Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be involved with some type of animal rescue organization? Are there things that you wish you knew about these types of organizations, yet you realize you don’t really know all that much about the way they operate? Perhaps you have the misconception that all animal rescues operate the same way that an animal shelter does. In reality, the two are different entities and in most cases, they are operated much differently.
The first thing that has to be made clear is that animal rescues and animal shelters do not mean one in the same. In fact, the term animal shelter usually refers to some type of municipal or county facility that is designed to house unwanted or lost animals. Unfortunately, most of these facilities are also known as kill facilities. In other words, the dogs that come into the facility and fail to be adopted in a timely fashion are euthanized, simply because no one came to get them in time. If you’re an animal lover, this is undoubtedly one of the saddest realities that you have to face.
Thankfully, animal rescues are usually not operated this way. In fact, that’s one of the reasons that non-traditional animal rescue facilities came into being. People couldn’t stand the fact that dogs were being euthanized at an alarmingly fast rate in these municipal facilities and some people made the decision to create their own animal rescues that would operate as no-kill facilities. This means that the animal will either stay at the animal rescue until it is adopted out or it will be fostered with an individual inside that person’s home. Regardless of what happens, the dog is not put to sleep and is able to live out its days in one location or the other. Obviously, neither one of these options are as good as being adopted to a forever home, but it is certainly better than the alternative of euthanasia.
There are a lot of different dog rescues that operate throughout the United States. Some locations have far more than others but even most rural locations have one or two that are operating, even if it isn’t on a formal basis. Dog rescues can encompass everything from the person down the street that everybody knows can take in a stray dog to to full-scale facilities that operate with a staff and utilizes grounds that are designed just for housing dogs. Typically, most dog rescues fall somewhere in between.
Maybe you want to know more about these types of rescues because you’re interested in helping out or participating in whatever way is most needed. Perhaps you are considering getting a dog and you want to get one from one of these types of facilities. Maybe you’ve even made a practice of getting your pets from these places in the past, yet you realize there are still some things you don’t really know about the way they operate. For whatever reason you might be interested, you can read about 20 things that you probably don’t know about dog rescues, provided that you keep reading through the list below. Some of them are undoubtedly going to surprise you, and others will be relatively obvious. If you love dogs and you want to help them, you already have every reason you need to keep reading.
