Info Desired on Animal Rescue (resources, books, etc)

Ok... so... I am wanting to do animal rescue/rehab in my future.

I was directed to this website for more info... and would love some.

I don't know exactly what I am looking for... so anything would be great.

I am going to start volunteering at a local rescue this summer... I would start now... but due to school, work, etc... I just don't have any time... wish I did.

So... any information, books, etc? Anything that you think someone interested in this field would NEED to know?

bumping this up... anybody?

What kind of animal rescue are you interested in? Large animal? Small animal? Wildlife? Strays? Abuse cases? Are you looking to just volunteer with a rescue organization or are you looking to set up a rescue of your own? Shelter work? Farm work? Vet work? Fostering?

I would start out by learning as much as possible about the animals you'd be rescuing - raising and caring for them, handling them, behaviors and behavior problems. A lot of that should be learned hands on.

learn everything you possibly can about training animals with positive methods. Many of the animals you will meet will be very fearful and need lots of help behaviorwise.

The power of positive training By Pat Miller is a good start.

My eventual goal is to do all-around rescue (both large animal as well as small animal), but on a semi-small scale, and not through a shelter, though I may get some of my animals from shelter. Only recently have I reverted back to my first goal of becoming a vet, and using that to both fund me in my cause as well as help me avoid always having to go through someone else for those kinds of needs.

I currently work at a vet clinic. And all of the animals I have ever owned have been rescues, mainly off of the street.

I'm not positive yet as to whether I want to stay here in the United States and work with the animals here on the 42 acres that I am hoping to inherit from my Grandparents... or whether I want to move back overseas and do rescue work in Serbia. I am fluent in Serbian, and that is where my heart is... and it breaks that heart when I see all of the horridities done to the animals there, and the two or three humane societies just can't do much at the moment.

I am a Junior in High school right now. And I'm not planning on starting my "large-scale" work until I graduate college, either with a Bachelor's in Animal Sciences or a DVM, however, I am planning on doing a lot of fostering, research, and small scale rescue, rehab, and adopting out until that point.


I have worked with multiple dogs (though not a TON, and I'll be the first to acknowledge that fact) that have been extremely fearful and aggressive. At the place where I work, there is a jack russel that often comes in to board for a couple days. While he immidiately attacks the gate when people just walk by him, when I walk by (I'm always VERY careful around him), he wags his tail, albeit still very wary. But due to school... I've never been there more than 5 hours a day... and that's on weekends... 2 hours on normal days... so I never made a ton of progress before he went back to his owners.

Starting this summer I am planning on helping out at a local animal shelter. I would now... but I just really don't have any time... at all. So yeah.


I guess what I'm saying... is that I do have experience... but not really a ton in true rescue which is why I'm wondering what NEEDS to be known, as well as just plain expanding my own knowledge, which could definately use a TON of expansion... and am wondering about legal stuff... since I don't even know where to start looking when it comes to that.

Thanks.

I'll see if the local library has the Pat Miller book.

I think getting hands-on experience with a shelter is a wonderful place to start.

I think that working with the animals and learning as much as possible about the animals is a good thing to do as well. But more important, IMO, is to focus on the adoption side of things.... figuring out what kind of home would be best for each animal and then figuring out how to match the home with the animal.

As an example: I visited a large no-kill shelter yesterday. They had about 250 dogs, about half were adults (I didn't look at the puppies). On the kennel cards were short descriptions of the type of person that would be a good match for each dog. Almost all of them said that the dog would be a "great running partner," "good for an active family," "not good with other dogs or cats," "only older children, please," etc. These dogs had been in this shelter for months waiting on that home to come along, and the fact is it's incredibly to find an active home with no kids and no other pets. This is one "wake up call" that, IME, a lot of shelter volunteers just have no idea about, and then they get discouraged and burned-out when they discover just how difficult the job can be.

I'd suggest thinking about working with a rescue group fostering dogs. That way you can really experience what it's like to rescue a dog and get it settled into your household. It will give you a lot of great experience and empathy for the adopters you'll be working with eventually. Fosters will also be an amazing resource for you when you end up doing your own rescue, so this will help you learn about that aspect for yourself as well.

Good luck!!

Thanks. I am hoping to foster as well as volunteer starting this summer. I would do it now, but there are some small factors that are keeping me from doing so:

1. I work. I work at a vet clinic, so I AM gaining experience in the medical side of it, which I need to gain, since I'm looking more into becoming a veterinarian, to help both with costs as well as the fact that for most of the issues, I don't NEED to work with someone else on stuff.

2. I have school. And for my parents, that comes first, above all else. And I agree... with some things.

3. The townhome we live in now does not allow any pets... period.

But I'm moving out with my Grandparents this summer (my parents are moving back to Europe)... and they have 42 acres... so I can start accumulating a zoo. (responsibly of course... )


Oh... when you foster, do you generally just take in the high needs animals? Like puppies who still need to be nursed/watched all the time, or pregnant animals, or an animal who needs constant attention due to an illness or something? Or how does fostering usually work? I know it varies from place to place, but isn't there like a general way it works? I know a lot (though I could defiantely learn a LOT more) about the whole animal side of things... but I have no clue when it comes to the actual rescue, rehab, and all of that kind of "legal" type of things... so yeah.


Thanks a million.

Yes, volunteering in a shelter is great experience! You might also check out Petsmart Charities free online live webinars. They are wonderful. If you can't make the actual webinar because of your school or work schedule, you can listen to the recording later. Here's the link. PetSmart Charities | Webinars for Animal Welfare Professionals PetSmart Charities | Webinars for Animal Welfare Professionals

In the South, the shelters have extremely high kill rates.... So ANY dog is a high need animal. Around here, you literally do whatever you can do, and shelters and rescues are extremely happy for whatever help you can give them.

I visited a shelter last week that euthanized over 250 dogs the week before. The lucky dogs get to stay in the shelter for 7 days before being euthed, the unlucky ones only get 3 days. While that is a little extreme, it isn't all that shocking for this area.

Of course the pregnant bitches, sick/injured, etc. dogs are probably even more high need, so you could focus on them if you want.

What I would suggest, though, is to foster for a rescue group. The rescue has people who go into shelters and decide which dogs to pull out; then they need homes to put those dogs into until the rescue can find an adopter for the dog. Each rescue has their own rules for fosters, but generally fosters don't have to pick out their own foster dogs from the shelter, and they don't have to do all of the screening of the potential adopters; they simply have to house and take care of the dog. This would be a great way for you to start. Then as you get more comfortable, you can take on more responsibilities within the rescue, and learn about all aspects of running it.

Thanks a ton guys. I am currently living in Houston, and will be moving to a smaller town a few hours away from both Dallas and College Station. So yeah...

I'll see if there are any rescue groups in the area I can get involved with. I do know that I'll probably be bringing in quite a few strays, getting in touch with a rescue group or the place down the street, and doing some of that kind of stuff. They usually tend to "turn up" at my Grandparents' place. My own dog will just have to get used to having other dogs around. She's not aggressive... she just doesn't like other dogs around all of the time, and she gets jealous, however, she has never bit anybody, and does no more than a growl... but yeah. The 'higher needs' dogs (if you can call them that), would probably be kept indoors, while my dog and my Grandma and Grandpa's dog live outdoors.

Thanks. I'm gonna take a look at the Petsmart thing.

Any books you recommend that are on rescue/rehab/law in general? I like to read.

I'm outside of Austin, let me know if you want some rescue group recommendations!

I might just take you up on that offer lizzybeth... but not yet... as I'm not quite in that position. I'll get in touch with you and with the rescues as summer gets closer.

OK... so I bought a few things while at Half-Price Books:

UCDAVIS Book of Dogs - Complete Medical Reference Guide for Dogs and Puppies. It's a THICK book. Yes, it's older. 1995. Yes, some of the things in it will be outdated, but a lot of things are the same then that they are now... so yeah. And I must say, for $2.00, it's not THAT bad of a buy.

Dog Lover's Companion - it looked like a good buy in the store... but now that I have it home... it seems to be a bit more of a basic guide for dog owners... but it's not bad. Just not the in-depth stuff I was looking for... and BIG print.


And then a couple horse riding books I got, since I'm going to be getting a horse this summer, and I'm having difficulty trying to get lessons... trust me though... I'm trying.

For the Good of the Rider
and
Centered Riding


And I'm planning on getting a few books on animal behavior when we go to the library (probably tomorrow)... I think I remember seeing a few there last time...