In this “business” we see it all the time. Really well meaning people that get in over their heads. I’m not speaking of hoarders. Most psychologists feel hoarding is more of a mental disease than a controllable impulse.
I’m talking about well meaning rescuers that have let their hearts lead the way and they put their logic and their finances aside to try to help “just one more”.
I’ve seen so many cases where people were living in absolute squalor, all their resources gone, all their money gone, their homes in foreclosure and still much of the rescue community looks at them like they were heroes.
“They gave their WHOLE lives to the animals”.
I’m not impressed.
These people don’t impress me. I pity them. Not only that but they are HURTING us, our no-kill movement, they make us all look bad and “suspect”, and they are not good for the future of the animals in their care.
Now that they have lost everything, what will happen to those animals that they accepted responsibility for? What will happen to the future ones that they could have saved if they had the sense to develop a plan, stop taking animals in when it became more than they could handle, and prepare for the future for themselves and the animals?
We have had to stop working with people in our own organization, or had to let them go because they had this same mentality. “I will stay up all night and drive 48 hours straight to save a dog!”. And there is applause everywhere. Huh? I say yes save that dog, but be smart. Network the dog. Ask for help, board the dog for a day, drive safely, don’t use the last cent you had. And if your mentality is “just one more” in some cases this can be a good thing (if you think outside the box and make it work) and on another it can be a bad thing – when you have animals stacked on top of each other, living in cages, living in filth or you don’t have the means to address their medical or care needs.
Be smarter. Plan. By doing so you will save ten dogs instead of one, and then 100 instead of ten.
And when you are out of money, space, or resources, learn to say no. It doesn’t mean ever giving up. You can network that animal, you can offer suggestions, you can ask the people to hold or foster on your waiting list but when you are out of space and out of energy and out of creativity and out of money, you must recognize that.
That doesn’t mean ever accepting death is the answer, it just means that maybe TODAY that YOU might not be the answer. But with your help, someone else could be.
One time we heard of a mother dog about to give birth in a high kill shelter. We couldn’t get her. She was very far away in another state and she was due to give birth any second and she was scheduled to die the next day. We couldn’t take her. But we networked like crazy and found someone that DID.
Never give up. Always keep striving to do better, be better, and work better and smarter…but KNOW your limitations and when you hit them, get help. I like to believe that when we can reach out for help we then HAVE no limitations and we CAN save them all. But you personally, alone, can not. You must form partnerships, alliances, friends and allies, and be able to reach out and ask for help when needed. Your community should be involved, your volunteers can be helping you and supporting you if you are willing to work with them and LET them.
It is also not ok to take in animals when you can not provide for all their needs. You can not warehouse dogs and cats. You can not stack them in crates or in runs and interact with them briefly once a day when you feed them. If you are starting a rescue you MUST be able to meet the animals emotional and mental needs as WELL as their physical needs. You must play with them, walk them, provide toys and mental stimulation. You must meet these needs EVERY DAY until you have placed them into a home.
In many cases there are really bright, really well meaning people that for years have helped animals and saved lives. Many times they run the operation out of their home. They have no succession. And when tragedy strikes, there is no plan for what to do with sometimes hundreds of animals. This happened here too. Pets Alive. Five years ago. Founder is dying. No one to take over. No one to help. No funds put aside. Not even a book with logins and passwords and accounts. I sat with Sara in the hospital as she died and thankfully she had a good memory, and dictated to me lots of helpful information. But still. Why was there no plan in place?
Look, no one EXPECTS to die. No one WANTS to die, no one THINKS they will die. But one or two people running a rescue with over 100 animals could be slammed into by a truck and wiped off the planet in seconds. If there is no plan in place, what do they think will happen? And yet we see this constantly. If you are going to start a rescue – ESPECIALLY OUT OF YOUR OWN HOME – you absolutely must have a plan for what will happen. Don’t assume anything. Don’t think that someone else will step up. Everyone has their own lives and as much as they may WANT to help or as much as they love to volunteer, your dream isn’t necessarily their dream.
We are down in Arkansas because there was no contingency plan. Best Friend saved Pets Alive because there was no contingency plan.
Get a plan.
Get a board.
Get a list or a book or all the important things about your rescue – banking information, website logins and details, email passwords, mailing list accesses and databases. Help people to save the animals you loved, if the worst were to happen.
And set it up ahead of time.
Get legal paperwork stating what happens and how things will be handled in the event something befalls you.
Don’t assume that “someone’ will step up.
There are no “someone’s”.
Additionally you must STOP being so picky about every single application. I can not tell you enough how many rescues shoot themselves in their own foot because they make adopters jump through hoops to adopt animals. It is a source of pride for them to brag about how hard it is to adopt an animal from them, how many checks are done on the people and how many people they turn away.
This disgusts me.
This angers me.
This makes me weep with despair over how many animals are dying while rescues turn away loving homes because of absurd reasons.
To rescues and shelters I tell you – make it EASY to adopt your animals. Make your application as short as it can be for you to get a good understanding of the people. Then get them on site. Rejecting people based on what they put on paper is absurd. Meet them. Talk to them. THAT alone will tell you more than a 15 page application will.
I see rescues that will not adopt a dog to a home without a yard.
Really?
Tell me….who interacts more with their dog?
The person that opens a door three times a day to let the dog go outside?
Or the person that walks their dog three times a day – takes a long walk with their dog and spends time with their dog doing that?
Which dog is more social? The one that meets and greets people as they pass them on the street and meets and sniffs and says hello to other dogs on the sidewalk? …or the one sitting alone in a yard never encountering strangers or other animals?
Yet you see this time and again. No yard? Well that equals rejection for many rescues. How sick.
You see people rejected because of other silly reasons too that on the surface SOUND good but in retrospect are absurd. They put YES that they will declaw the cat they want to adopt from you. Well instead of turning them down, have them come in. Show them pictures of what declawing is. Talk to them about it. Watch their face and see if they get it. So many people have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO DECLAW A CAT! They think it is just clipping the nails way back. And if they get it and they don’t care or they don’t agree for whatever reason they think is important, then take a look around your shelter. How many declawed cats do you have? Show them THOSE cats. If everything else about this family is perfect and they are a good home, then don’t let this stop you from giving them a cat, adopt a cat to them that is already declawed. What a win. A cat gets a home and another one does NOT have this barbaric surgery performed.
Let’s look at one more scenario that I see rescues rejecting people for, under the guise of “protecting” their animals from them.
“I work 8 hours a day”.
DING DING DING – rejected. MANY MANY rescues reject people if they answer this question this way.
Well hello. Newsflash. I’m sorry to say that almost EVERY household has people that work that long – every day, often BOTH parents.
TALK to the people.
What is the plan for the animal?
Do they have a dog walker that will come in?
DO THEY WORK FROM HOME?????
Do their children come home at 2:30 from school?
Do they take their pets to work?
Is the dog an older dog that can manage being alone?
DO THEY HAVE OTHER DOGS IN THE HOUSE FOR COMPANIONSHIP to this one?
Please rescues, it is 2011. It isn’t the life of when we were young, and moms were often home all day and dads went to work. Times have changed. If you are looking for people that are home all day, take their pets on vacation with them, and have yards and have disposable incomes then YOU are responsible for a good number of animals that are dying in shelters every day.
Be proud of a less aggressive adoption policy.
Be proud of adopting to people and TALKING to people when there are “flags’ on their application.
MEET people before judging them from their paperwork.
TRUST people.
Truly – really – honestly – think about it. Do you really believes that 60% of the people coming to you to adopt an animal are vicious animal killers that you must protect your animals from?
They aren’t. Yet in many rescues up to 60% of applicants are rejected.
Probably 99.9% of time these are great people, struggling to get by and just want a pet to share their lives with.
Trust the public to care for the animal and then YOU can go and save another one.
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Excellent post and so well said. Thank you for writing about the other side of the shelter that most people don’t see or think about. I remember the days there at PA when apps were denied because there wasn’t a fence in the yard. It was heartbreaking to see animals not get adopted based on silly reasons. I hope your post makes a difference to at least one shelter. Please continue to write posts like this.
Many thanks to everyone there at Pets Alive.
Great article today. You guys need a Facebook Page. If you need help with one, please let me know. I’m sure there are volunteers who would help get it started and manage it and it would bring more people to your blog. If you already have a FB page, please excuse my post. You can also connect your FB to Twitter which is another wonderful way to bring in more donations and people to read about your organization. Good luck! 🙂
oops, ignore my post, just found you on Facebook and liked your page 🙂
I hope other rescues follow your website, blogs and facebook page. Pets Alive does an excellent job at housing the animals you have, training, getting so many voluteers to help. And Kerry your blogs really stop and make people think. Thanks to everyone at Pets Alive.
What a great article… and it hits home… way too hard! Working rescue alone, by myself, out of my house… is so difficult. Having strange people show up at any time ‘to see the dogs’ and others who just get the address with the intention to dump one over my fence! But I have asked for help from the other rescue organizations local and statewide (Florida) and they have ignored any effort on my part to try to place some of the adoptable animals in a better ‘foster’ situation with any of their organizations who HAVE volunteers who go to Petsmart and Petco on a regular basis and GET donations. I am not a 501c3, I don’t expect or ask for donations, and since I am caring for the dogs and since I have to keep working hard to pay for their care and for ‘help’, I have no time to sit at Petsmart and Petco every weekend. The old and the hard to adopt will live their lives out here if God willing, I can outlive them. BUT for the now young and adoptables it is sad that I cannot give them a better chance. Any help out there would be appreciated!
Thank you for some common sense in adoption rules. Certainly you want to prevent harm to the animals, but I believe that it is a chance to educate not dismiss. When trying to adopt my cats, I eventually went with Craigslist…no applications or as I felt “holier than thou” shelter folk. A five page application, including my annual income, is ridiculous. An adoption seminar that recommended fresh elk meat and when a question was asked about dry food, you would have thought the person was going to turn the cat into food. The job of a shelter is to protect the animal and match them with new owners as soon as possible. Not to institutionalize the animal.
Bravo, Kerry. I am about to take a job at a cat shelter that prides itself on rejecting so many applicants; people can’t come in to meet the cats before they fill out an application. They have to be approved before even coming to the shelter. It is INSANE. One of my #1 goals is to change that practice and FAST. There is no room to distrust people so intensely. Like you said – time to come into 2011, folks. Sheltering is not what it used to be and we NEED people to be on board. I am going to forward your blog to the shelter director and the Board to help them understand why I am so adamant about become more “people friendly.” Thank you for being supportive voice for change.
As always, you are an inspiration to other people and other groups that want to “do it right”. Thank you for your words and guidance.
Keep up the amazing work!!
In the years since I have launched Pawsitively Texas, I’ve observed each of the items you point out. I also see people breaking the law and putting their own self at risk. Animal Rescue is such an imperfect world, but when we work from a plan, have an emergency plan, understand our limitations, and choose to work smarter, we accomplish so much more. On our network, we often network owner surrenders with the hope that we can help find them a home before they go to the shelter, where in Texas, they can be killed immediately. This is a blog I wrote about a situation, when we tried to help an owner find a new home, and someone decided to write the owner and tell them what a piece of trash they were. The owner did not want that kind of abuse and ask to have all networking posts about his dog removed; this is that story: http://pawsitivelytexas.com/animal-rescue-an-imperfect-world-with-few-absolutes Thanks for reminding us all to take a moment, take a hard look, and consider how our actions impact the pets we wish to save! I’ve shared your post with a request for everyone to read on https://www.facebook.com/PawsTexas
This is the smartest, most intelligent post I have read concerning shelters, rescues, etc. Thank you for tackling the tough scenarios. For the sake of doing good, many times people will assume a “lone ranger” position. This is actually heaping a victim mentality upon themselves instead of networking & gaining results.
I love your rescue organization & appreciate your passion.
Kudos & abundant blessings,
g
A very good article, I actually friended this recue that would not adopt unless you planned to feed only a raw diet, and no smokers, and a whole list of crazy stuff- and would spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on sererely injured animals w/o much chance for a quality life even if they survived which pretty obviously meant a whole lot of others were turned away… that being said~
I think the most important thing to be stressed of any rescuer is NEVER adopt out an animal that has not been spayed or neutered! There are a lot of bad people who will hoodwink you, and turn that dog into a breeder! Or just the “whoopsie” litter “before we could get her into the vet”. It happens all the time!(And a lot of people won’t worry about neutering a male because THEY won’t be having the litter!)
Thank you! Found your post thanks to Brent Toellner at KC Dog Blog. My dog sanctuary is in my home; I do have too many well cared for dogs. However, almost two years ago, I was given the chance to become a “division” of a no-kill sanctuary whose board I sat on and who I tried to emulate at Silverwalk. Safe Harbor’s reputation is sterling. I know, should something happen to me, both my rescue and personal dogs will find care and homes. I maintain my license and my MO non profit status though under the aegis of Safe Harbor and its 501c3; one never knows what may happen one way or the other…I am keeping a copy of this post for reference and to share.
Nanci, I think this is exactly what the article is addressing. While obviously most rescuers care about animals, we’re not doing them any favors if we can’t improve their situation by taking them from the shelter. Other rescue groups are just as packed to the gills as you are and it’s not our responsibility to bail out other groups or individuals that get in over their heads. As difficult as it is, none of us can save them all. And if you can’t make that animal’s life better; then you have no business rescuing it in the first place. I do require folks fill out an app before we move forward in meeting our foster dogs. But our dogs live in our homes one on one as members of our family until adoption. I wouldn’t be doing the dog any favors by passing him off to the first person that applies. With that being said, I do readily adopt to folks without fences, who work full time (as I do), and families with young children. I just do it carefully and without the application, I can’t tell for sure if that person is a good fit for the dog they want to adopt or not. I don’t want someone getting their heart set on a dog and thinking it’s a done deal if when I check their veterinary references, the current dog hasn’t been on heartworm prevention in years or been vaccinated. We put too much into our dogs financially to give to someone that isn’t willing/able to maintain that same level of care.
The truth is that the people who get into humane work typically are not fit for the actual decision making process involved. That is because it takes someone who can rise above their emotions and view things analytically while most rescuers are drawn for emotional reasons. Strong compassion and the ability to think objectively are certainly not mutually exclusive, but they are not strongly and positively correlated either. This is one reason I believe people will turn shelters into No Kill before it is practical in an area and as a result will cause excess suffering in the local animal community. The best thing the larger humane community could do is set the goals and do the footwork but allow nearly all the planning to be done by people who you pay well and have a strong background in logic, math, science, etc. For instance, any idea how easy it would be to leverage Greyhound buslines into donating old buses to an national org that transmits pets from source to sink areas (the positive publicity would be huge and they would get a tax break, plus their name is associated with a dog breed often abused)? Any idea how easy it would be to set up a highly organized database where available pets are logged and people can get a pet delivered on this transport system? An actual corporation where people with big brains are paid to work hard could have this running in a few months. I’m sure this will get a strong emotional response because of who will be responding.
This is a great entry. I know that this is the kind of thing you faced when trying to save Pets Alive after my Mother Passed. Despite all our warnings, over the years the place became more and more to handle, with less and less people there to help. If it hadnt been for you guys and Best Friends, God only knows what would have happened at Pets Alive. My Mother was a wonderfum woman who did everything she could for the animals, but the fact that she often times refused to let people in to help share the burden caused a situation that sometimes caused more harm than good. I am really pleased to see how much easier you guys make it for adoptions to happen, as the best maintained kennel in the world is still just a cage, and all these animals deserve a real home. Kudos to you for doing a fantastic job, and for taking the time to explain to people how the best intentions in the world still need to be guided by common sense.
Everything you say is so true, I personally know of a rescuer who had 43 dogs + many cats stacked on top of each other in her home – I actually don’t know how she was getting away with it! My daughter and her husband were denied a puppy because they weren’t home long enough. We left the rescue and went to the pound and found 2 marvelous puppies – brother and sister – who are now spoiled beyond belief! My daughter and her husband even bought a house so the dogs could have a place to play and run. Rescues need to relax some of these requirements so that they can actually CONTINUE to rescue instead of having perfectly adoptable dogs in their care for 5 years!
This is a great article, and I’m glad you’re considering flexibility when looking at adoption requirements. I know people who are home all day and do not walk or interact with their dogs, and others who work all day but have good long play sessions before and after work. You have to look at the whole picture.