Post by daves on Jun 4, 2013 23:09:02 GMT -5
There is a Facebook page maintained by a 501C3 volunteer groupto promote the adoption of at risk dogs in the New York Animal Care and Control shelters. There are albums for each of the three levels of risk – Urgent, Super Urgent, and To Be Destroyed. There is also a SAFE folder that contains the pictures and info of the dogs that have left the shelter alive. We focus mainly on the TBD list that comes out each night around 5 PM because the shelter starts euthanizing as early as 6 AM the following morning even though the NYACC website says they won’t start before 4:30 PM. For members of the public (MOPs) there is an online process to reserve a dog for 48 hrs by placing a $50 deposit.
As you would expect there are many posts for each of the dogs on the TBD list. It often very emotional and sometimes contentious but we try to focus on helping people that are new to the site and need guidance in navigating through the process and suggesting which rescue groups are the best for them to apply to for adoption or fostering.
I post almost every night offering to help people that can’t get to the shelter soon enough (I’ll take care of the dog until the weekend) or need help with transport. As a result of my posts I also get some really odd requests.
In the past 3 days there were several interesting situations.
1. A MOP reserved a dog through the online process and arrived at the shelter the next day to complete the adoption. She was told that the dog had been pulled by a rescue the previous day. A volunteer with a rescue group overheard this and attempted to intervene and explained that if the dog had been pulled it would not have been on the TBD list. That didn’t help and the clerk would not let him speak to a supervisor. The rescue person then made a few phone calls that resulted in a supervisor confirming that the dog was still in his kennel. This issue has still not been resolved and the dog is still in the shelter.
2. A gentleman in Vermont posted on the thread that he needed help. He wanted to adopt one of the Pit Bulls on the nightly list but had two problems. Someone had stolen his check so he didn’t have any money and he needed someone to bring the dog to him because he couldn’t leave Vermont - he was under house arrest. Later, when someone else was working through the process of applying to rescues to adopt the same dog the first guy posted an offer to buy the dog if the new person was successful in his attempt to adopt.
3. I got a message from someone requesting my help to find a foster or adopter for a dog. She said she was asked to contact me by a rescue that wanted to remain anonymous. The rescue had reserved a dog (one of my absolute favorites) and the foster was backing out. Since I knew that the dog was in the Safe folder I told her that it appeared that the dog was no longer in need. A short time later I received a phone call from the rescue group who insisted that they still had the dog reserved but didn’t have a foster or adopter. I am waiting for a shelter volunteer to verify the dogs status.
4. A fellow made many many many post on a dog he wanted to foster. Not foster for a rescue but on his own. He was willing to foster for four weeks, if the dogs didn’t get along he would find someone else to foster or give her to a rescue, he needed someone to bring the dog to his 400 sq ft apartment to see if she would get along with his dog, revised his offer to foster for eight weeks if the dogs got along, his dog is an intact male and the dog he wants to foster can’t be spayed because she has kennel cough. Fortunately the dog got a temporary reprieve, unfortunately he is still posting.
5. A person sent an email to the adoption desk at the shelter to notify them that she would come to the shelter the next day to adopt a particular dog (a method approved by the shelter to delay euthanasia) and received a reply that the dog would available when she arrived. She drove 2 ½ hours to arrive at the shelter at noon when the adoption desk opened. Over 4 hours later she left in tears because she was no closer to even seeing the dog she wanted to adopt.
6. And, all the usual requests to have dogs sent to Detroit, Miami, Ohio (with and without BSL), Nova Scotia, Germany, etc,etc,etc
I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow.
As you would expect there are many posts for each of the dogs on the TBD list. It often very emotional and sometimes contentious but we try to focus on helping people that are new to the site and need guidance in navigating through the process and suggesting which rescue groups are the best for them to apply to for adoption or fostering.
I post almost every night offering to help people that can’t get to the shelter soon enough (I’ll take care of the dog until the weekend) or need help with transport. As a result of my posts I also get some really odd requests.
In the past 3 days there were several interesting situations.
1. A MOP reserved a dog through the online process and arrived at the shelter the next day to complete the adoption. She was told that the dog had been pulled by a rescue the previous day. A volunteer with a rescue group overheard this and attempted to intervene and explained that if the dog had been pulled it would not have been on the TBD list. That didn’t help and the clerk would not let him speak to a supervisor. The rescue person then made a few phone calls that resulted in a supervisor confirming that the dog was still in his kennel. This issue has still not been resolved and the dog is still in the shelter.
2. A gentleman in Vermont posted on the thread that he needed help. He wanted to adopt one of the Pit Bulls on the nightly list but had two problems. Someone had stolen his check so he didn’t have any money and he needed someone to bring the dog to him because he couldn’t leave Vermont - he was under house arrest. Later, when someone else was working through the process of applying to rescues to adopt the same dog the first guy posted an offer to buy the dog if the new person was successful in his attempt to adopt.
3. I got a message from someone requesting my help to find a foster or adopter for a dog. She said she was asked to contact me by a rescue that wanted to remain anonymous. The rescue had reserved a dog (one of my absolute favorites) and the foster was backing out. Since I knew that the dog was in the Safe folder I told her that it appeared that the dog was no longer in need. A short time later I received a phone call from the rescue group who insisted that they still had the dog reserved but didn’t have a foster or adopter. I am waiting for a shelter volunteer to verify the dogs status.
4. A fellow made many many many post on a dog he wanted to foster. Not foster for a rescue but on his own. He was willing to foster for four weeks, if the dogs didn’t get along he would find someone else to foster or give her to a rescue, he needed someone to bring the dog to his 400 sq ft apartment to see if she would get along with his dog, revised his offer to foster for eight weeks if the dogs got along, his dog is an intact male and the dog he wants to foster can’t be spayed because she has kennel cough. Fortunately the dog got a temporary reprieve, unfortunately he is still posting.
5. A person sent an email to the adoption desk at the shelter to notify them that she would come to the shelter the next day to adopt a particular dog (a method approved by the shelter to delay euthanasia) and received a reply that the dog would available when she arrived. She drove 2 ½ hours to arrive at the shelter at noon when the adoption desk opened. Over 4 hours later she left in tears because she was no closer to even seeing the dog she wanted to adopt.
6. And, all the usual requests to have dogs sent to Detroit, Miami, Ohio (with and without BSL), Nova Scotia, Germany, etc,etc,etc
I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow.