, I am inclined to believe that Duke is innocent.  Otherwise I would have to take responsibility for his failed supervision, and I'm not prepared to do that at this time. 

Scribbles - Tortoiseshell Cat

Motive:  Revenge.  It's been a year since I brought this dog-hating cat home as a foster cat, and I believe she has been plotting her revenge all this time.
Means:  Sharp claws.  Very sharp - this I have learned the hard way.
Opportunity: Limited.  Since the living room is the dogs' domain, Scribbles rarely ventures into their area. 

Detective Notes:  If the damage had been done to the wall in the spare bedroom, Scribbles would be a prime suspect. But since the damage was in the living room, it's highly unlikely that she is the culprit.

Ziggy - American Pit Bull Terrier

Motive:  Enjoys chewing up things.  Has been known to enjoy chewing rocks, limbs (the kind from trees and the kind on people), paper, and many other non-food items.

Means: Ziggy has had a lot of practice chewing and digging.  He is believed to be very capable of this crime.

Opportunity: Due to not being 100% house-trained yet, Ziggy is watched very closely.  For that reason, it is highly doubtful that he had the opportunity to commit this crime.

Detective Notes: If not for the lack of opportunity, Ziggy would be my prime suspect.  Therefore, I am keeping an open mind in case it is determined that there was a lack of supervision that has not yet been discovered.

Harley - Himalayan cat

Motive: Unknown
Means:  Harley is a four-paw declawed cat.
Opportunity: Limited.  Harley prefers to stay away from the area of the house where the dogs hang out.

Detective Notes:  I feel confident in ruling out Harley as a suspect. Even if he wasn't declawed, he's much too sweet to do something like this.

Simon and Sampson - Domestic Short Hair cats

Motive: Simon's vision is impaired, so perhaps he thought he saw a bug or a shadow and was trying to destroy it. 

Means: Both Simon and Sampson have front claws and are capable of commiting the crime.

Opporunity: These are two sneaky cats.  Sampson has always taken care of Simon, and is always watching his back.  As evidenced in the photo of them together. 
Detective Notes: These two kitties had the motive, means and opportunity.  Also the fact that there are two separate spots of damage located next to each other is suspicious to me.  I'm definitely keeping my eye on these two.

Conclusion: Prime suspects are Duke, Ziggy, Merlin, and Simon/Sampson.  Interviews with the suspects themselves produced nothing more than blank stares, tail wags, licks and purrs - not helpful at all.  The crime scene was dusted for paw prints with no luck.  All suspects nails and claws were inspected for evidence of drywall, but it is believed the perpetrator cleaned up after leaving the scene of the crime, so nothing was found. 

The decision has been made to enforce a lock-down of the suspects when the primary caregiver is not supervising, in order to set a trap in case the perpetrator returns to the scene of the crime.  This will be done by giving one suspect freedom while the rest are sequestered overnight.  If the damage reoccurs, the responsible party can be identified by process of elimination. 

The suspects do not appear to be pleased with this decision, but the primary caregiver is unrelenting.  Further updates will be made as the investigation progresses.

<Click here to learn of the culprit>

Update on my fosters

Yep, it's time for another update.  Sort of like introducing the starting line-up of a sports team... or not. 

First up, the dogs. 

Zara - 16 week pit bull mix puppy, sister to Ziggy, very sweet, very friendly, extra-large ears, no manners whatsoever but listens well.  Cute brown spots on her back.  I'm hoping she turns out to be smart and learns quickly.  Time will tell.  Did I mention the giant ears?

Ziggy - 16 week old pit bull mix puppy, brother to Zara, deaf, full of energy and enthusiasm, loves attention, no manners whatsoever, eager to communicate.  That's a code term for either "barks a lot" or "very demanding".  Or maybe both - I'm not telling.  Has a short attention span and a love for his sister, all humans, and food.  Not necessarily in that order.

That's it for the dogs.  I still have a few on a "waiting list" but for one reason or another the time hasn't been right to bring them home just yet.  I'm hoping to not bring in any new dogs until at least sometime after Christmas.  Which is less than a week away.  Yikes - I really should start my Christmas shopping soon. 

Now for the cats...

Scribbles - Good news - Scribbles is improving!  I now can leave her door open all of the time, and she often comes into the other rooms when the dogs aren't around.  And if she sees them, she's not outright attacking them, unless they get too close.  This also means she's living with several other cats (who apparently like her room better than their own) and she is doing fine with them as well.  She still spends most of her time in her room, but she does come out for some extra petting and attention every day. 

Artemis - Unfortunately Artie has been moved temporarily to solitary confinement.  I am pretty sure he's the one who seems to have forgotten his litterbox manners lately.  I'm not sure if its because of the stress of meeting new cats, or something else.  But the first step is to segregate him and make sure he is the guilty party.  Figuring out which cat isn't using the litterbox and WHY is not easy. Someone please remind me of this next time I say "I'll foster that cat!" 

Orca - She is the sweetest little cat.  She is my almost-constant companion at home.  She likes to sleep under the covers, and she settles on my lap every night and just purrs even if I don't pet her.  She gets along with all the other dogs and cats - although occasionally she meets a cat she doesn't know and if she feels threatened she starts growling like a dog.  Her brother Penguin did the same thing - it's very cute coming from such a little cat.  I wonder if her sister Puffin ever does that.

Gandalf - This guy is settled right into the old routine.  He is buddies with my cat Merlin, and I'm constantly seeing an orange cat and calling him Merlin when its really Gandalf, or vice-versa.  I'll be putting him back on the website in the next few days and he'll be ready to once again try to find a forever home.

Simon and Sampson - The Salmon brothers are still happily hanging out in the sink, although they do come into the bedroom to sleep at night.  One of them, or maybe both, spends his day by carrying stuffed animals from a shelf in my bedroom to the bathroom.  So far I've found a stuffed dog in the cat crate, a stuffed monkey in the middle of the floor, a stuffed buffalo in the cat bed, and another stuffed dog in the shower.  Seriously, I've never had a cat do something like this before.  It's very intriguing. 

And that is it for cats!  Hopefully I will have no recent returns, and will be able to get a cat adopted eventually - it's been awhile.  Not that I'm complaining - I've had phenomenal success with dog adoptions lately, and I really like all of the cats I have right now.  Yes, even Artemis. 

Oh, in case you're wondering, Blitzen and Comet, my two adorable orange kittens, went back to the St. Charles Pet Adoption Center, who I was fostering them for, when they were old enough to be adopted.  They have a big adoption event today, so if they haven't been adopted yet, they probably will be very soon! 

How do I choose?

Right now, there are at least 100 dogs in various shelters that I could take home. There are probably a lot more than that, but it's a conservative estimate, based on only the shelters I usually get dogs from, and only on those dogs who are able to be pulled by rescue. If I don't take them, a small portion will be taken in by other rescue volunteers. A larger portion will remain at the shelters for another day, hoping to be adopted. And the remainder will be euthanized. And next week, the exact same situation will happen. And the week after that. It's a cycle thats been going on for many years, and unfortunately will continue for several more years.

Some people are working to end the cycle. They encourage people to spay/neuter their pets, and they offer low-cost spay/neuter options to people who can't otherwise afford it. They encourage people to adopt pets from shelters instead of buying from breeders. And they teach people to view their pets as living beings to be cared for, not material possessions to be thrown away. There has been some improvement, and hopefully someday we will not have the problem of pet overpopulation.

In the meantime, I have to decide which ones to save. And it's not an easy decision. There are so many options. Save the most adoptable, because then I can save more of them (i.e. Keisha, Trey, puppies). Save the ones who need me most, because no one else will help them, and their lives are worth saving too (i.e. Noelle, Jade, Reese). Save the ones who will be great pets with just a little work, but otherwise will probably be passed over at a shelter because of behavior issues (i.e. Selena, Emma, Lizzy). As you can see, at one time or another, I've chosen each option.

In addition to the pets I see at area shelters, I also am constantly receiving e-mails from people asking for help with their pets. Sometimes the stories are sad - the owner who just passed away and has no family to take in his two senior dogs. But more often, the stories are frustrating - the family who is moving and won't take their pets with them, or the family who just had a baby and doesn't have time for their dog anymore. Occasionally I want to take a dog simply because I want to help the person who asked. More often, I want to take the dog because I feel sorry for the dog, and not because I want to help out the family who made the request. Either way, I receive these requests almost every single day, and whether I want to help the people or the dogs, I almost always have to say no.

So this is what rescue people are faced with. The faces of hundreds of pets, just hoping to be rescued. And of course there is never enough time, space, or money to save them all. But for the one pet that is saved, the world becomes a better place. And I love making the world a better place, even if its just for one pet. So when I have a space to save a dog, here's how I choose. I pick the one that I fall in love with at first sight. Or I pick the one that someone else asks me to take. Or I pick the one that I know is highly adoptable. Or I pick the one that needs me the most. Or sometimes I give in and pick two. And then I try not to feel guilty for not picking the other 98.

This leads to the question of how many to save. Again, there are options. I could save one at a time. This is ideal for most dogs. They get the most one-on-one attention that way, and I can spend more time training them and making them more adoptable. My second option is to save two dogs at a time. This is what I usually aim for. I try to save one hard-to-place dog and one easy-to-place dog, with the idea that I'll be able to save and adopt out several of the easy-to-place dogs while I continue to foster and work with the hard-to-place dog.

Sometimes that doesn't work out like I planned. If I get a litter of puppies, or a previously adopted dog is returned, the number goes up. If I receive too many requests and don't say no, the number goes up. If someone tells me about a deaf pit bull puppy (my absolute favorite dog to rescue), the number goes up. Because if you're sitting face to face with a dog, and he's wagging his tail and licking you, and you know if you don't take him he will be killed, it's very hard to say no. 

So sometimes I get more than my ideal number of two foster dogs. But it is important to me that each of my fosters is treated just like they are my own pets. That means if they're house-trained, they get to sleep on the bed if they want to. And if I'm home, they're not in a crate or a separate room - they're just there with me all the time. It gives me the best opportunity to train them and get to know them. If I have too many fosters, I end up with what is basically a kennel, with all the dogs crated most of the time. That is the way some foster homes are run, and it is a great way to save the life of more dogs, but I've found that I'm not able to handle that. So I try to keep only two dogs so that I can treat them as my own. And so that my husband doesn't kill me.

Oh, and for those of you curious about the cats... there are even more cats than dogs waiting to be saved. And they're much harder to find homes for. On the plus side, they require a lot less work, so its easier to foster multiple cats. I greatly prefer to foster dogs over cats, so I am more of a token cat foster, taking in just a few at a time. I like the cats who I know are used to dogs, so I either pick those, or pick very young kittens, to make sure they'll do okay in my house. I'm afraid of ending up with another cat like Scribbles, who hates dogs. I feel so sorry for her - she is living alone in my daughter's bedroom, and she desparately needs to go to a foster home without dogs... anyone?? In the meantime, I have to stick to just picking foster cats that I know will be good with dogs, because the dogs have taken over the rest of the house! 

Why Rescue Groups are Needed

When I first got into rescue, I questioned the whole point of it. After all, if rescue groups are not convincing people to adopt instead of buy, then they aren't changing the number of animals being saved. If you have a surplus of animals in shelters, and you euthanized all of them and started over with zero, within a few weeks you'd once again have a surplus of animals, with or without rescue groups. And if people were willing to adopt a pet instead of buying one, then why not just let them go to the city shelters to get the exact same animal that they'd get from a rescue group? So here's what I found.

A) Rescue groups help by bringing the pets to people who may not want to go to a shelter environment. With offsite adoptions, people get the chance to see the animals in a more friendly environment than some of the underfunded city shelters, thus promoting adoptions.

B) Rescue groups help by increasing adoptions to people who aren't aware that there are animals who need them. If animals are kept in shelters, they are "out of sight, out of mind". By putting them out in public view in places like PetSmart and PetCo, they have a better chance of being adopted.

C) Rescue groups can help rural and city shelters that don't have funding to do adoptions. The people who are hired by the city to work at a shelter may have been hired to do several other jobs as well - animal control may only be a small part of their job, and they may not care about the animals they take in. When rescue groups come along and take some of those pets, they give those pets a chance for adoption that they would not have had otherwise.

D) Rescue groups who provide foster care to the pets in their care can help make certain pets more adoptable. Many animals such as the very young, or those who are sick or have physical handicaps cannot survive in a shelter environment. And some pets have behavior problems that make them unadoptable in a shelter environment. Foster homes can give these pets a second chance for finding an adoptive home. Foster homes also can learn more about the animals they're caring for, thus providing more information to prospective adopters and reducing the number of animals returned.

I'm sure there are more reasons that rescue groups are needed, but those are the biggest ones I think.  I believe that rescue groups DO increase pet adoptions, thus saving lives.  They also work within their community to reduce pet overpopulation, and help people resolve issues with their pets in order to keep them, instead of turning them into shelters. Most of the small rescue groups are 100% volunteer run. That means there are a lot of people like me out there, who spend every spare moment that they aren't at work caring for homeless animals and making their lives better, without any pay or benefits. Which leads me to the question of why I volunteer.

And that can be summed up in three words. I love it. I occasionally ask someone to volunteer with me, but most of the time, I don't. For the same reason I don't ask people to adopt one of my fosters, or to foster an animal (except for Scribbles - I'm desperate here!). Because if you don't love it, you won't enjoy it, and you won't keep doing it. I don't volunteer with children, or with horses. I like kids, but I don't think I could handle working with them all the time. And horses just scare me. So I understand people that can't imagine taking care of homeless dogs and cats. Because if I didn't love working with them, and making such a difference in their lives, I wouldn't be able to do it.

It's not easy - rushing home from work to take care of the animals, and giving up vacation days to take them to the vet, and giving up every Saturday to take them to adoption events. Sometimes I wonder why I'm giving up my time to take care of someone else's dog because that person couldn't be bothered to call a trainer, or visit a vet instead of just abandoning their dog.  I may find myself trying to remember how it went from "let's just foster one dog as a playmate for Remi" to this. But then I get an e-mail from a previous adopter, telling me how well their new pet is doing and how much they love him. And then one of my foster dogs looks at me like I'm their hero (which could be because I'm holding a treat in my hand, but I'll take what I can get). And one of my foster cats jumps in my lap and begins purring... and I remember again why I do this, and how much I love it. And at the end of the day, I can look back on my day and be satisfied that I did something worthwhile.