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Hints
for getting help from a rescue
Working with
rescues, it is important to remember...
You are working with volunteers,
so please be patient. You are asking them to take on a big responsibility,
and they know what kind of work lies ahead of them. If
you act like your situation is the only one that matters and you should
get immediate attention just because you called, you may get invited to
take a long walk off a short pier!
Have one or more good
pictures of the animal on hand to e-mail to the rescue, especially
if it is a single-breed rescue
Rescues routinely get more
calls than they can handle. Their volunteers try very hard, but there
are always limits to what can be done. It may take a day (or even a few
days) for a volunteer to get back to you, and in some cases, they just
may not be able to help as much as they'd like. But
if you are patient, the wait can be well worth it.
That said, it will not
help to contact a whole bunch of rescues at a time. Give a rescue 24 hours
to contact you before contacting another. Rescues often contact each other,
and a rescue that doesn't have room may already
be contacting the others on your behalf.
It takes time,
effort and money to rehome an animal carefully. If you want
a rescue to spend time on your animal's behalf, you'll find they'll be
more willing to help you (as opposed to someone else) if you are willing
to donate funds to help them help
your animal, especially if the one you want them to take is unvaccinated,
unneutered and not on heartworm preventative!
All
the veterinary care that your pet will receive is in addition to:
-
housing for the pet,
-
temperment testing & basic training
-
getting him out in the public eye,
-
screening potential adopters, and
- finalizing adoptions.
Sometimes you will need to
travel out of the area to get the best
services for your animal. When a good rescue is willing to do the work
involved, it can be well worth a little time & gas to do so.
Never
threaten a rescue volunteer (yes, people do this all the time).
Threats like "it's you or the pound," or "I'm just going
to throw him out of the car" won't speed up the process. It will
only show that you are willing to be manipulative, uncaring and unstable.
The best
way to approach a rescue is to
describe the dog first, then the reason
you cannot keep her...
Hello!
I have a 2 year old shih tzu-cocker mix that I'd like to get into rescue
and a donation to the cause of at least $100 to help. She is not spayed
yet, but she is up-to-date on her distemper/parvo and rabies vaccines.
She's flea-free, heartworm negative and on heartworm preventative. I've
got a few pictures ready to send, if you'd like. You'll need to know
that she gets along with older kids, but doesn't like toddlers. She
gets along with cats, but tends to be an alpha dog with other dogs.
She is good in the car and for grooming, but she hates firecrackers.
She really needs to be in a fenced-in yard. We're being forced
to move to an apartment in Japan, and we can't imagine a way that's
in her best interest.
Needless
to say, the following is NOT a good way
to get help from a rescue volunteer (notice how all the caller talks
about is herself - eek!)...
Hello! I need to get rid of my dog because I'm pregnant and my military
husband is deploying and if you don't take her I'm just going to dump
her at the pound. I got her from the pound four months ago, but I didn't
know I was pregnant then or that I'd be moving back to Ohio since my
husband is deploying. My apartment is really too small for her and the
landlord just found out we had her. I have a cat, too, that needs to
go. Oh, and the dog is a bassett hound. Is she spayed? Oh no! I planned
to have puppies with her.
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