The Facts
The cold, hard truth about shelters
There is upwards of 7 million companion animals entering the shelters every single year! In order to provide shelter, food, and medical care for this huge influx of animals the taxpayers fork up to 2 billion dollars annually. If we can reduce the number of animals entering the shelters even by a little, this money could go towards more practical solutions such as assisting struggling owners and educating the public about rescues
Of all the dogs entering the shelters every year....
35%
are adopted
41%
are euthanized
26%
that came in as strays are returned to their owner
Looking for a purebred?
It is estimated that up to 30% of shelter dogs are purebred. There is no need to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars when there are countless rescue dogs who are already living up to your standards. Try searching for breed specific rescues before reaching out to a breeder or puppy mill.
Have a case of puppy fever?
Before going to the puppy store, consider the wide array of dogs ready to go home with you today. The average age of dogs in shelters is only 18 months. Although no longer small in size, everything else about them is still 100% puppy but without the mess of house-breaking. If you still insist on training a puppy from scratch, check out your local rescues, they often have litters of puppies needing homes
Dogs have been proven to make you feel better!
Scientific studies have shown that having a dog in your home can create chemical and hormonal changes in your body that results in a decrease of stress. These furry friends also help to keep their owners in shape by encouraging daily exercise. In addition to a decrease in stress and an increase of physical activity, becoming a dog owner can help satisfy your needs for friends and companionship. Being a dog owner makes you a part of an understanding community in which the possibilities for interaction and social growth are endless.
The Reality of Strays
There are nearly twice as many dogs entering shelters as strays than those given up by their owners. Many people see these strays as feral and give the rescues a bad reputation. When in reality, the majority of these strays are lost pets who wondered off and/or didn’t have proper identification. Most rescue dogs are perfectly suited to enter your home today.
The many roles of a rescue dog
When adopting from a shelter, you skip the costs of shots and spay/neutering and in return you receive a dog grateful and ready to meet your needs, whatever they may be. Whether it be search and rescue, emotional support, or even a social media star, rescue dogs truly are capable of becoming anything they set their minds to.
Grey Whisker's Euthanasia Policy
Grey Whiskers Rescue aims to rescue and assist senior dogs in our community. Our volunteers usually have a very limited knowledge of our dog’s histories both social and medical. More often than not, our seniors have some sort of medical or behavioral problems that our volunteers find out about later. Because of this, we have created a euthanasia policy to help in the more difficult situations.
The belief of our volunteers is that when keeping an animal alive or putting it through intensive treatment will seriously diminish it’s quality of life, it is the right time to consider euthanasia. The last thing our volunteers want to do is make a dog more miserable. The Grey Whisker’s volunteers also consult with more than one veterinarian before making this tough decision. Our volunteers do everything they can to help the senior dogs in our community, but we realize that sometimes the best way to help these animals is to allow them to finally get some peace. Our Grey Whisker’s will never be alone in the end, and our volunteers and veterinarians do their best to make their passing as peaceful and gentle as possible.