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Hats off to Rescue Volunteers

1K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  anneks 
#1 ·
I went to the Ft. Worth Animal Shelter the other day to check on a dog that was a possible Havanese. Let me just tell you how hard that was.

It was hard to see ALL those dogs there in cages. There were hundreds!!!!
Then when I saw Lola, she was just the cutest thing, all shaven and dirty, but still cute. Her face kind of looked like a Hav but she was a lot bigger. Even too big for a Hav/Llhasa mix.

I have a new found respect for ANYONE who volunteers with rescue. I know there are two Havanese rescue orginizations who may differ a tad, but ANYONE who does this gets my respect. Its NOT easy. One, to go the shelters, and two to try and figure out if the dog is part Havanese. They all look close. When you get these llhasa/poodle/hav mixes it starts to get blurry.

Lola who was close to 45 lbs would have been really pushing it to have any Hav in her. But what do you do? Your looking at this dog and you know you have the ability to say, yes it could be part Hav and she gets shipped off to a good home. Or you say, which was probably the case, she most likely is not, as she is so big. SO its SOOOOOO SAD!! :(

I left feeling horrible knowing all those dogs are just sitting in those cages.

So my hats are off to the people who do this all the time. Those who have to go make the decisions and then find a good home. Its not everyone who can take in a rescue dog, it takes a special family so making those choices would be tough too!

Thanks to every one who volunteers. If every breed did this, there would not be any dogs in that shelter! :clap2:
 

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#3 ·
Melissa,
I agree. I went to the local dog pound the other day too and left pretty sick. Since it is puppy season, they currently have over 300 dogs in the shelter, not counting those that are being fostered. We had a dog identified as a havanese by the vet tech at the shelter. I took photos to send to intake for the final decision and we brought her in, and I transported her to her foster family. She is the sweetest little girl and I hope she has a great forever family. The shelter identified her microchip as coming from petland but whoever bought her never registered it :( and then didn't try to find her.

I am not sure I would be able to identify my little girl (forbidden anything bad like this ever happens) after she was a stray for awhile, shaved to the skin, etc. This can be the toughest part. HRI does try to limit funds for Havanese and Havanese mix since we don't have unlimited funds

But just like the photo you showed, if you didn't tell me how much she weighed. I think I would have said Havanese by the looks, the lengths, etc.

Good for you for helping out too!

Amanda
 
#4 ·
Oh my, she has Ricky's eyes! How sad ...... I have left the SPCA a number of times, just bawling my eyes out. I don't have the ability to make those tough decisions. I agree, kudos to all the volunteers at any shelter and to the foster families that agree to love and care for a dog temporarily while the search is on for a good home. I couldnt' do that part either... it would break my heart. :(
 
#6 ·
So here is the thing, when they were calling asking about the dog, (HRI) they were told she weighed about 25 pounds. When I went, she was with the bigger dogs, but did have a buddy in her cage. She did not have Havanese on the tag but a llahasa/poodle. And the guy picked her up and said he thought 45 pounds. Well maybe he was wrong? I have seen some big heavy havs? Maybe not that big, but she could be part? :( I hate that! Maybe she is part hav??? Poor Lola, she was so calm too. But then I got sad, thinking if we took her, what would her little buddy do? We need them both. See Im no good at this!
 
#7 ·
Melissa my hats off to you too! Thank you for doing all that you do.

That sweet dog looks to me like a Tibetan Terrier! I don't know how anyone from any breed specialty does it...how with all the new designer dogs and the straight up mutts do they find those that are the specific breed? I just don't know.
 
#8 ·
Melissa,
I know what you mean. I hate making that judgment call too. They kept this havanese in the director's office because she got realy nervous with all the dogs barking in her kennel. That is definetly a characteristic of my havanese. When we are at dog shows and dogs start barking, Dora runs and jumps on me like save me mom.

If you want to drop an email to the TT rescue people since you already have the photos, rescue@ttca-online.org

I stayed there for quite awhile talking to the shelter people who you can tell pour their hearts into their jobs but are truly burnt out. They say if they can recognize a breed right now, they immediately contact rescue. They have so many dogs they can't keep up with them let alone identify behavioral issues, etc. I can't imagine the stories they see everyday. When I was there, she has the havanese in her office and a lab who was a starvation case. I get teary eyed just thinking the dog was a stray for awhile and no one came to find her. I don't even like to think there are other stories.

The spirits of dogs are truly amazing and dogs do live for the moment. I have seen a lot of rescue dogs turn into great family pets and best friends.

Amanda
 
#9 ·
That face is so sweet! It must be hard to say no to taking in an animal. I volunteered at the Humane Society when I was in high school and it was hard seeing all the animals that need homes. I really really want to foster dogs for rescue. I was going to look into doing that when I got Mirabel. I recently looked up the ordinance for my municipality but it didn't state anything about fostering and how many you could keep. There was a 6 months provision regarding puppies so maybe they would make exceptions for rescues. As soon as Mirabel is fully potty trained (hopefully very soon) I am going to contact the city about it. I just wouldn't want to bring in another dog and they think that since she goes potty on the floor they can. :nono: I think it would be very rewarding to help an animal find a new forever home.
 
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