Ways to Help a Rescue

Many people do not realize just how much needs to be done in a rescue. Big, small, non-profit and independent alike all have some things in common...the work involved, the time it takes to do it and the money required to get the job done. There is a small but crucial difference in a non-profit vs. an independent rescue however. This is funding. While non-profits get a tax break and business perks of lower costs, they also receive many more donations. This is simply because as a non-profit organization, anyone donating funds or money to them can get a receipt from them for a tax deduction. This helps out a lot when there are emergencies and medical needs which must be met.

The independent rescue however, does not have these perks. We pay for everything out of our own pocket without any chance of getting it back. We do not get a tax break. No discounts that we do not frugally come across on our own. Few people donate money or goods simply because it is like flushing it down the toilet...no tax deduction! So just think of all the time, energy and funds you put into your beloved pet to keep him healthy and happy...then multiply that a dozen times! And consider helping an independent in your area. I know both they, and the animals they care for, would be very grateful indeed!

Donations of time and services

Transport a dog?
Walk a dog?
Groom a dog?
Go to the local shelter and see if that dog is the breed the shelter says it is or go with rescue to be a second opinion on the dog?
Make a few phone calls?
Mail out applications to people who've requested them?
Provide local vet clinics with contact information for educational materials on responsible pet ownership?
Drive a dog to and from vet appointments?
Donate the use of your scanner or digital camera?
Donate the use of a photocopier?
Attend public education days and try to educate people on responsible pet ownership?
Provide a shoulder to cry on when the rescue person is overwhelmed?
Be a Santi-paws foster to give the foster a break for a few hours or days?
Clip coupons for dog food or treats?
Bake some homemade doggie biscuits?
Host rescue photos with an information link on your website?
Donate time to take good photos of foster dogs for adoption flyers, etc.?
Conduct a home visit or accompany a rescue person on the home visit?
Go with rescue person to the vet to help if there is more than one dog?
Have a yard sale and donate the money to rescue?
Be a volunteer to do rescue in your area?
Talk to all your friends about adopting and fostering rescue dogs?
Interview vets to encourage them to offer discounts to rescues?
Write a column for your local newspaper or club newsletter on dogs on dogs currently looking for homes or ways to help rescue?
Take photos of dogs available for adoption for use by the Club?
Maintain web sites listing/showing dogs available?
Help organize and run fundraising events?
Help maintain the paperwork files associated with each dog or enter the information into a database?
Drive the fosters' children to an activity so that the foster can take the dog to obedience class?
Use your video camera to film a rescue dog in action?
Be the one to take the dog to its obedience class?
Go to the foster home once a week with your children and dogs to help socialize the dog?
Help the foster clean up the yard (yes, we also have to scoop what those foster dogs poop)
Offer to test the foster dog with cats?
Loan your carpet steam cleaner to someone who has fostered a dog that was sick or marked in the house?
Bring the foster take out so the foster doesn't have to cook dinner?
Lend your artistic talents to your club's newsletter, fundraising ideas, t-shirt designs?
Go to local shelters and meet with shelter staff about how to identify your breed or provide photos and breed information showing the different types of that breed may come in and the different color combinations?
Go to local businesses and solicit donations for a club's fundraising event?
Offer to try and help owners be better pet owners by holding a grooming seminar?
Help pet owners be better pet owners by being available to answer training questions?
Loan a crate if a dog needs to travel by air?
Put together an *Owner's Manual* for those who adopt rescued dogs of your breed?
Provide post-adoption follow up or support?
Volunteer to screen calls for that ad?
Get some friends together to build/repair pens for a foster home?
Microchip your own pups if you are a breeder, and register the chips, so if your dogs ever come into rescue, you can be contacted to take responsibility for your pup?
Make financial arrangements in your will to cover the cost of caring for your dogs after you are gone - so Rescue won't have to?
Make a bequest in your will to your local or national Rescue?
Donate your professional services as an accountant or lawyer?
Donate other services if you run your own business?
Donate the use of a vehicle if you own a car dealership?
Loan your cell phone (and cover costs for any calls) to someone driving a rescued dog?
Let rescue know when you'll be flying and that you'd be willing to be a rescued dog's escort?
Organize a rescued dog picnic or other event to reunite the rescued dogs that have been placed?
Remember that rescuing a dog involves the effort and time of many people and make yourself available on an emergency basis to do *whatever* is needed?

Donations of goods and money

Donate a dog bed or towels or other *bedding* type items?**
Donate MONEY?
Donate a Kong? A nylabone? A Hercules?
Donate a crate?
Donate an x-pen or baby gates?
Donate a food dish or a stainless bucket for a crate?
Donate a leash?
Donate a collar?
Donate some treats or a bag of food?
Donate a halter or promise collar or a gentle leader?
Donate some grooming supplies (shampoos, combs, brushes, etc.)?
Donate long distance calling cards?
Donate a gift certificate to a pet store?
Donate a raffle item if your club is holding a fund raiser?
Donate flea stuff (Advantage, etc.)?
Donate heartworm pills?
Donate a canine first aid kit?
Pay the boarding fees to board a dog for a week? Two weeks?
Make book purchases through Amazon via a web site that contributes commissions earned to a rescue group?
Take advantage of a promotion on the web or store offering a free ID tag and instead of getting it for your own dog, have the tag inscribed with your Club's name and phone # to contact?
Donate vet services or you can help by donating a spay or neuter each year or some vaccinations?
Tattoo a rescued dog?
Microchip a rescued dog?
Donate a bottle of bleach or other cleaning products?
Donate or loan a portable dog run to someone who doesn't have a quarantine area for quarantining a dog that has an unknown vaccination history and has been in a shelter?
Pay the cost of taking a dog to obedience class?
Pay for the dog to be groomed or take the dog to a *Do It Yourself* Grooming Place?
Pay a house-cleaning service to do the spring cleaning for someone who fosters dogs all the time?
Donate printer paper, envelopes and stamps to your club?
Go with a rescue person to the vet if a foster dog needs to be euthanized?
Donate a coupon for a free car wash or gas or inside cleaning of a vehicle?
Pay for an ad in your local/metropolitan paper to help place rescue dogs?
Donate a small percentage of the sale of each pup to rescue if you are a breeder?
Buy two of those really neat dog-items you "have to have" and donate one to Rescue?
Donate your *used* dog dryer when you get a new one?
Donate a doggy seatbelt?
Donate a grid for a van or other vehicle?
Donate other types of doggy toys that might be safe for rescued dogs?
Donate a roll-a-treat or Buster cube?
Donate clickers or a video on clicker training?
Donate materials for a quarantine area at a foster home?
Donate sheets of linoleum or other flooring materials to put under crates to protect the foster's floor?
Donate an engraving tool to make ID tags for each of the rescued dogs?
Do something not listed above to help rescue

"For all those who Foster".

Thank You for bringing this foster dog into my life.
Had I not made the decision to participate in rescue,
I would never have had the chance to meet him. If
I had sat here comfortably in my home and said "I
already have four dogs and I know that I couldn't take
in another - even on a temporary basis," I would never
have met this dog.

Yes, it takes time to rescue and foster... but who
gave me Time in the first place? And why or what was
the reason I was given Time? To fill my own needs? Or
was there another reason ever so small and seemingly
insignificant, like rescuing this one dog, that could
make a difference in another's life? Perhaps to add
joy, hope, help and companionship to another who is in
need?

With great sadness, I sat down on a footstool in my
kitchen this morning and watched as this foster dog
bounced back into the house and skidded across the
floor to sit ever so perfectly in front of me. He was
the picture of health, finally. He was all smiles for
me.... and I smiled back at his happy face. Deep in
his eyes, the storm clouds of illness and generalized
poor health had blown away, and the clear light of his
perfection radiated out from his beautiful soul. He
holds no ill will toward man. He forgives us all.

I thought to myself as I impressed this one last long
look of him into my heart, what a very fine creature
You have created. Tears slowly pooled and spilled over
my cheekbones as the deeper realization of how
wonderful this dog is sank into my internal file
cabinet of Needful Things to Remember. Lord, he's a
dog - but he's a better human being than I am.

He has forgiven quickly. Would I do the same?

He passionately enjoys the simple things in life. And
I have often overlooked them.

He accepts change and gets on with his life. I fuss
and worry about change.

He lives today and loves today. And I often dwell in
the past or worry about the future.

He loves no matter what. I am not that free.

This very lovely dog has gone to his new home today
and already I miss him. Thank You for bringing this dog
into my life. And thank You for the beautiful and
tender lesson on how to be a better human.

Updated 01-12-04