Sunday Scoop: Why I Won't Rescue Your Dog

So many times people have to give up a pet (sometimes for very good reason) and think they'll just contact a no kill shelter.  So they look up the shelters closest to them, and the rescue groups, and they start making calls or sending e-mails.  They very quickly get frustrated.  Usually they don't hear anything back, and even when they do get a real person to respond, it's only to hear "sorry, we're full".  They think they're trying to do the right thing by getting their pet somewhere safe, and no one will help them.  And yet they know there are plenty of rescue groups and shelters doing adoptions, and space opens every day, so why can't anyone help them?

This is a very good question, and it's one reason I hate telling people I'm full.  I usually offer to put them on a "waiting list" but most people can't wait that long when I tell them it could be several months.  This is because most people do not want to turn in a puppy or a fluffy small breed dog that is house-trained and good with dogs, cats and kids.  And sadly, this is what most adopters are looking to adopt!  Puppies are out of here quickly.  So are almost all small breed dogs.  Purebred dogs have a better shot, unless they're a bully breed.  But give me a large mixed-breed dog or a bully breed and it's a whole different story.  This is why I have to turn away the lady who found the American Bulldog mix, and yet I can say yes to the lady with the Shih Tzu/Beagle mix puppies.  The puppies are out of here in less than two weeks, while the last pit bull I took in (Roxy), although she's house-trained and good with dogs, cats, and kids, and the sweetest dog you'll ever meet, is here going on two months now.  We're not even talking about dogs with issues - dogs that won't get along with some other dogs, or dogs that have some behavior problems or some physical problems.  I help whenever I can, as do all other rescue people, but sadly there are too many dogs and cats needing help and not enough rescuers and adopters wanting these dogs.  So this is why if you ever ask a rescue or shelter for help in placing your dog, you're likely to hear "sorry, we're full".

Here are some suggestions on what to do if you do need to rehome your dog or cat:

* Take two pictures - a good full body shot and a good face close-up.  This will help more than anything in getting someone to say "yes" because it's much harder to turn away a pet needing help once you've seen a picture!
* E-mail the pictures and relevant info to every shelter and rescue group you can find.  Include physical characteristics (size, weight, age, sex) as well as health status (if spayed/neutered, any health issues or special needs) and information such as if they're good with male and/or female dogs, cats, children, house-trained or not, any special behavioral problems such as separation anxiety, fear of a water bowl, guard their food or toys, or whatever.
* Tell the truth!  You'll make people very angry if you say a dog is healthy and they find out he or she is not.  Your dog may even end up being sent to a kill shelter or euthanized if the group who took them in can't handle whatever issue you lied about.  Also, you'd be surprised how many times that special need that you can't handle is what makes a rescue person help.  For example, tell me a dog can't hear and I'll generally jump at the chance to help.  Other rescuers specialize in senior dogs or cats, bully breeds, dogs with special needs, and so on.  So for the sake of the dog or cat, be honest.
* Think ahead.  Don't wait until a week before you're moving out of the country to start looking for someone to take your pet.  Be willing to help as much as possible.  Offer to foster the pet yourself if the group will put the pet on their website to help him or her get a home.
* Be patient.  Remember that the majority of rescuers and no-kill shelters are run entirely by volunteers.  These are people just like you who give up space in their homes and give up their time to take in unwanted pets.  They're not getting paid.  They spend their time caring for animals who come to them afraid and unsure, and after they give the pets love, affection, vet care, basic training, and anything else they need, they turn around and adopt them out to someone else.  Just so they can start all over again with another scared, needy animal.  They do it because they want to help the animals, and even if they can't help you, won't return your calls, or seem to be rude, remember that without them, a lot more animals would be suffering and dying.  So be patient.  And if they do offer to take in your pet, be thankful!  Shower them with appreciation, make a donation if possible, or bring them cookies.  Well, that's just my personal preference.  Just make sure you acknowledge the sacrifice they are making to take in your pet.  And then spread the word about the good work that animal rescuers are doing.  Encourage your friends to donate or adopt.  Because that is what makes animal rescue possible!
 

Sunday Scoop: Shelters

This week's Sunday Scoop is about shelters.  There are good and bad shelters, but how do you tell the difference?  It's not about who has the nicest building or the most funding.  Those things can help make it a better place for the animals, but the people who run the shelter are much more important than the facility. 

Let's say you've just won the lottery, and you decide to spend that money on building a new animal shelter for your town.  First, let me thank you for your generosity!  Now, since you've chosen to not only donate the funding, but to actually run the shelter yourself, you have some decisions to make.  The big decision - are you going to be a no-kill shelter?  If you live in the north-eastern United States, this will be much easier than if you live in one of the southern states.  There are so many more homeless dogs in the South that they are constantly being transported to shelters and rescues in the North where there is a lower supply and higher demand.  Let's say you live in a rural area of the Midwest.  Now you know that if you choose to be no-kill, you're going to have to be limited admission.  This means that you will only take in dogs and cats until you run out of room or resources.  Then you'll turn animals away until you get enough pets adopted and have room to take in more.  Before you say "yes, I want to be no-kill", consider this.  The county where you live has no animal control facility at all.  If you turn away a dog or cat, they're going to be dumped on the side of the road.  They'll probably be hit by a car or shot by a rancher or just slowly starve to death.  Before that happens, they'll spread disease and they'll procreate, creating more unwanted dogs and cats who will also suffer because they don't have homes. Then again, if you are open admission and take in every animal that someone wants to turn in, you'll quickly run out of space and money, and either you'll have to euthanize dogs and cats or you'll find the animals you are supposed to be saving are actually suffering in your care because there are too many animals and not enough resources. 

Okay, have you made your decision?  It doesn't even matter which one you've decided, because whether you're an open admission or a "no-kill" limited admission shelter, you can still be a very good or very bad shelter.  Now let's talk about resources.  You've purchased the land and building for a shelter, but that took all of your lottery winnings.  Dog food is expensive, and so is the basic vet care.  If you put your extra money toward special vet care like heartworm treatment and fixing broken bones, you will not have enough to pay any salaries for people to care for the dogs and cats.  You also have to worry about paying for insurance and all the expenses that go into running a shelter.  You'd like to stay open on weekends and evenings, in addition to your regular hours during the workday, because you know that will help increase adoptions.  But what do you give up in order to have the money to stay open the extra hours?  You also have a volunteer program but not many volunteers.  More volunteers will give the dogs more time out of their kennels, and more volunteers, if they're trained, will help the dogs with basic training and teaching them to be more adoptable.  So find some time to improve your volunteer program, okay?  Also while you're at it, there have been some people protesting lately because they don't understand much about animal sheltering and they'd rather complain than learn, or help. They're hurting your reputation which will cost you in donations, so make sure you deal with them.  And don't forget to work with all the rescue groups who are willing to pull dogs from your group.  But make sure they're reputable groups first, because otherwise you'll be sending the dogs and cats to an even worse situation.  Oh, and if you'll have a few fundraisers, you can increase your funds to help animals... but good luck finding someone to actually lead a fundraiser.  You'll probably have to do it yourself.  In your free time. 

It's not easy to be in charge of a shelter.  Good shelters are made up of people who really care - especially when those people are at the top of the organization and have the influence to really make a difference.  Good shelters are open to the public during evenings and weekends in order to increase adoptions.  They have a strong volunteer program where the dogs and cats are provided enrichment (walks, petting, grooming, toys, play time, basic training, etc), in addition to the volunteers or employees who spend their days just cleaning kennels, scooping litter boxes, and feeding and watering the animals. They have separate quarantine areas and are clean and sanitary.  All pets are provided with at least the basic needed veterinary care.  Good shelters are willing to work with reputable rescues to get animals into foster care, and/or they have a foster care program of their own.  They aren't overcrowded, but they don't euthanize animals just for the sake of getting rid of them (yes, this happens).  They do their best for every animal that comes in the door, all for low wages (or for no wages at all).  They are friendly and easily accessible to the public, in order to reach potential adopters or supporters.  They have an online presence and take advantage of the largest online adoption websites like Petfinder.com and Adoptapet.com to help share the word of their available pets.  No shelter is perfect, but the good shelters are the ones who are constantly trying to improve.  And the best thing we can do as members of our community is to support those shelters. 

Sunday Scoop: Foster Homes

One thing I've learned is that the animal rescue world has a lot of people with very strong opinions. Sometimes sharing those opinions causes divisions that do more harm to animals than good. This is one reason I try to keep my blog a bit more light-hearted. Well, that plus I want you to like me. But once in awhile, I like to be more serious. So I'm bringing back the Sunday Scoop feature, in which I share my opinions on various aspects of animal rescue. Over the next several Sundays, I'm going to share the scoop on rescues, shelters, and foster homes. Let's start with the scoop on foster homes.


Let's say you're part of a rescue group - the only one in your area that takes in dogs from your local animal control facility. You do your best to recruit foster homes, but it's a small area and right now you only have four foster homes in your group. The animal control facility calls you about this dog:

Ginger

They tell you that she was picked up as a stray, and is out of time. They say she's very young, and a bit shy. They ask if you want her, or if they should euthanize her. You go see her in order to get more information, and you spend a little time with her. You find out she's good with other dogs and seems fine with cats. She doesn't show any aggression and you know that she wouldn't take very long to get adopted if you could just fit her into a foster home. So you reach out to your four foster home volunteers, and find out their status.


Darby fosters for you and usually takes in small dogs. She takes in just one at a time, and does a fabulous job getting them ready for adoption. They get a lot of one-on-one attention, play time with other pets, they go places with her to get them socialized, and she brings them to adoption events regularly to find them new homes. She's your ideal foster home, but she already has a foster dog, and one more that is waiting to go to her as soon as she has room. So there's no way she's going to be able to help with this stray dog.


Next you contact Reagan and Jack. They would be a perfect foster home for this dog, because they have children, cats and dogs of their own, and foster pets. Reagan is very experienced with dogs and you know the stray dog would quickly come out of her shell in a home like this. However Reagan and Jack already have two foster dogs that are special needs, and don't have the room for another foster right now. So you move on to your next foster home.

Kirsten has taken in several foster pets lately.  You decide to stop by and visit her to see how it's going, before asking if she can take in one more.  When you arrive at her house, she shows you into her back room which is lined with cages.  There are several dogs who begin barking as soon as they see you.  You can see the dogs are physically healthy and the cages are clean.  Kirsten tells you that she's been letting the dogs go out in play groups in the backyard, so they can get some exercise.  But there are so many dogs there already, that you know they aren't getting much attention. You can see that Kirsten is very devoted to these dogs, but you also know that the dogs are basically living their entire lives in crates.  They aren't being house-trained or learning about life in a home.  And although Kirsten offers to take the dog, you are concerned that another dog will be more than she can handle.  You decide to contact your last foster home before making any decisions.

 

Sue has been fostering for several years.  She is very experienced with dogs, and is your main "go-to" foster home.  Sue usually has four or five foster dogs, but right now she has a litter of six puppies in addition to the three adult foster dogs that she has.  You're not sure if she's going to be able to take in another one, but you know that if she thinks she can handle it, the stray dog will be happy there.  You have been to her house many times, and the dogs are given enough freedom to learn what it's like to live in a house, while still having enough rules and structure to be well adjusted.  The dogs go to adoption events almost every weekend, and every attempt is made to place them into good homes.  You tell Sue about the stray dog and ask if she can help.  However Sue tells you that as much as she would like to help, she needs to get at least one of her other foster dogs adopted first. 

What do you do?  The dog is not a purebred or even close to a purebred so you can't get her into a breed-specific rescue.  You've contacted some other all-breed rescue groups but they're all full.  Do you send the dog to Kirsten and hope for the best?  Do you tell animal control to go ahead and kill the dog because you don't have any openings? 

 

Once you make your decision, you call Animal Control to let them know.... and they tell you about these two dogs who are in the exact same situation - out of time.  They're just puppies, and they're really sweet.  What should you do about them?

 

Salt & Pepper

This is what rescue groups face every day.  We can only save a few, and there is always a trade-off for each foster home as to how many they save versus what level of care they provide the dogs in their home.  I try to work with each foster dog I have - to give them a bit of one-on-one time, and some basic training - to teach them and to make them more adoptable.  This means I take in less foster dogs than some other foster homes who are able to save more dogs.  It means some dogs die because I don't fit them in.  And yet I have enough foster dogs that I can't always give my fosters as much attention as they want. They spend more time in crates than I'd like. But my goal is to save my fosters from somewhere worse, whether that's the shelter or the streets, and as quickly as possible prepare them to go on to something better - a loving adoptive home.  I believe this is what fostering should be.  

I based the example above on real life people and dogs (names have been changed!)  I aspire to be like "Sue", who is based on the president of the rescue where I volunteer.  She is my hero.  Of course there are a lot of areas where I can improve (just ask Ziggy!)  Some things I've learned from others in rescue are that the best foster homes are good at saying "no", even when they know they're a dog's only hope, for the sake of their other fosters.  The best foster homes do whatever they can to find good homes for their dogs.  They take them to adoption events every chance they get, and they follow up on every phone call or e-mail they receive.  They have good people skills in addition to good dog skills.  And in the end, they not only save lives, but they improve lives of both dogs and people.  

For those of you wondering what happened to Ginger and Salt & Pepper - Ginger was a dog I took in several years ago when she was out of time at an Animal Control facility.  She was adopted into a great home.  And Salt & Pepper were dogs at the same animal control facility whom I had to say "no" to due to lack of room.  They were later euthanized. 

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.

Sunday Scoop

I'm planning to start a new feature on my blog - the Sunday Scoop.  Just like Wordless Wednesdays and Flashback Fridays, the Sunday Scoop will be a regular event, and each post will share with you some aspect of rescue. 

For my first Scoop, I'd like to share with you something that has been talked about a lot recently in my area - shelter requirements.  One area shelter was told by the Missouri Department of Agriculture that they are temporarily restricted from euthanizing animals.  For a shelter that euthanizes 50% of the animals that come in the door, this is quite a problem.  Last year of the 3,827 animals received, they only adopted out 372 of them - less than 10%!  Fortunately there are several rescue groups that pull pets from that shelter, but its still not enough.  Over 1,900 pets were euthanized there last year.  And although they are temporarily restricted from euthanizing pets due to not having a veterinarian on site, the pets that are left there will just continue to suffer. 

I recently read an article on Petfinder.com that shared the minimum requirements for dogs in shelters.  Basic things - like each dog should have a bed, and toys.  Dogs should be allowed rawhides for chewing to relieve stress.  Dogs should be able to go outside daily.  They should be able to come in and acclimate to a home-like environment daily.  They should be given one-on-one attention - those available for adoption should be petted, and in direct human physical contact for at least 20 minutes each day.  While this is important for any shelter, it is especially important for no-kill shelters that keep animals for longer than a 5 or 10 day holding period.  Many shelters in my area do not meet these minimum requirements.  And the dogs are the ones who suffer. 

But as sad as this is, there is hope on the horizon.  St. Louis County Animal Control is building a new shelter for the animals, and it should be complete by next year.  In the past ten years, St. Charles County, who took in 4,160 animals last year, has gone from an 80% euthanasia rate to a 20% euthanasia rate.  They have a great shelter, with workers who really care about the animals, and a director who does everything she can to get the animals into good homes.  They also have a great volunteer group there.  One volunteer not only goes there five days a week to work with the dogs, but he also brings shelter dogs to offsite adoption events each weekend to try to find them homes.  His level of devotion to these animals just amazes me.  I hope that with shelters like St. Charles County's Pet Adoption Center, the other shelters in our community will learn from them and make changes for the better.