Jamie Brianna's Legacy Fund

31/03/2025

31/03/2025

28/03/2025

27/03/2025

26/03/2025

I’d like to start a program like this. 🩷Dogs Matter

24/03/2025

I’ll be there, will you?! 💚

24/03/2025

Washington, DC—

23/03/2025

A hard truth, but I completely agree.

Behavioral euthanasia. 💔

The subject nobody wants to talk about.

We’ve been rescuing for more than 35 years because we want to save lives and help animals. But as anyone who had been in rescue for any length of time knows, the heartbreaking subject of behavioral euthanasia will come up at some point. There are times when after assessing an animal in our care at length we come to the sad realization that that they will never be able to be a safe part of society. There are more dogs than homes and every single day we’re turning away 50 to 100 animals in desperate need, most of whom are friendly, affectionate and loving. Every. Single. Day.

We don’t consider a minor bite unforgivable in an otherwise nice dog, but making excuses for repeated aggression doesn’t do rescue dogs any favor. Far to many times we’ve seen people seriously injured or other animals killed or injured by aggressive dogs. There have literally been cases where people were killed by dogs they adopted from rescues or shelters and who had shown previous concerning aggression. Of course even the nicest dog can bite, especially when under stress or in pain. There just has to be a sensible balance. Sometimes all that’s needed is some management, such as feeding in the crate, or making the dog off limits to kids when eating, sleeping, chewing a bone etc. But other times the dog is just to unstable or unpredictable.

We often hear that a dog is behaving aggressively because it’s scared, in pain, or was abused. Honestly we’ve rescued so many dogs who were scared, in pain or abused that are still sweet, gentle and loving. And of course some dogs do bite in the moment of pain or fear, but we have to look at if they improve with time and feeling safe, or continue the aggressive behavior. Some dogs are truly mentally unstable, and it’s not always “how you raise them.” We’ve seen dogs that are so miserably unhappy, anxious, on edge or living at such a high level of aggression/arousal or fear as to truly have a poor quality of life. Other dogs make a complete switch in a loving environment with good management and leadership.

Thankfully we don’t have to make behavioral euthanasia decisions very often, and when we do it’s only after we’ve considered every other option. You can’t rescue more than 500 dogs a year without ending up with few that are unsafe. We don’t believe in warehousing dogs and we’ve seen some nightmare cases where rescues or sanctuaries start out with the best of intentions but ended up in hoarding conditions with unadoptable dogs living in tiny, fithly kennels or crates because “anything is better than death.”

Dogwood is a quality of life rescue, not a life at all costs rescue. We have to look at the big picture. We cannot put our communities, our pets, our children, at risk by adopting out unsafe dogs. Warehousing an unsafe dog for life takes a space we could use to save a hundred safe dogs from euthanasia, not to mention it’s potentially putting the dogs caregivers at risk.

Adopting out unsafe dogs doesn’t do people or dogs any favors and can tarnish the reputation of rescue dogs and whatever the dogs breed is. When a rescue dog injures a person or kills or injures another animal they often end up euthanized anyway, but even worse, that adopter may never consider a rescue dog, or whatever the dogs breed is, again. Nor do their friends, neighbors or relatives, because they consider rescue dogs, or that breed, unstable, aggressive etc.

We never take a behavioral euthanasia decision lightly, and thankfully we haven’t had to make that heartbreaking choice often or recently but when we encounter an unsafe animal that doesn’t respond to behavioral modification, training etc we do have to do what our long term experience tells us is right, for animals and our community. Sometimes letting them slip away gently, gobbling cookies and being told they are loved, is the kindest mercy.

Making a difference one animal at a time.

www.dogwoodanimalrescue.org

19/03/2025

The proof is in — the public recorded evidence of Whole Foods Market's chicken cruelty throughout the U.S. and Canada in Mercy For Animals’ groundbreaking shopper-led investigation.

White striping is visible to the naked eye as white lines of fat across chicken breast meat, and it occurs when muscle fibers starved of oxygen die and are replaced with fat. While not harmful to humans, white striping in meat is a sign of the suffering endured by chickens bred to grow monstrously large and abnormally fast — a cruel farming practice that Whole Foods promised to end by 2024.

Many of these chickens struggle to stand or move, resulting in significant distress. 😢 See the full report to learn more about the disturbing results and Whole Foods’ broken promise, and take action: MercyForAnimals.org/WholeFoodsWhiteStriping

17/03/2025

FYI, it’s not St. Patty’s Day! ☘️

17/03/2025

Would you like to help us keep pets and their people together? We could really use some more monthly donors! Don’t worry, we don’t actually let the kitty stay in the dryer! 😻 https://jamiebriannaslegacyfund.org/monthly-donations/

10/03/2025

Flower Power Fundraising helps support groups, causes and communities using an earth-friendly alternative to traditional fundraising through the sale of flowers, bulbs and perennials that can be enjoyed for years to come!

06/03/2025

It’s that time of year again! New products available, get your garden ready for Spring. 💐🪻🌻

Flower Power Fundraising helps support groups, causes and communities using an earth-friendly alternative to traditional fundraising through the sale of flowers, bulbs and perennials that can be enjoyed for years to come!

04/03/2025

Everyone needs to know how we can help pets of people experiencing homelessness! Illness or injury can happen to a pet in an instant. Please help spread awareness by sharing our posts. It could save a life!
To learn more about how to help and for additional resources visit petsofthehomeless.org.