Reputable Rescues – What You Need To Know

Let me start by saying this:

I’m a rescue girl, through and through.

I feel like there are so many dogs in the world that need loving, supportive homes, I will always support adoption.

Breeding is a whole other world that I’m only just now starting to learn about, and quite frankly, it doesn’t really interest me much, other than how genetics play a part in behaviours.
(Although we will talk about breeders another day.)

My heart belongs with dogs who need to find homes.
Bred dogs generally all find homes. An ethical breeder… they’ll have a waiting list of guardians ready for their dogs to be homed to.

Rescue dogs don’t have that, and they become rescue dogs for a number of reasons.

• Sometimes circumstances change
• Sometimes their guardians pass away
• Sometimes they move and they truly can’t take the dog
• Sometimes the humans start having children and they realize their dog is not a great fit for a family with babies, toddlers, or children.

There are many reasons to rehome a dog, and there are not many that I judge people for.

My issue is in the rescues who are bringing dogs in from other areas.
The rescues who are bringing shipments, literally shipments of dogs in from kill shelters in Texas, or street dogs from Cuba or Mexico, or potcakes from places like from St Lucia, or meat dogs from Korea….

I understand the people wanting to help all of those kinds of dogs. 
I understand wanting to choose a dog who needs a home.
I understand seeing the sad faces, and hearing the sad stories, and knowing that you have all the love to give them.

I understand it because am that person. (That’s how I got Kitchi!)

But unfortunately, not all rescues are created equal.

And it’s about time we talk about it.

This is going to be uncomfortable, and there may be people who don’t like what I’m about to say, but for the love of dogs, I have to say it…

All of these dogs that the rescues are bringing in via shipments… they are a problem.

Very rarely are these dogs being assessed properly.
Not for temperament, not for behavior, not for health.

None of it.

And a big part of that problem is that many of these dogs have never lived as pets.

Some have never worn a collar.
Some have never walked on a leash.
Some have never even lived inside a home.

Some have spent their lives surviving on the streets, making their own decisions, finding their own food, and navigating the world on their own terms.

Then suddenly they’re captured, transported hundreds or thousands of kilometers, and placed directly into family homes.

No assessments on what a great fit for the dog will be,
what their temperament is like,
or their behaivoural issues might be.

There is also no support for the guardians who think they’re getting a typical pet dog… but they aren’t.
They don’t know how to work with a dog who has never lived with a human before, or outside of a shelter.
They are often given information that is incomplete, inaccurate, or entirely missing.

I hesitate to use the word “lie”… but the truth is that many of the guardians who take on these dogs because they truly want to help them, find themselves in situations they are not mentally, emotionally, physically, or financially prepared for. And it’s not their fault.

Dogs that are terrified of being handles.
Dogs who have never been house-trained.
Dogs with medical conditions that we unknown or not disclosed.
Dogs with significant reactivity behaviour and behavioural concerns.

Frankly dogs whose histories are largely unknown.
And yes, their histories matter.

These challenges do not make the dog “a bad dog”, nor to they make their new guardians “bad owners”.

The onus is on the rescue, here, in my educated opinion.
Because transporting a dog and collecting money for it is not the same as rescuing. 

So how do we know if we are truly rescuing a dog?

I’m so glad you asked!

A rescue who is truly in it to help dogs will be prepared to support both the dogs and the humans they’ll be living with.

That means: 

• Detailed, honest assessments on behaviour and temperament
• Behavioural support from qualified, ethical, science-based canine professionals
• Veterinary support for fosters (and for the guardians until they have their own)
• Full transparency and knowing it’s ok to say:
  •  Not tested/not ok with cats
  • Unknown history
  • Not tested/not ok with children
  • Reactive to *fill in the blank* (other dogs/men/women/people in uniform/etc)

Adopting a dog is a really wonderful thing to do,
and figuring out who to adopt a dog from shouldn’t be so hard…

There is often an extensive application process when adopting a dog complete with an interview, reference check, and home visit.
(If there isn’t, that’s you’re first red flag)

And, I think, we should also expect the same transparency from the rescues we want to adopt from!

So let’s go through some questions to ask, and what some red flag(and green flag ) answers may be because the more information that we have about what to look for, and what to stay away from, when it comes to rescues, the better the chances of finding a reputable rescue that is really truly in it for the dog. And the more we support those rescues, the more dogs we actually, truly, get to help.