* ESTABLISHING *
POLICIES
For Your
RESCUE PROGRAM

INTRODUCTION

Take this bit of advice from a person who tried to rescue without setting policies first..... Don't try it unless you have deep pockets and unlimited room! If you do, you'll soon find yourself swamped with animals, and no idea how you'll ever place them all. And you'll become the drop-off point for every animal no longer wanted due to age, inconvenience, illness, and temperament. Set your policies ahead of time!

GETTING STARTED

Do your homework first. Gather as much information about your breed as possible, because you will be measuring what is normal behavior and what is not. You'll need to know your standards, and who to turn to when difficulty arises.

You will also want to think about evaluations, treatment, training, medical, advertising, and more. All of these will be addressed in my "how to start a rescue" section.

THE BASIC RESCUE POLICY

Your rescue program should not be in the business of becoming a convenient drop-off service for people who no longer wish to keep their animals. You should have strict guidelines, and you should require compliance before you assist. While it shounds cruel, consider the facts: Who pays for treatment of the sick, placement of the healthy, and shelter for the elderly animals? The owners? The Adopters? No. The funds come from the rescue budget you will establish, and from the pockets of those helping you run your program.

ACCEPTANCE POLICY

I *CAN'T* tell you what you must accept, nor should anyone else. But what I can do is offer for example the standards Central Ohio Samoyed Rescue uses, and then explain why. In the long run, your standards for acceptance will be part of your rescue signature. If you don't understand yet what I mean by that, don't worry. Time will explain.

What We Accept, and Why

Central Ohio Samoyed Rescue will accept Samoyeds into the program for any of the following conditions:

  • If the life is directly threatened by the present living conditions.
  • If the animal is not human-aggressive and/or not terribly sick, but scheduled for destruction.
  • If the animal is found running loose and has no other place to go.
  • If another rescue program outside the Breed accepts it and needs assistance.

Obviously, if the life of an animal is threatened by its present living conditions, something needs to be done. But make sure you verify the story. Often, owners call and say that "Spot has to be taken today or else I'll just take him to the pound". Maybe Spot would be better off at the pound, and maybe he wouldn't. But one thing is certain: The owner could care less. Central Ohio Samoyed Rescue occasionally legally tapes its conversations with owners, and we certainly would file charges with local authorities if an owner ever followed through on a threat and we discovered the deed.

Now, in the case of a shelter scheduling a dog for destruction merely because the time has expired, we will intervene. In such situations, we evaluate the animal's temperament, and discuss the physical shape with the shelter vets. Assuming it is salvageable, we would pull it from the shelter and accept it as a rescue.

Animals found running loose are another matter. Without tags, it is pretty hard to determine where it belongs. We accept stray dogs of the Samoyed breed found running the streets. But we also check out calls regarding strays, to make sure it is for real. Sometimes people report the animal as "found", when it was really the family pet. Deception does happen, and we try to make sure we are really dealing with what we've been told.

The last reason we will accept a Samoyed is if another rescue program outside the Breed accepts it and needs our assistance. It's professional courtesey.

What We Won't Accept, and Why

Central Ohio Samoyed Rescue will NOT accept Samoyeds into the program for any of the following conditions:

  • The animal is known to be human-aggressive.
  • The animal is severely ill and probably not able to be saved.
  • The owner simply cannot keep it but has not tried to find it a home.
  • The owner has grown tired of it but has bot tried to find it a home.
  • The owner wants to get rid of it because it is too old or ill.

There are two reasons we won't take a human-aggressive dog. First, the reputation of the Breed is something we must try to maintain. An aggressive dog does not do justice to anyone. And second, an aggressive dog is a liability. If we placed an aggressive dog and it bit the new owner, we would be liable. Be careful to evaluate your cases well.

Severely ill animals drain away the rescue budget quickly. While we would treat a heartworm-positive dog, we wouldn't probably treat one with brain cancer. For every dog, we must decide the case.

Now, when you accept a dog because the owner simply does not care, you are cleaning up after the irresponsible human. If the owner really cared, ads would have been placed in the paper. Efforts would have been taken to find a suitable home. Otherwise, you are sweeping up the mess.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

On occasion, Central Ohio Samoyed Rescue may take into consideration special circumstances that may affect the above policies. If you apply similar practices, remember to get *EVERYTHING* you can when talking to someone about a potential rescue. Evaluate each case on its individual merits.

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