15/12/2024
If we could take every dog, we would. But the reality of what we can and cannot do is clearly stated in the post we are sharing. We will help every dog we can & know it breaks our heart when we can’t💕🙏💕.
Capacity of Care
This seems to be a concept that many don’t understand when it comes to rescue. Rescue isnt simply a numbers game.
A rescue can only intake what they can safely and properly care for as well as find the right outcome for. This applies to size, breed, temperament, and medical status.
This means that a rescue has to consider what they can place in foster care and not have stuck in foster care. This means a rescue has to consider the number of dogs in the rescue and can they handle a large number of foster or adoption returns. This means a rescue has to consider if they have the financial means to take on a medical case. This means a rescue has to consider if they are able to place the animal in an adoptive home or find a rescue transfer in an acceptable amount of time. This means a rescue has to ask themselves the hard questions with every single intake
Every single resource in a rescue has to be considered. This is space, supplies, and money.
There are always questions to consider:
How many dogs could I save with the money I’m spending on one dog?
When do we say enough is enough? How do we put a price on a dog? Do we have a foster that is capable to handling ongoing care? Do we have an adopter willing to take on a medical case? Can we find another rescue willing to to take on a medical case?
When a dog sits in a foster home for an extended amount of time, are we placing the foster in a position to get frustrated and burnt out? How many other dogs could have been saved in the same amount of time? Does the foster have the long term capacity to give this animal what it needs? Are we ensuring that the foster’s own animals aren’t suffering long term due to a foster animal in a home? Is the foster’s family safe and mentally in the right place to continue to foster? Has the foster reached their capacity for care?
Is this dog safe to be placed in a foster or adoptive home? Is this dog too far gone behaviorally to be adoptable? Do we have the resources to give the dog what it needs? Are we keeping the dog alive for our own emotional needs and not considering what’s best for the dog?
Rescue has a million moving parts and there is rarely a completely easy decision.
So stop judging rescues for only taking certain breeds, sizes, medical cases, or behavioral cases unless you have truly been in the trenches and had to make the tough decisions every day of your life.
