Free to Good Home...

In animal rescue, we run into problems. Financial problems? We got those. Staffing problems? We got those. Volunteer problems? We got those. Shortage of homes problems? We got those. Overabundance of animals problems? We got those. Up to your knees in poop problems? We got those. People unwilling to give their "Free to Good Home" animal to a rescue problem? We got those!

When rescue people see ads for animals "Free to a Good Home", most rescues jump on them if they have room in their program. "Free to Good Home" pets are rarely given ONLY to good homes. If you walk in for a pup, you walk away with a pup, no reference checks, no applications, nothing. The owners are often just eager to get rid of the pesky buggars. No matter how cute they are, an entire litter of puppies or kittens can cause a lot of mess that needs constant cleaning. The owners just want to get rid of the issue, get rid of the mess, and clean for the last time.

I was working at another veterinary hospital, and we had a client that owned a commercial breeding facility. He is a very nice guy and we get along just fine despite my general concern for the quality of animal care in these commercial breeding facilities. He always got his animals checked out by a veterinarian, so I give him credit for that. He was biding his time in the waiting room looking at the bulletin board that has many flyers on it. He picked one off the board, and made a phone call. When I called him into the room for his appointment, he handed me the flyer and he said, "You can throw this one away. They are gone". I looked at the flyer and it said, "Two 3 month old schnauzer puppies Free to Good Home". If they had still been available, they would be in his care, and I don't care how wonderful his facility might be, the quality of life for those Free to Good Home pups would not be the same as being a house pet...sleeping on the bed at night, running to the door when you hear your owner's car return from work, chewing on slippers, etc.

Today I took in 4 adorable mix breed puppies from a rescue group. The rescue group had called the gentleman that was advertising 14 mixed breed puppies that were six weeks old Free to a Good Home. Yes, I did say 14! What a mess they must make! When they told the gentleman they were a rescue group and would make sure the puppies were vetted and cared for in experienced foster homes until a forever home was found, the gentleman said "No".

I do not understand why anyone would say no to that! Here is a group willing to take away your problem, all 14 of them in one big swoop. That rescue group is willing to pay a veterinarian for all the veterinary care including vaccines, deworming, flea protection, spay/neuter when they are old enough, microchipping, boarding expenses, any other necessary medical expenses, provide transportation from his front door to the pups' new foster homes, provide foster care for these puppies with a real family, not kept in a kennel like most shelters, and review applications thoroughly including home visits to prospective families for all 14 puppies. This is not an easy or inexpensive task, yet they were willing to do it for the sake of the puppies. They were willing to do it to ensure that the homes these puppies go to have had a veterinary reference checked. They are willing to do it to ensure that the adopting family does not live in a building that does not allow pets (yes, you would be amazed how many times this knocks out our potential adopters!). They are willing to do it to ensure that these puppies go to a home that understands what a puppy needs now, what a dog needs in the years to come, and what a senior dog will require in 10 years.

Financial gain? Does this gentleman think this group will run off and make a bunch of money on HIS puppies? This rescue group's adoption fee for puppies is $275. Go to your phone and call your veterinarian. Get an estimate for an office visit and exam, distemper combo vaccine with parvo and corona, kennel cough vaccine, rabies, fecal exam and deworming, monthly heartworm pill, monthly flea and tick treatment, pedicure, spay or neuter, and a microchip. I will bet you would lose money on that deal! Keep in mind that this rescue group is paying for boarding until transport is found to get these four puppies to their new foster homes. If these puppies are in foster care for more than three weeks, it means more vaccines, more deworming, more flea control, more heartworm pills, more medical expenses... Do you get my point?

These are mixed breed puppies, cute as they are (and they are cute) there is no "market" waiting for these puppies. People will say, "I have always wanted a...(enter breed name here)." This phrase rarely ends in "large mixed breed dog". In this economy, there is no guarantee that with large mixed breed dogs, even if they are cute little puppies now, that a qualified adopter will be found quickly. It is the sad truth.

But the gentleman said, "No". So where do we go from here. Another volunteer called the gentleman back, and said she was looking for some farm dogs for herself and for her sister. Voila, four out of fourteen puppies safe and sound...

Most of the other ten puppies will likely go to good homes, be well cared for, go to the vet, and get spayed/neutered. Because they are mixed breed dogs, they will not likely end up in a professional breeding facility. Some may end up tied to a tree in the back yard for their lifetime due to the lack of screening for "Good Homes". Some might end up pregnant or causing pregnancies because their unscreened owner neglected to spay/neuter a dog that was free anyway. So here we would have a puppy that was irresponsibly bred, that could have gone to rescue, but is now part of the pet overpopulation problem and producing more unwanted litters because one man could not see the benefit of sending a large unwanted litter of puppies into rescue.

There are those that judge us for the deceptive nature of a rescue mission such as this. I don't like that it occasionally has to be done this way. Most times we get an immediate "Yes" when we call. Sometimes we can convince the hesitant person that we are the best place for the animal. Sometimes, we cannot change whatever negative perception of rescue is clouding this person's mind. I am thoroughly confused by the fact that a person can be willing to give an animal away to anyone, but that same person is not willing to give the same free animal to anyone associated with a "rescue". This particular rescue group does not have any significant financial gain in the adoption of the pups. The adoption market is poor right now, new forever homes are hard to find in an economy where animals are constantly being relinquished due to job loss, housing changes, even marital changes.

As long as these four dogs are alive, if ever the new family is unable to care for them, these four puppies will be welcomed back into this rescue to be rehomed. They will be welcomed back whether they are four months old, four years old, or fourteen years old. Life situations may change for their owners, but these puppies have a type of life insurance policy that has been given to them by this rescue group and its team of volunteers, including transportation volunteers, foster home volunteers, volunteers that run the computer/communications, read applications, do home visits, recieve and return phone calls, open mail, pay bills, keep track of volunteer hours, monitor transports to make sure everyone meets on time and at the right place, fundraising volunteers, etc.

Who could say no to that?