Road to Rescue: Dog Rescue Best Practices Manual

The nation’s largest pet adoption database, Petfinder.com, showcases well over 10,000 “adoption groups” listing hundreds of thousands of adoptable animals at any given time. Many of these groups are private animal rescue organizations that are operated out of people’s homes, with a network of transport and foster volunteers who support the immense number of animals these rescues save each year. Despite the fact that this industry is obviously sizable and growing, it is virtually unregulated without even a best practices handbook for rescues to use as a reference.*

To create "Road to Rescue," Up For Pups collaborated with numerous experienced, diverse private rescue organizations and animal welfare societies. After developing the project outline, each rescue wrote about two or three topics, which were subsequently posted on the Up For Pups blog for public discussion. The entire data-collection and editing period spanned six months, and Up For Pups continues to monitor comments on these blog posts for information to add to this manual.

The purpose of this manual is to

-Help new rescues “do it right” from the beginning.
-Give existing rescues a “measuring stick” and guide for maximum effectiveness.
-Present a foundation for evaluating rescue effectiveness for those interested in donating and providing grants.

Careful observation of the practices outlined in this manual will help rescues save the most lives, spend the least money, and ensure a good experience for both volunteers and rescued animals. Up For Pups recognizes that dog rescue is not a one-size-fits-all effort and that some upstanding rescues may have policies that differ from those listed herein, but regardless of size or breed, some practices are better than others, which is what the organization set out to highlight.

Road to Rescue: Best Practices Manual includes the following chapters:

Introduction and Definitions
Chapter 1: A Brief History of Dog Rescue Organizations
Chapter 2: Rescues and Shelters
Chapter 3: Starting a Rescue
Chapter 4: Homeless Dogs Needing Help
Chapter 5: Legal Concerns
Chapter 6: Veterinary Care
Chapter 7: Fundraising and Donations
Chapter 8: Managing Costs and Time
Chapter 9: Marketing
Chapter 10: Volunteers
Chapter 11: Foster Home Management
Chapter 12: Adoption Process
Chapter 13: Transporting Animals
Chapter 14: Humane Education
Chapter 15: Special Situations
Appendix A: Document Examples and Resources (separate file)
Appendix B: Generic Documents (separate file; only available with paperback version)

The paperback version includes the book, over 100 pages of document examples, and access to the following documents in .doc format for your use:

-Articles of Organization for a 501(c)3
-Bylaws
-Conflict of Interest policy
-Surrender contract/form
-Intake/evaluation form (should only be used after a dog is evaluated using your rescue’s evaluation procedure)
-Volunteer/foster application
-Foster contract
-Foster welcome kit template
-Adoption application
-Adoption contract

*Manuals and standards are available for shelters, but “rescues” generally run very differently from shelters and cannot necessarily follow similar practices.