Posted on 10/02/2010 10:37:46 PM PDT by Brad’s Gramma
Tonight I want to hear of your favorite Animal Rescue Organization. Where would YOU go to if you were to adopt a dog and give it it's forever home?
Please share your stories about your rescue dogs and the folks who rescued them for you.
The one I support and would get another dog if circumstances warranted ... is German Shepherd of Orange County.
Their site is HERE!
The rescue dogs I’ve owned or fostered came from Canine Adoption and Rescue League in Ventura,CA. CARL is a great volunteer organization!
I have adopted only 1 of my animals from a local county shelter. The others have been strays. I have 2 dogs and 3 cats. I have a calico cat named Willow that I adopted from a lady off of craigslist. I know to some, adopting from craigslist isn’t the same as adopting from a rescue organization, but I feel that most of those animals on craiglist will end up in kill shelters if people don’t take them. The lady I got my calico from was in tears when she brought her to my house, and to this day she still emails me to make sure she is doing well.
My other 2 cats were found as strays when they were probably just a month old. They were so tiny that I had to feed them kitten formula as they were too small to eat solid food.
I have a pekinese mixed dog that I adopted from a local shelter. And finally I have a tiny 7 pound shih tzu that was found standing in the middle of I-40 last labor day weekend and my boyfriend and I were driving home to Memphis. He stopped and ran back down the interstate to rescue this poor baby. He was covered in fleas and his fur was so matted around his face that he could barely open his eyes. I was hoping the poor guy was just lost from his family but I tried and tried to search for his owners, but with no luck. He had no collar, and no microchip. He’s been the sweetest little dog I’ve ever owned.
Humane Society of Columbiana County -- not affiliated with the HSUS.
Alchemy Acres Animal Sanctuary
They get a small donation each month from us.
http://www.asiandogrescue.net/
Darn. Tried to post a photo of one of the boys we adopted, but obviously messed up.
At Best Friends, the animals look so joyous that you wouldn’t be as tempted to rescue them. My BFF/coworker and I reserved a cottage or cabin or whatever it was, and we got to bring one of the dogs “home” for overnight stays for a few nights. Had to get special permission from vet because one of the other dogs had attacked him and he was recovering from his wounds—promised to give him his meds and not overexert him. We sent care packages for him and they notified us when he went to his forever home—even sent pix of the family w/son and other dog!
Needless to say, when we’re on that side of the country, hubby and I are going there again.
It’s a total gas! You get to obedience-train puppies, leash-train the older dogs, groom cats....You’d like it!
Finally got it right. This is one of our babies from asiandogrescue.
By April of 2002, we could stand it no longer; and we submitted our adoption application and started the process. I had to write an essay describing my perfect forever dog. Although I didn't get one of the ones shown on their website, I was offered a new dog that had just come up for adoption. One of the organization volunteers came out to check out our home and brought her own dogs to see how we interacted with Goldens. Another volunteer, Betsy, his actual foster mom, saw something in our application that made her think that Max would be a good match for our situation.
In the phone interview with Betsy I ran through all the criteria that I had listed for the perfect dog, and Max met only two of them -- he was big, and he looked like he had good hips. However, he wasn't a she. He wasn't four. He wasn't light blonde. Oh yes, he WAS housebroken. Betsy said that there was no obligationto take him, but I should really meet this dog because he was special and she could bring him out to our home on Saturday. She livles about 50 miles from me, so it was quite an offer from her.
As it happened, Max wasn't anything that I thought was important in my essay, but he was PERFECT. My heart melted when he first set his paw on my front porch. I thought, "Who wants a blonde girl? Obviously dark red males are the very best dogs in the world."
We played in our yard for a couple of hours, but I wasn't sure my husband would go for this dog. In the first place, he wanted a girl because the one we lost had been a girl. And then, Max escaped my pasture because "somebody" had forgotten to close the back gate! In the chase that ensued (3 adults chasing one big puppy) he knocked my husband flat in the grass. He stopped and looked at us as if to say, "Wow! This is fun! If I run hard and clip him in the back of the knees, he falls down. I like this game."
If you go to the GRROW link above and click "Success Stories" on the left hand side of the page and then scroll down to 2002 and scroll down again to find "Magnificent Max" (about the middle of the list) you will see our beautiful dog pictured with one of my grandchildren after we'd had him for about 8 months.
Of course Max is grey now and not as lively as he once was, but so are we. He's still just PERFECT.
Here he is having a little talk with my husband about eating tomatoes right off the bush!
We had such good luck with our Max that my daughter adopted a standard poodle in NJ. Her luck with that rescue organization was not as happy as ours, although the dog was great. But, I learned that not all rescue organizations are created equal. GRROW is really a cut above. The dogs are kept in home environments until they are deemed fit to adopt. They are socialized when you get them. They are neutered, and the fee you pay includes the neutering and all shots and microchipping and the vet exam. The adoptive parent is required to take the dog to professional dog training until he passes 1st level obedience and then GRROW refunds $50 of the fee you paid. Good practice. I had to sign a contract that if I ever have to give up Max (perish the thought) that he goes back to GRROW. My children are appalled, "Do you mean that if you die, we can't INHERIT Max?"
No, you can't INHERIT Max. I imagine that if you applied, GRROW might let you keep him if you have a fenced yard and can prove that you could be a good dog parent. But, you'd have to apply! His microchip even says that he belongs to GRROW, not to me. GRROW has the documentation that says that his MC number belongs to me.
I asked Max's foster mom, Betsy, how come she thought of pairing us with Max, and she said that it was because I had specified a LARGE dog. Who knew? She also liked the story I told about how we had thought of a way to entertain our previous Golden and to accomodate her "hunting" gene after she injured her back at 5 and could no longer engage in rough jumping and retrieving. We used to play "hide the bird wing" in the house and let her go find a frozen duck wing that we kept in the freezer. She never tired of that game, and it did not put any strain on the disc that she ruptured. Betsy liked that story and as a result, offered us Max. I keep in touch with her in case that we are ready to take another dog in the future. Don't want to burn any bridges there, although we no longer go to the "reunion" parties that GRROW holds about twice a year.
I was going to mention Best Friends. I used to subscribe to their magazine. They are a great organization.
My family and I are itinerants. (We have a home base, we just don’t stay.) If you decide to visit there, you’ll feel right at home! They are solid citizens!
See #49.
My daughter has had dreadful experiences with Poodle Rescue organizations in the North East (NY). I won’t go into them, but suffice it to say that she has run into a lot of dishonest people there. And one experience (although the dog was great when she got him cleaned up) was truly horrid. The poodle lady called her from NYC to tell her that there was a standard poodle that had been turned over to the Jersey City Humane Society and my daughter could have him if she’d go pick him up. She went there (not the nicest part of NJ) and found an 8 year old matted, dirty dog. They told her that she had to wait to take him until their vet neutered him. When she picked him up the next day, the vet had not even washed him before he operated, and the dog got infected. It took more than $500 and a month to get him healed. A poodle is not a dog that can go unclipped because the curly hair turns back on itself and the eyes and ears get abcessed, etc.
The dog had a happy and healthy life with her and her family until he died last month at 16 1/2 years old, but it was a horrid adoption process. Since then, she’s tried to adopt another poodle and has found that the rescue organizations in the northeast regularly lie about the condition and ages their dogs, or adopt them out only to their friends. She’s really getting discouraged.
I wish she could have a Golden, but some members of her family are allergic and can only have poodles.
If anyone here has a trustworthy poodle contact in the NE, I’d appreciate knowing about it.
I think that one of their vets (at Best Friends) used to be a vet in Ozaukee County where I live. He moved out there about 15 years ago, and I saw his name on an article in their magazine. He may have moved on by now. I think it was Froelich. (sp?) I knew his wife at one time.
AFR, you have met us; don’t know if you remember! lol Bt, if you recall my SO has COPD, so no pets. Our dog is a bichon frise/shih tsu mix. He does not shed and no dander. We have him groomed about once a month or so. Initially, we were looking at poodles too. But, after finding out more, I got my Gizmo. Just another option. There are soooo many of these teddy bears in rescues. If we ever get another dog, it will be another teddy bear. His picture was on the thread last week. lol
Thanks for the link!
Oh, yes. I absolutely remember you. Your son has a FReeper name too — baggyboy? It’s been a while. And you used to wor at that insurance company that was sort of across the street from the old Coffee Pot. Whoever owns that place now has Feingold and Barrett signs on his front steps. Makes me want to spit!
I have two retired racing greyhounds. They were rescued from Greyhound Adoption Center in San Diego (www.houndsavers.org).
I have two other dogs that we rescued off the streets in Long Beach, CA.
(I know this is a dog thread, but we also have four cats, two from Seal Beach Animal Shelter, one Persian from a Santa Ana breeder, and my mom’s cat from Texas lives with me).
I’m sorry I missed both of your pings. Hope your daughter finds the kind of dog she wants AFTR.
BG, If no one mentioned it, I believe PAWS is a good pet group. Pets Are Worth Saving. I have donated to them before.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.