Friday, July 23, 2010

Recue Resources

A posting appeared on one of our Dal lists about a Dal who needed help, or rather the rescue group needed help to pay for the proposed surgeries for this unfortunate dog, something like $10,000.00. Serious invasive surgeries, with no guarantee of success and quite likely a significant rehab required. The dog in question is a homeless 7-year old liver boy. I always check out such postings, and sometimes donate money if the cause seems reasonable. There are lots of fine dogs in bad situations through no fault of their own, and sometimes a reasonable amount of vet work makes these dogs more adoptable.

I decided not to donate money this time, and wondered if this was a wise use of limited rescue resources. $10,000.00 is a lot of money to spend on a middle-aged ownerless dog. It's money that could be used in other, possibly more appropriate, ways. $10,000.00 could help a lot of dogs. On the other hand, this is not an existing pot of money, but a request for "new" money, and there are always people willing to give to help such unfortunate animals. But give THIS MUCH?

One of the sore points between rescuers and non-rescuers is the insistence that ALL dogs should be rescued. Dalmatian rescue dollars often get spent on obvious mixed breeds (freckles do not a Dalmatian make), dogs with very poor dispositions who should NOT be re-homed, deaf dogs (but that's a topic for another day), and dogs with extremely serious medical conditions. Where do you draw the line?

If you would like to donate money to help this dog, I am including the link so you can check things out. We all approach these issues from our own point of view, and I know that some of you probably do not share my feelings on this subject.
http://www.firstgiving.com/annrutledge

1 comment:

annezoutsos said...

So this is Dalmatian Rescue of North Texas? I know that several people including myself have tried to contact them regarding a Dalmatian mix in Irving in need of rescue whose info is being shared on facebook http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1118729743891&sk=messages#!/photo.php?pid=30922218&id=1054204976
- I believe no-one has had any response from them. From what I understand this dog has no medical issues and is in danger of being killed. On the subject of the liver boy, I have known too many dogs that have had to be put down after spinal surgery to feel very sanguine about treatment for him.