How to Start a Pet Rescue

As a person who worked for five years at an animal shelter, one of the questions I am most frequently asked is “How to I start my own pet rescue?”. Sadly this question is often asked for the wrong reason, the person often wants a cheap way to acquire pets. This is often evident when they specify a type of animal they want to rescue and it is usually an exotic pet, one seldom requiring the services of a rescue organization.

One case would be a farm near me that advertised themselves as a wallaby rescue. Upon looking at their website, they offer no animals for adoption and even have a “willing to buy cheap wallaby’s” caption. No legitimate rescue would directly buy an animal from the public. Additionally their number one goal would be to place (adopt out) as many pets as possible thus enabling them to rescue another.

The only exception to this rule are the horse rescue groups that purchase horses at auctions who would otherwise be destined to slaughter. For the purpose of this article we will primarily be discussing rescue for cats, dogs and small caged pets.

Establishing Need

A city of 50000 needs shelter space for 100-150 cats, roughly 20 – 50 dogs, and 10 smaller caged pets. If you live in an area where such a shelter already exists, there is no need for an additional rescue facility unless you are going to do something spectacularly different, such as specifically rescuing and rehoming older pets, ones that the regular shelter would likely euthanize. As such you may be able to help more simply by assisting the present shelter rather than having an additional one which may confuse the public.

It must be noted the kind of shelter space I am referring to includes not only pets surrendered by their owners, but lost/stray ones as well. Some cities operate separate pounds where lost pets are held, but many use the shelters to house these pets too. If a city has too many places that house stray pets the public will not know where to look when their pet goes missing.

Photo source http://www.flickr.com/photos/glasgows/413371172/

Check Area Laws

If you are going to start the shelter out of your own home, very likely you will have some laws restricting the number of pets you can have within. If your city offers special licensing to have additional pets, you will need to apply. Very likely you will need a Business License, and neighbor permission. Will people come to your home to adopt or will you take the pets to an “Adoption Event” at a local supporting store? Establish an agreement with the store first before you tell the city council that is the arrangement.

Establish Funding

Do you have the finances to care for a large amount of animals? Getting donations or additional funding is not easy and never guaranteed. Unless you have sufficient funding to operate a shelter, do not continue until you can establish ongoing financial support.

Form a Charity

Typically shelters ask for donations. If you are going to accept donations, people will want to see that you are a proper charity, not just somebody looking for easy money and free pet food. In most areas this means forming a board of directors, a group of people who will oversee the handling of funds as well as doing fund raising activities. Your City Hall or Chamber of Commerce can help you to know the rules of forming a charity in your area.

Have a Mission Statement

Have something in writing that basically says what your shelters goals are. This way if you find yourself straying from your goal, you can adjust. An example would be that if your shelter is for the rescue and re-adoption of rabbits and guinea pigs, you would stay focused on rescuing that type of pet rather than expanding too soon into larger animals.

Make Contracts

You should have contracts for the purposes of accepting pets, and for adopting them out. Your contract should include a place for a surrendering owner to provide as much information about the pet as needed, as well it should state clearly how much time they have to reclaim the animal if they should want to. Check to see if there are any laws in your area before making up a rule on your own. The adoption contract should require the pet to be spayed or neutered in a certain period of time, and should cover that the shelter has the right to request the return of the animal if it is not being cared for. Additionally the contract should state the care it wants the animal to receive, and ask the person to return the animal in the event they cannot care for it. Cover any guarantees or waivers in the contract.

Form a Relationship with Area Veterinarians

Most shelters take turns what vets the animals see, thus keeping all vets supportive of them in return. Some veterinarians will offer discount rates to the pets in the shelter. It is important that shelters keep pets vaccinated while in their care.

Photo source http://www.flickr.com/photos/grilledcheese/2847044421/

Decide on Living Conditions for the Pets

In home run shelters the pets are usually either loose or kept in cages in the basement and rotated regularly. Sometimes shelters use a network of “foster homes” who keep a few animals and they get together on weekends for adoption events. In larger facilities cages are a must, with an isolation area for new, unvaccinated, animals. Animals can be rotated throughout the day.

Establish a Network

It is important to see yourself working with the other shelters rather than in competition with them. If you do not have a pet that a person is looking for, you should refer them to the other shelter(s). Hopefully the same would be done in return.

Advertise and Open your Doors

It is easiest to start by offering the established shelter that you will take some of their more harder to place animals, or those who have simply been kept too long and are facing euthanasia. Pets should not be acquired through purchase, only by owner surrender. The goal is not to be full, the goal is to place as many pets as possible in good homes.

Other Links

• Rescuing Orphaned Puppies
• Rescuing Wild and Feral Cats and Kittens
• Rescuing Orphaned Kittens
• Rescuing Farm Animals