Rescue groups: your flaky, zealous ways have driven me into the arms of a breeder. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

I wish people would post the name of the groups they have dealt with when complaining about bad practices. I have fostered for three NOVA area groups - Worthy Dog, Homeward Trails, and Pet Rescue Alliance. I also adopted from the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. They were all reputable in my experience. No lies, no ridiculous rules.

So many animal rescuers do good work for no personal gain, I wish you wouldn't slander them all with the same brush. I'm on rescue dog number 47. Let me tell you her story.

Mommy dog was living chained in a backyard in southern Texas. She was not fixed and was chained up with a male dog. So of course she got pregnant. She was skin and bones and all belly.

Volunteers worked on the owners to get them to give her up. They put in in a van and drivers took turns transporting her and other dogs from Texas all the way to the East Coast. The transport stopped in Charlotte. A volunteer, a mom with toddlers, picked Mommy up in Charlotte and drove her to a half way point, about four hours one way. I met the volunteer and took Mommy from her. It was too late to drive home so my daughter and I paid for a hotel room and spent the night there with this unknown, terrified dog.

Mommy was infested with fleas and of course, worms. Which the rescue treated her for. The rescue paid for her first ever vet visit, a prenatal exam. I think that was about $140.

Mommy delivered three puppies before one got stuck. She labored all day, could not get it out. A volunteer drove her over an hour to a vet who did a c section. Three babies died. Three survived. The rescue paid over $1400 for this.

At three weeks old the family of four went in for a check up, dewormer, Mommy shots, etc. The rescue paid $240.

The babies will live with me for four more weeks. They will go back at 6 weeks old for shots. Cleaning up puppy poop is not pleasant but it's a temporary situation so, no big deal. Soon the puppies will be put up for adoption. Even if the adopters pay $500 per dog, the rescue will not even break even when all is said and done.

So many people worked together to give these dogs a shot at a healthy, happy life. It pains me to think of people judging and deriding the work that so many dedicated folks do. Rescuers get no reward other than knowing there's a little less suffering and a little more love in the world.

A past adopter of one of my fosters sent me a pics today of her blind (openly acknowledged) pit bull. He's one I still often miss. He didn't know what a couch or a bed was when he came t me. Now look at him in his PJ's!

https://imgur.com/lR2FNoG

[Anonymous]

Mmkay. Here’s that attention you ordered.

[Anonymous]

It's an ANONYMOUS forum. No attention will come my way.

I'm speaking from the heart. No need for sarcasm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mmkay. Here’s that attention you ordered.

Np. I don’t think anyone is looking for attention.
However rescue work is F-in HARD and dirty, so to hear people calling them scammy is upsetting. I can guarantee you the people doing it have never done any volunteer rescue work in their life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m right with you. Too many rescue groups that are just out to make a buck and don’t really care about helping animals. Be very careful when dealing with them. I’m sure there are some that are above board, but the whole rescue thing has changed since I last adopted a dog in 2008. I’m thinking of forgetting the whole thing. Makes me sad.

The vast majority of rescues out there are not scammers. Some are better run than others, but on the whole, people don't bother setting up 501(c)(3)s to scam people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's an ANONYMOUS forum. No attention will come my way.

I'm speaking from the heart. No need for sarcasm.

Thank you so much for sharing!! I admire all of yours (and the rescues) work. Truly making a difference.

[Anonymous]

20:04, I’m OP. Three years later I recognized my subject line.

First, thank you for your unpaid and basically unsung labor. As a fellow animal lover I know it’s from your heart.

This said, one of my examples in my OP is directly out of one of the groups you have worked with. It was years ago so I don’t believe it’s worth calling them out now, because maybe the individuals involved have left and taken their peculiarities with them. Maybe the org changed as a result.

All I can say is the volunteer’s last minute, arbitrary decision to change her mind and withhold a cat from us absolutely broke my son’s heart. After telling us, to his face, the cat was ours. Her reasoning: what if a better home comes up and I’ve already promised him to you? (Actual quote).

This was the example in the OP where I was informed that our home was suspect, because we didn’t already have a cat. Since he had just, you know, died at 17 we were now unfit prospective cat owners.

[Anonymous]

I had a good experience recently with Lucky Dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mmkay. Here’s that attention you ordered.

Np. I don’t think anyone is looking for attention.
However rescue work is F-in HARD and dirty, so to hear people calling them scammy is upsetting. I can guarantee you the people doing it have never done any volunteer rescue work in their life.

Jokes about rescues exist for a reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same, OP. We made the mistake of being honest to the rescue organizations. We are clearly evil people because we have an invisible fence instead of a regular one. And because one of us doesn’t stay or work from home all the time. Finally got a puppy from a breeder.

Congrats? And how is the life of your dog? Alone all day and shocked by the electric fence? Breeders are the ones making the money. As long as you have it than the dog is yours

[Anonymous]

Every dog from a breeder that does not get adopted will become a rescue. So better to buy dogs from breeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every dog from a breeder that does not get adopted will become a rescue. So better to buy dogs from breeder.

Huh? Every reputable breeder sells to a buyer. This silly use of the word adopt is not correct. That said reputable breeders do not feed rescues. The millers, well that's a whole other issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every dog from a breeder that does not get adopted will become a rescue. So better to buy dogs from breeder.

Or a puppy mill, right? As long as you get your puppy! Who cares about the dogs, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every dog from a breeder that does not get adopted will become a rescue. So better to buy dogs from breeder.

Cheaper to adopt a rescue.

[Anonymous]

I rescued a dog and then returned it to rescue after it bit my child. Tried rescuing several times after that and each time I disclosed the prior return. Rejected over and over again. Purchased an overpriced dog from a breeder and he is absolutely the best pet ever and I'd pay 10 times the price for him. (I am not saying he is the best pet because he came from a breeder, just that he happens to be and I have no regrets!) Oh and I did disclose the return of the other dog to the breeder as well.