So lets talk about the rules we have. We require some form of air conditioning. Why? Because pugs overheat REALLY quickly and I cant tell when I do a home visit in February if your house does stay cool even on the hottest day. Id rather err on the side of safety and say that if you dont have some form of AC (doesnt have to be central air) then we wont adopt to you. Pools. Years ago, I volunteered for a rescue that didnt require that pools be fenced. In one year we lost three, yes THREE, adopted dogs to drowning--all by adopters who swore the dogs were never out unsupervised--until they were...and none of these were pugs...one was a labrador, one was a spaniel and one was a golden retriever. Drowned. Training methods. Why dont we want people using dominance based training or training a la Cesar Millan? Because that kind of training is outdated. Is no longer supported by current research into canine learning and behaviour. Fenced yards. We do not require them for people to apply to adopt a dog from us. We have adopted to people without fences...on a case by case basis. But Ive had two former foster dogs hit and killed by cars because they were off leash in the adopters unfenced yard and something scared the dog and it bolted straight into the street. Although adopter said dogs are never off leash in the yard. Most of us prefer you to have a fenced yard IF you live in a house. We understand that apartment and condo dwellers may not have that option. Adoption fees. Do you know what our average cost per foster dog is? About 1500 to 2000. Yep--and thats with vets giving us discounts, doing stuff for free, buying microchips in bulk, providing as many necessities to foster parents as we can for free. Some of our foster dogs have run bills of 7, 8 and 10 thousand dollars--for fixable things. And we ask for 200 to 550 as an adoption fee. So, no, we arent rolling in dough. And no, we get no government money, no ones tax dollars support our rescue. We are supported ENTIRELY through donations, fund raising and the very occasional charitable grant (we got some money from the Build a Bear Foundation a few years ago). We have NO paid staff. We do pay a book keeper to keep our finances straight, but she isnt a staff of Pugalug. Our application is long. We know that. But the commitment to a dog is a long term commitment. If you dont have the time or energy to fill out an application then that tells me something. These arent discount dogs. They arent just looking for any home that will take them. And no, not any home is better than rescue. These dogs have had some rotten times and its our job to see they dont have any more. examiner/article/those-darn-dog-rescues-with-all-of-their-rules-and-questions-what-gives
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 03:22:49 +0000
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