across America to take in dogs displaced by Harvey. Family pets get separated
from their owners and, like here, many have no identification that makes it
possible to reunite them with their families. Other dogs have known owners but
the owners have no home. After Katrina, rescue groups continued to take in
dogs for over a year after the event.
Minnesota, particularly the metro area, has done an outstanding job of
increasing the rate of spay/neuter and reducing the population of
stray/unwanted dogs. Even a decade ago Saint Paul Animal Control would be
completely full and today there are typically open kennels and the majority of
dogs they pick up go to rescue groups for re-homing. Pit bull and other bully
breeds are the most common dogs picked up as strays and continue to be the most
difficult to re-home but rescue groups manage to take in nearly every dog that
is placeable.
Because of the great progress Minnesota has made in reducing the dog homeless
population, we have become a net importer of dogs. The rescue that I work with
primarily takes dogs from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in South Dakota
but we also took in about 20 dogs/puppies from Texas in the last 12 months.
Texas was an exporter of homeless dogs long before Harvey. The shelters we
work with are high-kill shelters that even put down pregnant dogs and puppies
when their time runs out. The impact of Harvey will make this already
difficult situation much worse. Those of us who do dog rescue are looking at
our capacity and trying to figure out what we can do to prepare for what we
think is likely ahead of us.
Please consider if you are in a position to foster a displaced Harvey dog or
puppy. Right now we have no requests but are trying to do some planning.
Please think it through now and when the desperate e-mails start to come, I
will re-post to this thread and see if any of you can help by fostering this
one time. When you foster with PUP (and most other rescues) the rescue
organization provides for food and medical care and will work with you until
the dog is placed in a forever home. Homes for a few days are not helpful
because shifting dogs around is hard on the dog and nearly impossible for the
rescue volunteers to handle. If you were to take a Harvey rescue you should
assume a minimum commitment of several weeks and it could be as long as a
couple of months.
Please think about this and be prepared to respond when/if the urgent call
comes.
Jeanne Weigum
Pooches United with People