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Have you ever heard
that old saying, “If you want something
done right, you need to do it yourself”?
That may be true in some circumstances,
but for our group Helping Homeless Pets
(HHP), nothing could be further from the
truth. We believe, “If you want
something done right, you need to work
together with others that share your
common goals”. Rescue groups take in
homeless pets, give them the medical
care they need and find them new homes.
Although it sounds pretty simple, the
reality is it’s very difficult. And the
number of pets that need rescuing and
the medical bills are both growing.
The ultimate solution
to this problem lies in educating future
pet owners and current pet owners, but
working more efficiently also helps.
HHP’s mission is to address both of
these needs.
HHP was created in
December 2006 by three friends who had
been volunteering for rescues for many
years. During our first year the eleven
rescues that are working together
participated in 8 different events, with
the largest being The Royal Agricultural
Winter Fair. Monies raised at events are
split among the rescues that participate
in an event, based upon the number of
shifts each rescue volunteers for. So if
one rescue volunteers for 10 percent of
the shifts, then that rescue receives 10
percent of the profits. Together, we
raised almost $7,000 to help cover some
of the medical expenses of rescued pets.
At the Royal we were
invited to participate in the Tim
Horton’s Ag-tivity Centre to meet and
educate people about what we do and to
teach small kids how to approach a dog.
Our volunteers were nothing short of
incredible and the dogs were perfect
ambassadors. Take Heidi, a miniature
dachshund who was rescued by one of our
HHP founders Margaret Blackman. Heidi
was found by the side of the road
paralyzed and was saved 3 years ago by
Margaret. If you have met Heidi, I am
sure you would agree that she has so
much to teach us all, we just have to
stop and listen.
By working together,
we can participate in more events. And
in many cases it gives smaller rescues
the opportunity to raise funds and
participate in events that they
otherwise could not. Lyndsey Watson with
Great Dane Rescue says “Working together
with other rescues, has helped us find
more adopters, foster homes and
volunteers. We are also able to fund
raise like never before, allowing us to
help more dogs.”
Rescue liability
insurance is another initiative that HHP
took on by working with an insurance
broker and creating a group policy. This
allows each rescue to cut their own
insurance cost in half.
Ultimately working
together means less duplication of
common tasks. Take the available dogs
mailing list. You can join the HHP
Available Dogs Mailing List and receive
an email each week of all the new dogs
that are available for adoption. This
means one person emailing the list for a
number of rescues so it a big time saver
for rescues and it’s also a great
service for potential adopters.
We are educating to
reduce the number of homeless pets, we
are fund raising to help pay veterinary
costs and we are providing support
services to our member rescues. The real
credit though goes to the rescues that
do the really difficult work. Caring for
and finding homes for homeless pets is
not easy, but the rescue volunteers do
this work day after day. They have
earned and welcome any support they can
get. If you get a chance, do something
nice to support a rescue group and help
one more homeless pet find their forever
home.
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