Dogtime salutes Ohio’s Rose’s Rescue.
How did your organization get started?
Founder Rose Sachs had taken in a dog and was having trouble finding him a home. She answered an ad by someone who said they helped place dogs in need of a home, and that person talked her into fostering dogs from the pound. It all grew from there.
What is your mission?
Rose’s Rescue is an all breed rescue for dogs and cats. We primarily concentrate on local pound rescues as we feel these are the animals in the direst need of a second chance. We are committed to finding the best possible home for each and every animal that comes into our rescue, and we are available to help with any training or behavioral issues for the life of each animal. Rose’s Rescue requires that any animal adopted through our organization be returned to us if for any reason the family is no longer able to care for them.
Rose’s Rescue is also committed to educating the public on the importance of spaying and neutering, keeping current with routine vaccinations, providing heartworm protection for dogs, and testing for aids and leukemia for cats. According to the Humane Society of America, over 4 million dogs, cats, kittens, and puppies are killed each year. It is our goal to some day see no adoptable pets euthanized.
With loving patience any pet can be trained to be a loyal, obedient companion. Please contact your vet or a trainer before giving up on your pet!
How do most of your animals find their way to you?
Most of our pets are pulled from local pounds. When a dog gets adopted and thus an available slot opens up, we head over to the pound to select a lucky candidate. We have a very experienced volunteer who carefully assesses potential dogs before bringing them in to our fold. She looks for non-aggressive dogs who will be able to get along with other dogs, and not be too wild and unruly. They don’t have to be trained, but the potential for being trained should be there in some degree.
We also work with a local professional dog trainer and a nearby prison that participates in a cell dog training program. Selected dogs stay at the prison for eight weeks and learn basic obedience commmands (sit, stay, down, etc.) as well as fun tricks (play dead, high five, roll over). A young pound dog without much training but tons of potential makes an excellent cell dog! Sometimes the transformation that takes place is truly amazing.
We also take in owner surrenders, or dogs that we find out about that need rescued from bad situations. They, too, are assessed for good pet potential.
What happens to the animals once they are in your care?
When a dog comes to our rescue, we make sure that he gets any vetting needed as soon as possible. Most of the time this amounts to vaccinations, heartworm testing (and treatment if necessary) and spaying/netuering. But occasionally a dog may require additional measures which we also see that he gets. We have several wonderful veterinarians who, without their support (generous discounts) we would not be able to do the work that we do.
The dogs then go to either the prison, a foster home, or Rose’s Rescue proper. Rose does not have a kennel per se, but a heated pole barn converted into several “apartments” complete with large outdoor runs. She has about four acres, completely fenced, that the dogs can run over several times a day, and there is even a pond for cooling off in hot weather. Of course, she usually has more dogs in her house than in the barn, but that is typical of any foster mom.
Potential adopters can fill out an online application which gets screened for good vet care history and various other criteria depending on the dog. We strive to make every adoption the best match possible for both the dog and the adopter. If someone is looking at a dog that we feel is not going to work well in their particular home or situation, we do not adopt to them but gladly try to help them find a different dog that would be more suitable.
Tell us about a particularly compelling animal or inspiring rescue.
Who to choose? So many many dogs!
Long before I became a RR volunteer, Sofie was in a home where the owner had undergone a mental breakdown. The family surrendered her to the pound. When I went to see her at the foster home, she was so afraid of everything and everyone that we literally had to drag her out from under the sofa (hence her name, Sofie) in order for me to even see what she looked like! She will always be a little on the shy side, but she is my faithful companion and accompanies me to work every day, happily greeting clients with a wagging tail and hopeful eyes — the potential for a tasty treat ever present! My second rescue, Darby, was a feral dog from the streets of Puerto Rico. She had several litters of puppies, was thin and heartworm positive. She would have died down there if a local rescue had not connected with us to take her here.
Cinnamon was found in the garage of a crackhouse. She was so protective of the canine companion that was with her that she acted aggressively and was going to be euthanized at the pound. We saw the potential in her and took them both in. Her sidekick was adopted right away, but Cinnamon had some separation anxiety and was not so easily placed. She stole the heart of her foster mom and family, and now lives the life of luxury with them poolside every day in Florida.
Maeve came from the pound as my own foster. She had been found with a litter of pups who were immediately adopted. She was the thinnest dog I had ever seen, no doubt every ounce of anything she had been eating had gone to her pups. You could stroke her side and it was like raking a stick across a picket fence as every rib stuck out, as well as her hip bone, breast bone and spine. Her coat was dull, dry, and brittle. She had one of the nastiest cases of kennel cough I had ever seen and there were a few days when I honestly feared that she would not make it. But she rallied and turned the corner.
When she had recovered and began putting on weight, I took her to the dog park for some exercise and fresh air. She promptly tore the ligament in her knee and required major surgery to have it repaired. She was adopted by an older couple who runs a small motel in upstate N.Y. She accompanies her dad around the property in his golf cart and and is the official canine greeter of guests during the vacation season. Her coat is beautiful and she looks like a completely different dog.
We found Annie the black Lab living outside along with six offspring of various ages from various litters. None had been fixed and the one other female (her daughter) was very pregnant. (We found another rescue to take her.) The males were an unruly pack and very unsocialized, but Annie was different. There was not an aggressive bone in her body, but she was definitely in a bad situation and we knew we had to get her out of there. We observed an unusual gait and sitting posture and she did need surgery on one of her hind legs. She found a home with a recently widowed lady who fell in love with her the instant she saw Annie get out of the car! It was truly a perfect match!
There was Butch and Sundance — two low-riding Doxie mixes, clowns who came to the pound from a neighborhood known to have a colony of dogs reproducing at regular intervals. These guys were sweet and adorable, but strong-willed and very devoted to each other. We were overjoyed to finally find them a home where the owner couldn’t bear to split them up so they got to remain brothers forever.
We have had multiple dogs that had previously lived their lives tied outside to trees or some similar situation. We have had dogs that would surely have been euthanized if not rescued. We have had “issue dogs” who, in the right home, have become model citizens and the apple of their owners’ eyes. So many dogs with so many stories!
