The Other Economy of Rescue

   Rescue workers give freely of their love and time and personal resources but the folks who make dog food, health care and kennel stuff and veterinarians all demand cash. No-brainer, Right? But...there is another economy that has a big impact on how many dogs we can save; space, time, folks feelings, window of “cuteness” and so much more.
Space: In every rescue and sanctuary the one resource that prevents  dogs from getting saved more than any other is space. We all have dogs stashed in every possible corner and still have to turn away desperately needy dogs.
Time: It takes time to feed, clean and tend the medical needs of my charges. If I spent only ten minutes a day on each dog it would take almost 7 hours  just tend to their basic needs. To be only able to do this would be a tragedy. Every dog needs love and attention, to be held and patted and talked to, walked if there is time, given cookies, played fetch or tug of war with and monitored in their play with each other to teach social skills and keep them safe. Again if each got only ten minutes of “quality” time a day it would take another 7 hours. (and that's if we only have 40 dogs on site)
Folks feelings: We love  getting to know our adopters but the most important consideration is what is best for the dogs. We have no magic balls. We try to do what seems best for the dog and the applicant. When an application is approved we still can not discourage new interested people. The fact is that people change their minds. We  encourage folks to fill out an application and we tell them how far down the list they are. The longer we hold a dog after an application to adopt it is approved, the more people we have to disappoint by telling them their first choice has been adopted.
Cuteness: For the first time in many years we are adopting puppies. They require way more of all the resources we have talked about and it is all compressed into a narrow window of "cuteness." The absolute earliest we can have a puppy vaccinated and altered is ten to twelve weeks of age. At three months they are changing and growing so rapidly that the adorable little puppy in our videos turn into gangley teenagers which reduces the number of people who connect emotionally with them. This can translate into them having to spend more of their precious short lives without a home of their own.

Trust and integrity: Lately we have all heard a lot about scammers. It has always made sense to check out the people you do business with. We have been at this long enough to have demonstrated consistent best care and business practices. You can go to Guidestar and verify out nonprofit status in detail. You can talk with past adopters. One of the best way to find them is through our Facebook page. Pick a update posting you like and ask for the persons full name. Our honest take on it is you are asking us to trust you with the well being of one of our precious dogs and we are asking you to trust us for a few days with your donation.
   So......when we talk with you about the “limited, exclusive time” your application approval gives you we are not trying to pressure you. I have never persuaded a reluctant person to adopt a dog and I never will. If you are not emotionally invested, totally committed and stoked about your adoption you may find it hard to weather the inevitable trials of sharing your life with one of Gods little ambassadors.