Northwest Animal Companions
Mar 17 '09
The Bottom Line Every rescue is in it for the love of the animals. They need your help, in time or money or love, to take care of the animals.
As animal lovers, our family decided we would become a foster home for dogs and cats. We tried several rescues, but we were unhappy with either the staffing or their policies for placement. In July of 2007 we came across Northwest Animal Companions, www.nwac-oregon.org.
We filled out the necessary paperwork, did everything we were required to do, and had an appointment for a Saturday afternoon to pick up our first fosters. It just so happened that we came across our first foster that morning. Max was left abandoned in a backyard with no food or water. during a rare 100 degree Oregon heatwave. We had gone to the house as part of a free ad from www.craigslist.com, just to see what we would find. Who would have ever thought we would find a 75 pound lovable furry beast.
We took Max home, and introduced him to our own dogs and cats. He did really well with everyone, so we went to pick up our first official fosters. Our first fosters were felines, 1 cat and her six 3 week old kittens. We talked it over with the folks in the rescue, and they agreed they could find Max a home. We now had 7 foster cats and 1 foster dog.
The next morning we took Max to the PetsMart store for day 2 of their dog adoption weekend. We were hooked. There is nothing more gratifying than making someone else happy, except when you make their life more complete. People see our dogs on www.petfinder.com, and they come to the store. Just as frequently though, we have people who pass by and fall in love with their "missing" family member.
I have lost track of how many dogs and cats have gone through our house since we started fostering, but it is well into the hundreds of each. We take dogs from the local shelters, often ones slated for euthanasia, and we find them homes. We also take dogs and cats from people who are no longer in a position to care for them. Every now and then we are also able to take cats from the shelters, but like the shelters, the cats and kittens pour like water into our rescue.
Northwest Animal Companions works really hard to never say no to a dog or cat. We are a foster home only, no shelter building rescue. We rely solely on the donations of the public to spay and neuter and feed the fosters. We are also dependent on the public to open their homes and hearts to foster the animals. There have been a few times that our rescue was so full it felt like it would pop, our own home in particular twice had 15 dogs. We always found either forever homes or foster homes for the dogs, so it was always a fulfilling experience.
People often ask me how we can foster and not fall in love with the animals. I have fallen in love with most of the dogs that have filed through here. Part of that love though is moving them into their homes, the ones that they are the missing member. While I love them, and could name them all, I know they are in wonderful loving homes. If anything should ever change, and their families not be able to keep them, it is a requirement of the adoption contract that the animal be returned to Northwest Animal Companions. With this requirement, we have had a few come back. I wrote about Leo not too long ago, who has since gone onto another home.
The absolute most fulfilling thing of all about fostering is when a dog with a sordid history is adopted by their family. It is a special joy when we see that dog after awhile, and the dog is happy and healthy and you just know the best thing possible has happened!
As for things like a mission statement, Northwest Animal Companions does have one, but simply put it is to find the best home possible for every animal. We strongly believe that every single animal has a family out there looking for them, just some are harder to find. Northwest Animal Companions is a 501.c3 charity, meaning we work solely from public donations. None of the people are paid for anything done in the rescue, except in puppy kisses...quite possibly a more rewarding pay than money. 100% of every donation made to Northwest Animal Companions goes toward the dogs and cats. Oh, and we have also placed several mice, hamsters, a wild dove, a chicken, 3 cows, 2 alpacas, a horse, and even 2 baby squirrels. Like I said, we try really hard to never say no to an animal in need.
As for Max, well he was adopted out and returned twice before finding his home. He was such a great dog, that people wanted him, but they weren't his people. Once his family came along, the deal was sealed, and Max went home on December 23, 2007 with his forever family! Leo is going to be coming for visits when his family goes out of town, so that gives me the best of everything with him! Of those 7 cats we first took in, we adopted 2, Jack and Zane. We also adopted our third foster dog, Daisy, who has since left us. Sally came from a shelter, with no intention of us keeping her. She loves me dearly, and would die to protect me. She ended up being not adoptable because she tried to bite people when they got close to me. Sally will live here forever.
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Epinions.com ID:
trthomp
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Member: Terri
Location: Portland Area, Oregon
Reviews written: 189
Trusted by: 77 members
About Me:
God's idea of natural exfoliation is kitty kisses!!
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