Animal Rescue: Where to Send Rescued Animals?

Is animal shelter the same as animal rescue?

While it is true that there is no inherent difference between animal shelter and animal rescue as both work tirelessly toward providing a safe haven for animals, the disparity seems to lie beyond the semantics. For a start, shelters use fixed facilities to house these pets in cramp cages until new willing owners are found whereas animal rescues have no such facilities but rely more on a group of volunteers who temporarily adopt pets into their homes until new owners are found who can provide more permanent and stable care for these orphaned pets.

And while both depend mainly on donations to fund this noble cause, animal shelters are on the short end given the limited resources and space available against the sheer number of pets to be given food, care and attention. Some shelters have even resorted to cramping cages full of pets stacked up on top of the other. This dire situation which shelters have to face every day is the reason why millions of pets, after a given period, are euthanized every year.

Mercy killing is a necessary evil

Although this mercy killing is necessary to give equal opportunity to newly arrived pet ‘orphans’, similar to survival of the fittest on a conveyor belt, such horrible practice has caused outrage, giving rise to the liberal model of animal rescue where rescued pets are distributed among a given set of volunteers for temporary care while a sustained drive to find suitable owners are in earnest.

In fairness, animal shelters have been doing euthanasia for years, more so in recent years when pet population has risen considerably mainly due to irresponsible breeding driven largely by profits.

Animal shelter v. animal rescue

Yet sadly, there are some groups taking advantage of this outcry by picturing animal shelters as the bad guys and animal rescue, the good guys. What these groups fail to realize is that animal rescue is only as good as the last volunteer willing to provide foster care for neglected pets and that, if pet overpopulation is not adequately addressed, animal rescue will also suffer the same fate as the animal shelters’.

And before you get yourself lost in the emotion of the moment and take sides on this issue, animal shelter and animal rescue should be regarded not in the good guys vs. bad guys approach; but rather, both should be respected for the stamina and the dedication each devote so these unwanted pets do not have to suffer needlessly.

You can make a difference

So, the next time you see a dog or a cat on a curb wandering about and showing signs of having abandoned by its owner, do not hesitate to contact a shelter or a rescue. Better yet, if you have the commitment and the resources, adopt the poor thing. Perhaps it is written in the wind, who knows?