About Rocky Mountain Labrador Retriever Rescue - Labrador Retriver Rescue in Colorado

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue

The Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue (RMLR) consists of a small group of volunteers that find and rehome rural and some local Labrador retrievers and Lab mixes. We find our Labs through shelter volunteers out of state, who will alert us to great dogs that are about to be put to sleep. Most of these labs are in "High Kill Shelters". These are shelters that are almost always full because they are located in rural areas, where the dogs run stray, easily mating because they have not been altered. The general population in many areas of the country are still ignorant to the importance of spaying and neutering their pets. Many people also find that they can not care for their dog anymore and have no one else to turn to, so they take their dog to a shelter. Many of these "High Kill Shelters" give their dogs about 4-5 days to find a home. If they are not adopted they are euthanized or placed in a gas chamber.

We are a small group of volunteers who want to make a difference. We want to help educate the public on the importance of spaying and neutering their pets. Teach the public that it is better to adopt and save a life than to buy from a pet store or an unprofessional breeder. These animals are so loving, forgiving, and loyal, yet rely on us for their safety. We just want to give that back to them. Please join us in the fight to get more and more dogs adopted and less and less put to sleep!

We are completely non-profit. We are 501(c)3 approved. We all have full time jobs, families and other activities in our lives. We spend our own time working on the organization, planning to get these dogs out of shelters before they are put down, scheduling vet appointments, transporting dogs cross country and processing adoption applications. Many times these dogs are in far away places and the dogs have to be pulled by a volunteer and then boarded for around $5-10 a day until they can be transported to a foster home in Colorado. We work on organizing a transport for these dogs sometimes from one end of the country to another. We use our donations for the extra cost of pulling, vetting, boarding, and transporting the dogs. If you can not donate in the form of money we can always benefit from materials such as collars, leashes, crates/kennels, toys, treats, food. We will gladly take used items. If you are donating food please make sure it is a decent higher quality food. See our GRADING YOUR DOG FOOD page for information. We believe that there are a lot of junk dog foods out there and the dogs skin, fur, activity level, and health depends upon a high quality dog food. Please go to the DONATE link above to donate. Thank you for any help, when we are supported we don't feel as if are efforts are pointless.

Finally, RMLR has no shelter, we rely ONLY on foster homes. If you would like to foster a dog we need you more than anything, because the more foster homes we have the more dogs we can save. It is also a great way to find out if you are ready to own a dog, if you have never done so before. Please fill out our foster application. We will contact you as soon as we can to start reviewing your application. We will work with any special circumstances and allow you to choose how long you can foster, obviously the longer the better! We take owner surrenders on a select basis. The dog has to be temperment tested and approved before we accept it into our system. The owner also has to be willing to foster the dog during the adoption process. There are several no kill shelters and other animal rescues in the state of Colorado. Please see those websites on Petfinder.com for more info.

Why Rescue?

If you read the section on a Plea to Spay and Neuter, that might be all you need to see why it is so important to rescue your pet. While many think a rescued dog is a misbehaved dog, many more realize that their rescue dog has been one of the best dogs they have ever owned. Many more times a dog is in a shelter or a rescue because the previous owner did not do their homework upon getting the dog. They didn’t realize the time it takes to properly care for the dog or puppy. They may also not have realized that the dog barks, chews, or sheds. All dogs have certain personality traits and some do things that can annoy less tolerant humans. We encourage all who want to adopt a lab to read and educate yourselves on the characteristics of a lab. The section above titled Labs has a funny, but educational read regarding labs and their personalities. Most behavioral related issues with labs are easily stopped or lessened with training. Many people also take in a dog as a spur of the moment type thing or because the dog is cute, not thinking long term commitment. So their lives change, the dog is not included, and the dog goes to the shelter! Can you think of a more selfish or sad thing to do? I love you, you're so cute... now I don't have time for you?

Not all rescue dogs are necessarily high needs or high maintenence. They are the products of irresponsible people. Even if you don't adopt from us, we urge you to adopt an animal. There are so many that need to be rescued! A dog is a long term companion, they become part of your family. Most dogs are so eager to please you becasue they just want what they only know how to give....UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. All it takes is to step foot in any shelter any where in the country and realize how many of those adorable faces just ready to give their life to love you are unfortunately not going to get the chance to do that. Their life will be cut short because there are too many dogs in this world, and too many people are misinformed on rescue dogs, and end up buying from a breeder. Rescued dogs appreciate what you’ve done for them and you will feel that when they look at you.

My Inspiration

In June of 2007 my husband and I lost our Chow that we loved very much. We wanted another dog as losing him left a void. We searched Pet finder for many days and one night I came across a cute little Labby face that said, “High Kill 152”. This was an extra large young Lab mixed with Great Pyrenees. He was cute and the message attached said he would be put to sleep very soon as he was in the pound. I was set on saving this guy no matter what. The only catch was he was in SW Oklahoma 9 hours away. But that wasn’t going to stop me. I had to convince my husband, but it didn’t take long as we were off to Oklahoma to save “Walter” from the gas chamber. We got there and Walter was a mess. He had ticks all over him, he was skinny, no proper nutrition, fleas, and fresh scars on his ears from possibly a dog fight in the shelter. We didn’t even want to pet him when we met him, he was so gross. I think my husband was shocked at what he just drove 9 hours for. I convinced him that once he was cleaned up and free of ticks that he would be worth every mile that we just drove. And he was. Walter turned out to have a few different types of intestinal worms as well as some destructive behavior, but with medicine and proper training, Walter has turned out to be one of the sweetest, happiest, goofiest dogs I have ever met. He was worth every penny spent.

This is Walter before being rescued	This is Walter after being rescued

Geocities statistics on Shelters

Every day across the United States, volunteers and staff in animal shelters and animal control facilities see the results of irresponsible pet ownership and dog and cat overpopulation. However, there is little reliable data available to tabulate trends and patterns nationwide.
   The following figures were gleaned from independent studies and estimates by experts in the animal welfare and related fields. These should be considered ballpark figures only. Most of the studies were national and there is tremendous variation by region.
   There are about 5000 community animal shelters nationwide that are independent; there is no national organization monitoring these shelters. The phrases "humane society" and "SPCA" are generic terms; shelters using those names are not part of the Humane Society of the United States or the ASPCA. Currently, no government institution or animal organization is responsible for tabulating national statistics for the animal protection movement.

Animal Shelters
-Approximately 8-12 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year and approximately 5-9 million are euthanized (60% of dogs and 70% of cats). Shelter intakes are about evenly divided between those relinquished by owners and those picked up by animal control. These are national estimates; the percentage of euthanasia may vary from state to state.

-Less than two percent of cats and only 15-20% of dogs are returned to their owners. Most of these were identified with tags, tattoos or microchips.
-25% of dogs that enter local shelters are purebred.
-Only 10% of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered. 75% of owned pets are neutered.

Pet Overpopulation
-The average number of litters a fertile cat produces is one to two a year; average number of kittens in litters is 4-6.
-The average number of litters a fertile dog produces is one a year; average number of puppies is 4-6.
-It is impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the US; estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million.
-Owned cats and dogs generally live longer, healthier lives than strays.
-Many strays are lost pets that were not kept properly indoors or provided with identification.

Pet Ownership
-About 60% of all households in the United States have a pet.+
-About 60 million dogs and about 75 million cats are owned in the United States.++
-About 65% of pet owners acquire their pets free or at low cost.
-The majority of pets are obtained from acquaintances and family members. 15 - 20% of dogs are purchased from breeders, 10 - 20% of cats and dogs are adopted from shelters and rescues, and 2 - 10% are purchased from pet shops.+++
-At least 20% of cats are acquired as strays.
-Over 20% of people who leave dogs in shelters adopted them from a shelter.·
-The cost of spaying or neutering a pet is less than the cost of raising puppies or kittens for one year.
-The average cost of basic food, supplies, medical care and training for a dog or cat is $400 to $700 annually.

This was taken from http://www.geocities.com/s_u_n_pa/ShelterFacts.html website.