Animal rescue organizations

[chickenguru]

Let me start off first by saying that I am not trying to insinuate that ALL animal rescue groups are like this but I have noticed many in my area and have seen several from one of our neighboring states that are like this.
Personally I believe that if a person or a group decides that they are going to become animal rescuers that they first need to be sure that they have the resources available to be able to be a good rescue group. Things such as feeds,housing,the necessary amount of land to accomodate the animals and most of all the monetary resources to do all of this with.
I saw an add a while back for an animal rescue group and they were begging for people to send money,feed and toys for the cats and dogs they had rescued. Okay if you are going to take on the responsibility of rescuing animals shouldn't you first make sure that you are going to actually be able to take care of these animals when they are so called rescued? It seems that in some (not all) instances the animals were actually better off before they were "rescued."
I love the craigslist adds where someone is trying to re-home a dog.( Many if not most of the dogs and cats on craigslist usually violates craigslist terms of use anyways.) Anyways these people will be charging a "small" rehoming fee to insure that these dogs go to a good home. Really? I know that I am not the only person on here that knows that some people will pay very large amounts for a dog to only turn around and use it for illegal purposes. Just because someone cannot afford to purchase a dog or cat does not mean that they cannot afford to feed it and care for it as good or better than some rich folks will.
Just last week on another group that I am a member of, I saw a fellow member who does not live far from me advertising a goat for sale. They are a registered "animal rescue" group. I contacted the lady to just let her know nicely that the goat she was trying to sell would bring a good deal more money at our local sale barn.(we have a well run sale barn here) In my email I just asked if she had gotten rid of the goat yet. She answered me back and said she still had the goat and did I have some pullets to trade for him. So,sure I got the wife and kids and went out to the pens and got her 2 young guinea keets,2- 8 week old pullets and 2 4 month old pullets and took to her to make the trade. We were both happy with what we recieved so I guess it was a good trade. Well we pulled up to their place and it was on maybe 8 acres or so. They had oh about 15 horses,6 Llamas, many goats and several sheep that were so matted up it looked like they had dread locks. There was a few cats in the yard and the mobile home had two chain link fences around it. In the outer yard there was 2 very scared dogs and in the inner yard there was a german shepard and a lab I think. We could hear all kind of dogs barking in the house. We asked about the dogs in the house and they had around 15 foster dogs in the house waiting to be adopted!
My son asked the lady a question about all the animals and she asked my DD and my DS if they ever watched the animal police on the animal channel. They told her yes mam we do sometimes. She then told the kids that that was what they were like. That they rescued the animals and then adopted them out. The whole time I am thinking. No lady yall are the kind of people that the animal cops come to visit to take animals away from not drop off to.
The horses looked okay for the most part, a few of the goats including the goat I got looked good but after that it was all downhill for the rest of the animals.
I think it is good that there are legitimate groups out there that are doing the animal rescues like it should be done but these other groups including the place that I went to makes all the legitimate groups look bad and I think that is one reason it may be so hard for the "for real" groups to get much needed help at times.

So if anyone on here does animal rescues like it should be done then I applaud you and for the ones that do it in the "not-so-good" way I have nothing for them.
I know I rambled a bit here and for that I apologize.

 

[cassie]

The animal rescue groups with which I have had personal experience are anything but. And this includes many of the well organized widely known groups.

 

[Lynette]

On Animal Planet, they have a show called Animal Hoarders. They think they are running a rescue and helping the animals when actually it is animal abuse. To me, it sounds like something that would be on that show.

 

[dawnchick]

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Same here.

 

[wildeflowers]

Eh! Don't even get me started about the rescue groups whose adoption requirements are so restrictive nearly no normal person can ever qualify. They could place many more animals if they weren't so rigid. They get in their own way, upset people, and drive them to backyard breeders, therefore creating more problems instead of less.

 

[DuckLady]

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Right. Most rescues are good people doing something that no one else will because they love animals.

If you want to make things better, then donate. If not for these rehabilitators many of these animals would starve, Rescues are privately funded and contrary to many many thoughts, get no federal or state funds. Most if not all costs are borne out of their own pockets.

When I worked with the Duck Rescue Network, I never charged for an adoption, but I asked for a donation. It was tax deductible and went right to the feed store. Lots of people would give me a bag of food along with the animal they were surrendering to me. I would have yard sales, I made and sold stuff to fund my little part of the world. I worked my butt off to see that the ducks and geese that were often just dumped in my yard got fed and found good homes.

I suggest volunteering your time to help these overworked people who do so much good. Walk a mile in their shoes. You may have caught these people when they lacked help or their volunteers decided that working for free is no fun.

And no not every rescuer is a hoarder.

Wanna do something? Donate or volunteer, but do not judge until you have been there.

 

[TigerLilly]

The first thing i do if i'm interested in something that is listed as being at an 'animal rescue' is ask them if they are a REGISTERED rescue. Around here, anyone & everyone think they can call themselves a rescue & it's all hunky dory. In reality, these are the people taking all the FREE animals posted in the paper or on CL & trying to 'rehome' them for a profit. These are the same people that end up begging for cash, food, supplies, etc., to help their 'resuce' when they can't get rid of the animals...
Sorry, I had to vent as well. Ya'll are lucky though, that's got to hold the record for my shortest rant ever!

 

[Kansaseq]

I am not a formal rescue organization, but have, over the years, done rescue on an individual basis.It's not a planned thing; rather it usually happens that I am in the right place at the right time, and decide I can't let a particular (dumped) animal wander at large or be put down for no good reason. I try very hard to NOT keep these guys, but have had as many as 5 dogs at one time. I know going in that all costs are going to come out of my own pocket. I have successfully placed 4 animals; the rest became my personal pets.

However, having worked for a shelter, and knowing people who do animal rescue the right way (ie not to make a profit), I know how very hard it is to run an organization like that. They do depend on donations and volunteers, which sometimes fall short. I don't think there is anything wrong with asking for help. If you can afford to donate, then do, if not, then don't. I know the cost of adopting a dog or cat these days has really gone up, but then so has the cost of caring for them.

 

[jerseygirl1]

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I agree 100%

 

[mylittlezoo]

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Hear, hear. Rescue is rewarding. But. It is also a money pit, exhausting, heartbreaking, challenging and the best and the worst thing I have ever done. I wish I had never started, because what I have seen can never be unseen. Neither can I stop, because were it not for me, the 30 or so cats I have in my house at any given time would have been PTS.

Don't tar us all with the same brush, we have a hard enough time as it is. Most of us are exhausted, world-weary and cynical. People have made us this way.