| By Tom Wilson
from the AKC Gazette
Today all you need to do is open your mail
to find out that you are "pre-approved." but credit-card
pre-approval is not what I'm writing about. Rather, I'm referring
to how the Weimaraner rescue program works in Western Pennsylvania.
Our breed is fortunate to have a national rescue chair doing a
huge job, but the truth is that this job cannot be done from one
location alone. It requires dedicated people all over the country,
each working on a national as well as a local level. Rescue workers
don't ask for acknowledgement, and in a lot of cases, no one even
knows who they are. Like the Nike ads say, they "Just Do It."
Rescue is absolutely necessary for any breed, but with a little
shift in thinking it can be an entirely different experience than
the negative image sometimes conjured up. First of all, the term
rescue is desperate-sounding. In the January 2002 AKC GAZETTE, the
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed column had a piece written by
Neal Miller, who is the breed's national rescue coordinator. In
his column, he referred to rescue as "re-homing." I'd
like to see that phrase become a big part of the language for this
subject. I have adopted the term for my own use as well.
The next shift in thinking involves viewing these dogs in a different
light. View them as assets, not liabilities, instead of the usual
image of a "pathetic homeless waif" that represents a
problem or a burden to be dealt with. Try to see dogs requiring
rescue as valuable commodities that will vary in terms of each dog's
needs, but are wonderful alternatives to potential pet-owners who
don't have the time to deal with a puppy. Adopting a rescue is often
something that never occurs to a person until the program is brought
to their attention. While sometimes there are dogs that fall outside
rehabilitation possibilities, a vast majority of the dogs that are
looking to be re-homed simply were unfortunate enough to be purchased
by the wrong homes and not given proper training or exercise.
I'm sure this far from covers dogs in need, but I think you can
get the drift of seeing them with a new possibility and outlook.
Now for the "qualified," or should I say "pre-qualified,"
homes I referred to. For many years, I did the conventional thing
when a dog in need came up. i started working on the dog, and when
it was ready to place, I began searching for the right home. It
always seemed that the right homes were ready when there were no
dogs available, and not to be found when there were. One of the
ironies of life, I guess.
So about 10 years ago, I began running an ad in the newspaper pet
column that simply says: WEIMARANER - ADOPTION PROGRAM, along with
my phone number. I get a lot of great response from that ad, and
through it I can interview potential owners and place some of them
on a waiting list - thereby "pre-qualifying" them.
Our return rate has been less than 1 percent using this pre-qualified
list. We charge $250 for rescues. If the dog hasn't been neutered,
the contract stipulates that the procedure must be done. We have
learned that if there is no money involved in placing a rescue,
the dog's perceived value is diminished and the tolerance level
of the new owner is lower during the adjustment period. A dog obtained
with no financial sacrifice does not have a lot of leverage in a
new home.
if you want more info on this re-homing program, contact me at
my e-mail address below. -- Tom Wilson, 70 Durst Rd., R.D. 11, Irwin,
PA 15642; s.cweims@worldnet.att.net
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