"Rescues" Make Me Sad...

[Paloma]

Don't get me wrong, there are AMAZING rescues out there for animals that would otherwise be put down. But... I've heard and seen some of the bad things about some of these rescue groups and it breaks my heart. These last few weeks have made me sad, angry, and frustrated. I've seen the list of "Questions to Ask When Adopting a Rescue Animal": temperament, breed, age, and return/exchange policy. At work, we were discussing making our own list. These places all have the non-profit paperwork and vet notes... well, vet notes for the healthy animals. Lately, the other paperwork has "gotten left at the office".

"What does it take to foster an animal?": This tells you a TON. No real requirements? Hmm... Some of the fosters have brought animals in with kennel cough, flea and tick infestations, and a dew claw that required surgery to fix. "Oops! They're a new foster". It always makes me wonder when a fostered pet isn't housebroken/litter trained and they STINK... Yup, animals get dirty, but if you're bringing them to an adoption event in that sort of condition - what are these animals usually like? If the rescue is begging you to foster ("You can take him today!!"), and they've never met you before? Red flag!!

"What if I adopt this dog and it turns out to be ill?": The better questions would be, "When was the last vet visit?" "Have you acquired new animals since then, and were they healthy at their last vet check?" "Do you know if all of the foster parents pets have been vet checked?". We had someone adopt a puppy that turned out to have parvo. It died. Turns out, quite a few of their puppies (various litters) had parvo at this rescue because they didn't get around to taking a few new dogs to the vet (but they gave the people who got a sick dog the run around - Can you believe they wanted their money back!?).

"Where did this animal come from?": We have a rescue that (rumor has it) gets birds from craigslist, doesn't bother with the vet, and "rehomes" these poor birds for big money. It's more common with the "free puppies" or "free kittens". It always makes me a little suspicious when a small rescue group ALWAYS has puppies, kittens, and baby anything. Most of the big shelters won't give up puppies and kittens, because those will likely be adopted quickly. The best thing I've heard from a "rescue"? "This chi-wee yorkie (it's a mutt!!) puppy is 5 months old. We rescued her from a backyard breeder. She's too young to be fixed, and due to some health issues we couldn't do the shots, so we're only asking for $450". Um, what were these 'health issues', 8-16 weeks is usually the BEST time for getting dogs fixed, and $450?? No shots? Riiight... Has this animal ever seen a vet??

Everyplace seems to have pet adoptions on the weekend, and I wonder how many of these rescues are really "rescuing" animals. If I'm seeing this on a regular basis, I'm assuming this is pretty common?

[Marrie]

Thing is ANYONE can "claim" to be a rescue. All it takes is good intentions and bad planning, or lack of common sense. But there are a lot of really good rescues out there as well. When you see a bad rescue, spread the word in the rescue community / report them if they are pushing towards abuse. Fosters should have to fill out a contract and take a class to foster, they should also be checked in on occasionally - now, it isn't always possible to make sure a foster is doing their job at home cause of lack of manpower, but if an animal is brought to the event in bad condition, should be an automatic red flag.

But it's just like breeding - anyone can CLAIM to be a good breeder and breed animals. Anyone can CLAIM to be a rescue and take pets out of kill shelters/craigslist. Don't let the bad ones give them all a bad name.

[Paloma]

Yup, it's sad. I wish there were more to it than just saying "Hey, we're an animal rescue!!" and filling out the non-profit forms. We've turned away countless "rescues" from events because the animals were in terrible shape (among other issues), but it seems like every month we have a ton of new rescues showing up asking to take part in the adoption events.

I used to think that it was just people who wanted to do the right thing and help out animals, and got in a bit over their heads. Lately, my feeling on this has changed. While I think some people are just a bit overwhelmed with the care of animals, I think others are just trying to make a quick buck.

[hoppystar]

I've never actually heard this before and it makes me a little sad to read that there are ''rescue'' homes out there like that. I got my cat from a rescue home (Cat Protection League) and later fostered for them as the lady our cat came from had too many and needed someone to look after them whilst she found them homes. You could tell she was genuine though as, she paid for all the vet bills and we didn't have to pay for the cat, she just asked us questions to make sure we were genuine people and would look after it. The only thing Cat Protection houses ask for is a donation--doesn't matter how much.
Interestingly though she warned us off buying animals from pet shops and encouraged adopting from rescue homes, as she argued that pet shops don't check who they are selling to. Reading this I see it works both ways.