How many of us are involved in rescue?

[rachmultiplemum]

From reading the various topics in here i have noticed that there seem to be a fair few of us involved in dog rescue.

How many of us are involved in rescue and how did you get involved in rescue work/volunteering for rescues?

[midori1999]

Not now although I've been involved with breed rescue before.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

I foster. I got into it after reading up on it on here although fell into sighthound fostering by accident.

A local man where my Dad walks his dogs found a lovely wee staffy girl and handed her to the pound because he thought it was the right thing to do, when he talked to my Dad about it and found out about the 7 day rule and the conditions of the pound he begged my Dad to help this dog, he couldn't bear having to sleep at night wondering if he had sentenced this lovely dog to death.

After consorting with me to blackmail my mum who only wanted one dog i.e the one they already had, he went and collected this Staffy from the pound.

Sadly she came back to us with Parvo and died just a day after we saved her

My Dad was appalled at the way this was handled by the pound and their refusal to vaccinate the dogs in their pound or even warn people. His own (vaccinated) dog contracted the disease and almost died himself, thankfully due to having been vaccinated he got a milder form and lived.

He decided he had to do something and so Googled for local rescues/animal welfare groups who might be able to help him. He found one rescue who sent someone out to talk to him, although they had a working relationship with the pound and did not want to rock the boat for fear of not being allowed in to take dogs into their rescue after the 7 days, they did explain to him about the work they did and how he could help. Later that week he fostered a Whippet. He still has her, he is a failed fosterer

While they were there they asked if he knew anyone else who might help, he mentioned I was home checked to foster for a national rescue, but rarely if ever got dogs in from them owing to how far away I was if anything went wrong and I would need the dog picked up immediately, they had to be certain they were giving me dogs who would cause no issue with my two existing dogs, my cat and my children.

They took my number and got in touch with me and sighthound foster number two is currently sleeping on my bed

My Dad no longer fosters because he later found another dog straying while on his walk, who he refused to hand to the pound (he did report it and take the required action to locate an owner, but no one came forward) the stray ended up staying with him permanently also. He still does help with fundraising and events.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

I foster. Although my last short term foster is sitting under my desk at work
He was supposed to be here for 3 weeks max.
But he is part of the family now.

All my dogs have been rescues. My mum volunteers one day a week at an animal shelter and has done for as long as I can remember. She used to take me with her and I remember being devestated that there were so many unwanted animals.
I volunteer at a shelter on Saturdays and my dd who is 14 comes with me as well so I guess we have passed it on!

Some of my rescues and fosters have been so mistreated it breaks my heart and I wish I had an enormous house so I could take all of them home with me forever but it makes me so happy to see them in their "forever" home with good owners.

Actually LittleDog has turned into the teenager from hell so it's probably not a good idea to get another "forever" dog but I have got a foster coming this weekend. I can't wait

But she has a "forever" home waiting so I definitley can't keep her. I've got 2 weeks with her so I hope she will shame LittleDog into being good. I doubt it though.

[MrsZoidberg]

I want to foster, especially large breeds and Huskies/Malamutes etc that they find hard to place.

But...

I have 2 bitches who cannot be in the same room, I worry that the aggressive one is lonely, but she could only have a strong male, if anything.

The other bitch has a male companion who is unneutered for behavioural reasons, and is people aggressive. He may or may not be dog aggresssive - he goes into meltdown off of our property so doesn't meet other dogs (we have 2.5 acres so he does get plenty of exercise). He is very good with both my girls, and was okay with my old boy.

But I would so love to foster (DH is a little less keen as he knows I'll fail )

[LtEveDallas]

I can't foster officially - although I do dont tell the mod

I volunteer at my local Rescue, which is mainly cats, but also takes in dogs and injured wildlife. Where I can help I do - I once had an injured fox living in my garage!

I go down twice a week for dog walking and cleaning, and help out with their monthly open days.

I'd do more if I could, but time is precious unfortunately. Once I am finished in my current job I hope to foster full time, or take on 'end of life' dogs.

[toboldlygo]

I volunteer for SHWA (Siberian huskies). We adopted another one from them last year and now I do home checks, dog assessments, transport runs and fundraising events for them.

Would love to foster but we simply don't have the space in our rented house, as soon as we move and I can have complete control over garden/kennel arrangements we'll foster. That is what they are really crying out for - there are no central kennels, just a network of volunteers taking the dogs into their homes which is the best way IMO, allows the dog to be matched to exactly the right home.

I did a short stint at the local RSPCA centre - they do fantastic work there, no issues with what happens on a day to day level with the dogs they have in, but I was endlessly frustrated by the policies they had to adhere to. While I was there they had a sibe in that would have been a huge asset to any working home, he had exactly the right mindset and build for it, every time I saw him my fingers itched to whack a harness on him as he was just crying out for it. Sadly the RSPCA does not 'approve' of sled dog racing or indeed of working dogs in many capacities (gundogs etc.) and wouldn't have rehomed him to me even if I'd had the space. Neither will they liaise with SHWA, SHCGB etc. to find him a sibe-savvy home. He is not suitable for a typical family home. He's still there now, so far as I know. :(

[Scuttlebutter]

Yes, I volunteer. It's the right thing to do. Been involved with various animal welfare issues since my teens (now 47). Parents are (my father died last year) full time badger activists. My professional background in waste management and environmental enforcement has been incredibly useful though I no longer work in that field - but often reflect that rescue is simply a different sort of recycling.

[Cuebill]

Own a rescue centre(or to be honest owned by a rescue centre)

Swapped the high paying professional lifestyle and did a degree in dog training and behaviour and then started my own rescue. That was 15 years ago now.

[Rhinestone]

I foster and I love it. Have only failed once

toboldlygo - a friend of mine in the UK filled in an online application form for fostering with SWHA recently (well I'm pretty sure it was them) and got an 'undeliverable' email back. She said none of the emails on the site worked. Is there a new website or something?

[rachmultiplemum]

Its been interesting reading all your comments and stories thank you.

I run a UK wide breed rescue. I studied animal care and went on and studied more on the behavioural and training side of things as well as nutrition.

I joined the rescue as a volunteer and joined the small team of trustees shortly after. I love the rescue and all that we do.

[RedwingWinter]

Interesting thread, OP. I volunteer too. I've always had rescue animals, and it seemed like the right thing to do. I used to volunteer for another organization (non-animal related) and when that came to a natural end, I thought it would be nice to volunteer with animals. I really enjoy it and have met some great people.

[QuietTiger]

I work with a Breed specific dog rescue. who also rescue an assortment of other waifs and strays I've also been involved in cat rescue for the best part of 20 years.

My DH married a crazy cat lady. :)

[toboldlygo]

Rhinestone - try the FB page: www.facebook.com/groups/80844794215/ and more specifically Karen Johnson as contactable via that group. The website isn't great but FB is kept up to date. :)

[Aquelven]

I'm involved with a breed rescue. I don't foster these days, except in special circumstances, but I handle all the donations, organise the fundraising & do the admin.

[Rhinestone]

Thanks toboldlygo will let her know.

[sooperdooper]

I volunteer for Cinnamon Trust who arrange for dog walking and other pet care for elderly or disabled people who want to keep their pets but can't give them the exercise or get them to the vets etc

We were then asked to foster a dog for them while his own was in hospital, and his owner then passed away :( We kept him initially thinking he would be rehomed but eventually we've kept him

So at the moment I don't walk for anyone else, although I would do short term if they asked me :)

[theodorakis]

I foster, almost always have at least a few waifs and strays. I live in Qatar. I took in one and now people leave them on my doorstep. I work closely with the vets and shelters. I have had all sorts including a baby chimp found on the side of the road wearing a dress, a beautiful saluki who had a clowns face drawn on him with permanent pen (took over a year to grow out) cats of all shapes and sizes and a few lizards. I also have a huge beautiful Macaw who still has the damage from being glued to the branch when he was trapped and illegally sold. I have also had sugar gliders, a baby baboon (died after a few hours from the horrible pet shop abuse he had suffered) a spider and a few lizards. Lots of the dogs i see have had their ears cut off.

I never fail to be shocked at the cruelty I see here but, even more how touched I am by the people who give up so much time and money to carry on fighting it. There are so many people I know who will always take "one more" even though it is inconvenient for them.