It’s Petside’s Annual Pet Net Day! This year, a group of bloggers have come together to write about pet adoption and rescue. Today, I’m letting the staff take the reins to talk about breed specific rescues. But first, a few housekeeping issues.
MOST IMPORTANT, please visit Petside’s page and VOTE for this post as your favorite! If we win, we will get $500 to donate to the organization of our choice. I say “our” choice because, we’re in this together. You guys cast the votes and you guys get to choose the rescue if we win. I will ask YOU to submit your fave rescue and then do a drawing! Wheeeee!
There are other ways you can help raise food for shelter and rescue pets. You can see how right here.
Okay, staff. Go:
On Facebook recently, a friend posted her desire to find a good breeder because she wanted a black lab. Her family had always had labs and her sweet old baby had recently gone to the bridge. I love this friend but I was near hysteria. Trying not to sound like a crazy zealot (because that never works, my friends) I emailed her privately and said, “OMG go to your local shelter or find a lab rescue!” She was skeptical at first. “There are lab rescues??” Uh, yah.
Here was this smart, fabulous, kind and caring woman who didn’t know that, according to the ASPCA, 25 percent of dogs in shelters are purebred. And, with the many breed-specific rescues out there, the number of adoptable pure breds is quite a bit higher.
It’s okay to be obsessed with a specific breed of dog or cat. I’m not quite sure how it happens but for some of us humans, a certain breed creeps into our hearts, lays down and stays put.
This woman loves her labs. I love my persians. My friend Bev loves her bichons. My brother and sister in law love their bostons. And there are plenty of people out there who couldn’t live without a series of wonderful loyal mutts (a breed of their own, in my opinion!) in their lives. It’s okay to have a preference. You can find almost any breed in a shelter or breed-specific rescue. And we need to spread the word to help these breed-specific rescues help more pets in need.
Neither of my persian babies would have survived without a breed-specific rescue.
Romeo was two-years-old when he was brought into a shelter in Kentucky for the second time. He was covered in scabs and deaf in both ears. He had litter box issues. He was a mess. And probably would be hard to adopt out. But a shelter worker who knew of a persian rescue in Ohio called them and asked if they wanted him. Of course they did! So Renee drove several hours to pick up this little matted, flea ridden ball of misbehaving fluff that would completely change our lives.
Sweet Pugsley was an 11th hour rescue. In a shelter in Indiana, he was (incorrectly) diagnosed with a life-threatening and contagious disease and slated for you-know-what. The eve before, one of the workers who wasn’t entirely sure he had the disease in question, called the persian rescue. Within hours, he was in a carrier, headed to Ohio and, several months later, into our home.
What if these shelter workers had not known about The Forgotten Persian Rescue & Friends? The more people who know about breed-specific rescues, the better. Most organizations out there are wonderful and do everything they can to save the dogs and cats in their care. But often a breed specific rescue can take it just one step further, as in Romeo and Pugsley’s cases.
So tell me, do you have a specific breed of cat or dog that you love? Do you have a story you want to share? Please do!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Love this post! I’m a Collie lover and can’t image a world without one in it. I adopted mine from a collie specific rescue group in Ohio. I volunteer at a shelter where we might see one purebred collie a year. They’re not as popular as they use to be. Some breeds aren’t easy to find in shelters, but with a little bit of research you can usually find a resuce that specializes with the breed. Petfinder is one place to start your search. Believe it or not, the AKC website has a listing of breed specific rescues. Just visit their “Future Owners” section.
VOTED! I loved this post, I’ve always felt a little bit snobby having a preference for Persians (even though they’re both rescues!)…. I felt vindicated for seeking them out. Thanks Romeo and CO! XOXO
Great post, as usual. I love coming here and taking in your insight — never ceases to inpsire and never ceases to make me want to do better in even just the little things I can do to help…
Thx Romeo & Caroline for all you do every day for the world’s homeless and helpless – there is a BIG special place for you all in Heaven; I hope Theodore and I are in the same place some day… (and Franklin and co., etc)
Jaime
Just went voted for you Good Luck. Mommy had certain breeds she knew were good with cats and would fit in better with her lifestyle but she knew that she could find whatever breed she wanted @ a shelter or rescue. The hard part was finding a puppy like Daddy and the youngest boy bean wanted.
She used petfinder.com to find Fenris.
We LOVE breed rescue and recommend people search Petfinder if they are sure they want a specific breed. And mom smiles every time you mention the rescue where you guys were adopted – the shelter where she used to volunteer sent persians there as well. We voted and you guys ROCK!
I love these pictures of the boys together! My staff-mom never liked cats because her only experience was with her grandmother’s cat that scratched everyone. But living in a house with 5 dogs was probably why she scratched. Fast forward too many years and a co-worker brought bottle babies to work. The only survivor was a tuxedo that my staff-mom had named Tux. Staff-mom fell in love with cats on the spot. Now there are only tuxedos in the house. One at a time only because staff-mom only adopts challenging, cat disliking tuxedos with potty box issues who have been abandoned. I’m the lucky tux of the house these days 5 homes later and I’m lovin’ it thankyouverymuch. We are not a “breed” but we definitely are a loving force to contend with! Adopt a shelter cat!