Last March, I wrote a post introducing my mom’s newly rescued, blind Pekingese, ChuChu. He’d only been part of the family for a few days then and we’d just learned that his blood work indicated impending kidney failure. Seven weeks ago, we celebrated ChuChu’s first Gotcha Day. He’s still blind, but that’s about the only thing that hasn’t changed. He’s likely not even as old as we originally thought! Love, pampering, good nutrition, and supplements have changed this little dog’s life.

ChuChu's Petfinder Photo, March 2011

ChuChu after adoption w/his shelter haircut, March 2011

ChuChu clipped by a groomer and getting healthier, May 2011

ChuChu, charming and fluffy, February 2012

ChuChu visiting me at the office, April 2012

Four years ago, myself and seven other dedicated Shiba lovers came together in the Skylight Diner in midtown Manhattan and started NYC Shiba Rescue, Inc. (NYCSR). I’ve occasionally considered taking everything I’ve learned since then and writing a manual on how to start a grassroots rescue group. Maybe someday I’ll have time for a project of that size. In the meantime, here is a list of six important items to consider when starting off.

1. What exactly do you want to accomplish?
   A mission statement not only informs the world of what your organization is all about; it also shines as your guiding light. The world of rescue is complicated and emotional. You will be bombarded with pleas for help – many more than you could ever take on. Your mission statement will make future decisions much easier. It should clearly state WHAT you do, HOW you do it, and WHERE you do it. Write at least your first draft before you bother doing anything else! Remember, once you are a non-profit, you will have to follow your mission statement to the letter, so make sure it is precise but also covers everything you want to do. (For an example, see NYCSR’s Mission Statement.)
2. Do you have any idea how to do it?
   Don’t laugh! When I founded NYCSR, I had no idea what was involved in rescuing animals and finding good homes for them, much less how to actually do any of it. Lucky for us, I had access to several people with rescue experience who were willing to share their experiences and offer advice along the way. Make a list of all the things you’ll need to do to accomplish your mission – raise money, pull dogs from shelters, understand local and state laws regarding fostering, find foster homes, write contracts, deal with people, deal with potential legal issues like dog bites and ownership disputes, make medical decisions for dogs, etc. Start researching and reading up… you need at least a basic understanding of everything your group will need to do.
3. Who will help you accomplish your mission?
   If you’re starting a rescue group you must want more than just you running around saving one animal at a time. In addition to experienced rescuers to tap for advice, think about where you will find Board members and volunteers who will get involved and be passionate about your cause. Look at that list you made in #2. Try to gather whatever experts you can into your Board and core group – a vet tech, a trainer, a lawyer, a book keeper or accountant; you probably have "dog friends" from all walks of life and that can be very useful!
4. Where will you raise the initial funds?
   Raising money for a small charity is hard, even in a good economy, and it’s almost impossible before you have your 501(c)(3) status. In addition to basics like transport costs and vet bills, you’ll need money to cover organizational costs like getting incorporated and filing for non-profit status. Have some starter money lined up before you make any promises you can’t keep. Suggestion: It can be hard when the time and the money are all put in by the same small group of people. Look for a few benefactors who want to see you get started but don’t have time to volunteer themselves.
5. How will decisions get made as the group grows?
   One of the most important things you can do as you get started is put your policies and procedures into writing. Beyond the basics (adoption contract, foster application, volunteer agreement), put your medical policies into writing, define how you make intake decisions, record your policy on blogging about foster dogs… just about any important decision that comes up in the beginning should be written into your policies and procedures to help make future decisions easier and more consistent.
6. Eventually, you may want to back away from daily involvement. Make it possible!
   Build your group so that it isn’t too dependent on any one or two people. Trust me, this can be HARD to accomplish, but it is worth it. When the organization becomes self sustaining, you’ll feel like a proud parent.

Obviously, this isn’t everything you’ll need to know or do to get started, but hopefully it will help guide you in getting started. Feel free to leave questions or additional suggestions in the comments!

This is a question for anyone successfully involved in rescuing animals, regardless of animal type and whether working with a rescue group, with a shelter or independently. If someone asked you to give a speech or write a blog post or write a book about how to start doing what you do, plus some key points about keeping up the momentum, what would you include?

Yes, I’m compiling a list for use elsewhere and I need lots of input.
Feel free to say as little or as much as you want.

Rescue is hard work. It’s disheartening, frustrating and heart breaking. You don’t get to choose when dogs need you and you have to see some of the worst of humanity. Luckily, there are heartwarming moments and just enough warm fuzzies to keep most people going.

Online Tools Benefit Rescue

The Internet, email, World Wide Web, sites like PetFinder.com and now, even Facebook, have added a whole new set of tools to the process of finding homes for shelter dogs. When I founded NYC Shiba Rescue in 2007, I never could have accomplished it without email, Google Docs, and nycshibarescue.org. I have enormous respect for the “old school” rescuers – back when you just went to the shelter, loaded up with all the dogs you could take, took them home and tried desperately to find homes for them. I will admit, I couldn’t do it that way. With electronic communications, digital cameras, and websites though, the process is a lot more streamlined. NYCSR, for example, can find out about Shibas and Shiba mixes in shelters all over our part of the country. We can coordinate with far flung volunteers to save those dogs. We can campaign for foster homes and solicit donations online. We post our available dogs on our website, petfinder.com and other sites. We get adoption applications electronically. It’s all good.

There’s still a LOT that has to be done in the physical world though. Shelter dogs have to be evaluated. They have to be transported to foster homes, taken to the vet, moved between homes, and taken care of by foster families. They have to be taken to meet potential adopters and eventually taken to their adoption day! Supplies have to be carted around. Events have to be attended. All of the online tools and social networking make the communication and “advertising” part of rescue so much easier, but they don’t take the place of the actual rescue work.

Armchair Rescue Through Social Networking

One activity that email and social networking have encouraged is what I call “armchair rescue.” There are few things more frustrating to many people I know than armchair rescuers. Mostly they just forward emails and post information about dogs in need on sites like Facebook. I’m sure these good-hearted folks truly believe they are providing a useful service, but for the most part they aren’t accomplishing much of anything. At its best this brings dogs to the attention of people who may not have seen them otherwise (although usually these people aren’t able to help because the dogs being posted are frequently not adoptable by the general public). At its worst, I suppose it i harmless, but it’s still frustrating.

Why, You May Ask, is it Frustrating if it is Harmless?

It’s frustrating because if they really care, we would like their help! Many armchair rescuers will inundate rescuers with fb posts and email asking “how can we help this dog?” When given an answer that involves any real world effort on their part though, they always have reasons why they can’t do anything. If/when the dog is saved, they say how happy they are that “we” were able to help. If the dog can’t be saved, they blame the rescuers. Either way, they feel good about themselves, feeling as if they’ve “done their part.” Well, here’s a newsflash… rescue groups already know about these dogs. Posts and emails by armchair rescuers aren’t telling us anything we don’t already know. They are however wasting our time by making us respond to email, block spammers on Facebook, and explain to the 20 OTHER people who saw the post or email that we already know about the dog and that we’re doing what we can, etc.

One of my Shiba rescue friends voiced the frustration best a few days ago when she said “If you aren’t going to step up to the plate, then get out of the game!“

Ways For Anyone to Step Up

Here are a few hints on how to really help save dogs. Whether you have a lot of time or a little, whether you can foster or not, whatever your circumstance, if you really care, there is something you can do to help.

Volunteer with a local shelter or rescue group!

• Provide a foster home if possible
• Conduct home visits
• Conduct shelter dog evaluations
• Help coordinate and/or drive transports
• Answer email inquiries
• Help with recruiting other volunteers
• Help with bookkeeping and other administrative tasks
• Help with fund raising
• Write press releases, blog entries, descriptions for petfinder.com, grant proposals, etc.
• Volunteer at events

(Can’t do any of those things? MAKE A DONATION.)

Transport!

Have a car? Check out the numerous rescue transport groups and start volunteering to drive a leg of a rescue transport when you can. Help a dog get to safety. (Don’t have a car? MAKE A DONATION.)

Donate!

Last, but not least, MAKE A DONATION. Rescue isn’t cheap and a lot of the people involved in rescue and transport are working hard to make ends meet. If you can’t donate your time, donate your cash, because they could sure use the help.