What it is we do here…
06 Jan 2010
It has come to our attention that there appears to be some confusion over what it is exactly that Saving Furry Friends Animal Rescue does, I would like to take a moment to clear that up.
First and foremost,Saving Furry Friends is dedicated to rescuing and rehoming SHELTER dogs, dogs whose lives are in imminent danger of being ended at the shelter.
We do also provide assistance with funds for veterinary medical emergencies whenever possible.
We will provide assistance to those in the community in need of assistance with petfood.
We will assist owners who have lost their pets by distributing fliers, placing radio ads and sending out emails.
We will provide transportation for an animal to receive veterinary care to those in the community that are without transportation.
We will assist people who need to find new homes for their animals or animals they have found, by matching them with potential adopters,contacting other rescues,posting the animal on Petfinders and other various websites.
We will assist you with finding a dog that will fit into your family, whether it be a dog that is here at our rescue or another animal we are aware of in rescue, a shelter, or still with its owner,that is in need of a new home.
Folks dropping unannounced, without calling first, at 6 am, or in the middle of family functions, ( yes we actually had a family members birthday party interrupted by someone who needed/wanted to drop their pet off here) will not be assisted as this has gotten completely and utterly out of hand with people stopping by at 6 am to the other extreme of stopping by at 11:30 pm. We rescue but we also live here.
Now for what Saving Furry Friends is not. We are not the county shelter, nor a dumping ground for unwanted animals.
WE DO NOT ACCEPT ANIMALS FROM THE PUBLIC, NO EXCEPTIONS.
Like any other rescue there is only room for so many animals.
We have recently had a very real problem here and that is people dropping by at all hours of the day and night to drop animals that they have found or that they can no longer keep. While we would like to help every animal in need, that simply is not possible, for multiple reasons including:
1) If you have found a pet it’s owners may be looking for it. They will check the pound to try to find it but may not necessarily check with our rescue.
2) We, like everyone else, have limited resources and are caring for, feeding and vetting as many animals as possible. We are never below capacity, as soon as an animal is adopted, within hours another is taken from the shelter to take the adopted animals place, thus sparring its life.
3) There have been issues with another rescue in the past that did take owner surrenders. In an effort to be helpful a rescue out of Floyd county, Virginia took in a dog from an owner. The owner claimed she was moving and could not keep the dog. A few days later and one visit from animal control and the truth came out. The owner was not moving, her dog had bit someone and was not current on its rabies vaccination at the time.
4) There are limits in the town as to how many animals our rescue can have at any one time.
5) On one occasion I was at the shelter when a woman came in to surrender her dog.She signed the appropriate paper work, certified that she was indeed the animals owner… two weeks later the dogs rightful owner showed up, the dog was gone.
6) Animals coming into our rescue from the shelter are screened for behavioral and medical issues. On the behavioral side not every animal will fit in here, they must first be accessed. Are they aggressive with other dogs? cats? Do they have food aggression? Have they ever bitten anyone?
On the medical side we have no way of knowing the medical history of the stray that you have found. Has it been vaccinated? Does it have a communicable disease such as parvo,distemper,kennel cough, coccidia, etc. Animals coming into rescue from the shelter are first held by the shelter for up to 10 days to help ensure we are not bringing an animals in that could spread illness among the animal already here in our care.
I hope this clears up any misconceptions about what we do and don’t do here. Again if you need help rehoming an animal please call or email us with the animals information and we will try to assist you in finding the animal a home. Likewise if you are interested in adopting give us a call, make an appointment we’d love to match you with an animal in need.
