Phoebe – Mrs. bloke's rescue dog, at seven months...

[bisontuba]

Great doggy

[windshieldbug]

Every bloke’s got to have a Rover...

[hup_d_dup]

She appears to be a perfect pet in every way except that she's not a cat.

Hup

[tofu]

For a non dog guy you sure must have a nice sized annual food & vet bill. You don't see Pickard Shepherds turn up in rescue too often. People really like them and when they do show up they get adopted out fast - like in hours. Unlike the pit breeds which can take months and even years to get adopted out to "responsible owners". Beyond our personal dogs we have been doing temporary fosters for our local rescue for years.

What I want to know is:

What the heck is going on in Tennessee? All the rescue groups and shelters up here are just full of dogs we bring up from the overfilled and high kill shelters down there. My group has another 20 dogs coming north from TN on the 13th. In my county alone the various rescue groups collectively bring a couple hundred dogs up a week - just from TN. Up here the spay rate is 90% and we don't really have much of a local dog overpopulation problem, but the rescue organizations are full to capacity with TN dogs. And it's amazing how fast some rescues can place dogs (like in 10 days) and then another load comes in. I'm told the spay rate in TN is just 10% - are people just resistant to having their dogs spayed from a cultural perspective down there or is it a lack of low cost spay facilities?

It is interesting how the dogs we are getting from TN and adopting out are dog breeds we never used to see a lot of here - like bloodhounds, coonhounds and all the many other hound variations as well herding dogs like blue heelers and australian cattle dogs. We do get a lot of lab and retriever mixes from down there but those have always been popular breeds up here as well.

[TheTuba]

You're work dogs are beautiful!
btw, what work do they do?
The"stereotypical city-slicker"Tuba

[Donn]

And little stinker jumps right into the tub and waits for her to give him a bath.

Someone was telling me last week about his cat that did that, after it had gone under a car or something and gotten oil all over it. Came in while my friend was taking a shower, clearly indicated its intention and submitted to a bath with soap. Just that once.

[roweenie]

Beautiful dog, bloke.

I've always loved dogs, but have had to settle for a neurotic cat (also rescued) that keeps the vole population in check.

[Three Valves]

When did people start “rescuing” dogs and stop going to the pound to pick up a mutt??

[tofu]

When did people start “rescuing” dogs and stop going to the pound to pick up a mutt??

They're "rescuing" them from being the victims of (what's the Orwellian Newspeak word for it...?? oh yeah...I remember...) "choice".

Many towns looking for ways to cut costs started to euthanize animals almost as quickly as they came in. Many used inhumane practices for putting the animals down. They also put down a lot of lost pets that people were actively searching for. Some waited as little as 24 hours for an owner to show up. Many were old, decrepit, poorly funded and staffed with the local politicians incompetent nick wick relatives. Many have been replaced by county run shelters. They are somewhat better equipped and staffed, but still underfunded, poorly run and will typically only deal with animals in the local jurisdiction.

Rescues step in to relieve the pressure on the public shelters, but also to take animals that the public shelters/pounds can't place for many reasons. Many rescues are breed specific. This helps better connect dogs with people looking for specific breeds. For instance the local Golden Retriever rescue has a waiting list of a 120 families looking for a Golden. This is especially helpful for senior dogs. Many dogs through no fault of their own end up at a shelter because their person died or went into a skilled nursing facility. These are often wonderful loving animals, but they can be hard to place as a lot of people "have to have a cute puppy". Personally not having to deal with house training a puppy is what I love about old guys. You also have the case of older bonded dogs. Adopting out two large seniors can take some time to find the right home. Public shelters don't have the time or resources to do so.

The rescues also are better at networking, social media and working with the local vets and pet stores to hold weekend adoption events to better connect with the public. Many people think you have to go to a breeder and pay $2500 for a pure bred dog. The rescues by holding events in public places educate the public that great purebred dogs can be had without the expensive (and often bad puppy mills). But you don't need a pure bred dog to have a great dog. And in fact mutts are genetically the best dogs from a health standpoint. I've got friends who have spent $5000 replacing hips on German Shepherds and in one case a flute player in my band had to replace both hips ($10,000) on her German Shepherd brought over from one of the high profile breeders in Germany.

When did people start “rescuing” dogs and stop going to the pound to pick up a mutt??

I wondered why they started calling it "rescuing" dogs when I was hunting for our current dog. With as many unplanned litters as there are, a free mutt can be found. And as far as I'm concerned, this "rehoming fee" is newspeak for "you're gonna pay us for a dog anyway" and will only ensure that you're stuck with an unwanted litter. In the 38 years my wife and I have been married, I have never purchased a pup, and I don't intend to ever start. I pay enough in vet bills and obedience classes as it is.

And I too have gotten dogs from colleagues who have moved or relatives that have died etc. There is nothing wrong with that. But I will take exception to your take on the fees rescue charge. It is incredibly expensive to rescue dogs/cats/birds/rabbits etc.

Here all rescue dogs/cats are spayed immediately upon intake. This is why we don't have a big problem with unwanted litters. They are given an extensive medical exam. Many of the dogs have heart worm. It takes 3 months to cure heart worm and costs the rescue $1000. The dogs are micro-chipped which means if the dog gets lost it can be scanned by any vet or shelter and the owner contacted. That typically costs $65. The fosters are provided with all the food and medicine the dog requires as well as a crate, leash, appropriate collar/harness and dog toys etc. Some dogs come in with injuries from being hit by a car. We had one that had a broken front and rear leg. While we get discounted vet surgical bills -it still is expensive. It is amazing how many scum bag people who have an animal bail the first minute they have to spend any money on the pet. So a lot of pets that end up in rescue are there because they have a tooth issue or some other medical issue that costs a couple hundred bucks and up. Ticks/lice issues and then there are the unbelievably matted dogs that are so bad that the groomers have to completely shave the dog - all because of a lazy owner that couldn't be bothered to comb the dog -for years. No dog is released for adoption until it is fully healthy. So a dog can end up in rescue for as long as a year before even being put up for adoption. Many of the dogs have obedience issues and in some cases are beyond the scope of a regular foster to correct the behavior. So the dogs go to professional obedience trainers. While they do it at greatly reduced fees - it still adds up. Then there are the costs to transport animals from shelters like we do from out of state. Again, a lot of this is donated but not all of it. My personal foundation as donated 6 figures over the last 5 years to help support 5 rescues as well as buy a mobile spay/neuter surgical van to provide low cost surgeries to folks of limited means. Many of the local rescues have started taking in dogs from some of the war torn parts of the world. Flying dogs across the Atlantic adds up even when the airlines do it at cost. Then you have to add in the cost of the quarantine period overseas before the dogs can enter the USA. We have even developed a working feral cat population. These are cats that just are never going to be house cats. We neuter them and medically check them out. They are available to people and business who agree to feed them, provide a safe spot outside they can sleep/shelter in and have them annually brought in for a medical checkup. In return the cats control the rodent population for farmers/warehouses/ etc. Everybody wins - cat population gets controlled through neutering - cat doesn't get put down and the rat population doesn't get out control - ruining crops or invading grocery stores etc.

I don't know what the rescues down in TX charge but up here it is typically around $50-$65 for cats and $295 for a dog and with most rescues rebating $75 if you show proof of taking your dog to obedience school within 6 months of adoption. Senior dogs are usually adopted out for anywhere from $65 to $200 depending on the breed and rescue. Many will even do senior cats/dogs at no cost because of generous donors trying to make it easier to get cats/dogs over 8 in homes. Trust me - nobody is making money in rescues. If it wasn't for folks making extremely generous large donations/bequests to support the rescues and volunteer fosters taking in animals to their homes the true cost to charge per rescue would be closer to $1000 and even that is cheaper than what a breeder would charge. So rescues try to recoup a small portion of their costs via the adoption fee and still make it as affordable as possible for people to adopt. Studies show that pets are good for kids / they're good for old people and pets are worth saving. Rescues try to match the two up.