YGRR C.A.R.E. Program

We’ve had a very busy quarter since I last reported to you, and almost all of it has been a good kind of busy.  Yes, there are still more homeless dogs out there, but the good news is that our outreach program is yielding benefits. 

For quite some time over the past few years, the number of dogs at our facility hovered in the low single digits.  While we may think this is a good thing, we have our own facility, with paid (very) experienced staff.  We’ve struggled about what to do with the declining numbers, which is why we instituted our recent outreach programs to see if we could affect the homeless dog population in a positive way outside of New England.

The short answer is a resounding “Yes”.  We actually do wish that there wasn’t a need for an organization such as ours or a facility like the one that we have, but we felt that there was a need that was different from our original charter. 

Reaching out to the Animal Control Officers and shelters throughout New England did give us positive results, but not as much as we had hoped.  Going through this exercise was good in other ways and we have sent a reminder to organizations that may have had a significant employee turnover since the last time we did this.  As it was, this was more of a re-introduction to a new group of people at organizations that we have been associated with in the past.

Expanding the our intake to Golden Retriever mixes has had a very positive result.  We now have more mixes than purebred Goldens at Riverview.  The members that we have contacted about possible adoptions have mostly been very positive and our first mixes have found loving homes.

Reaching outside of our traditional service area of New England has netted us an overwhelming response.  We have brought in a lot of dogs, mostly from down south, along with a few from upstate New York.  Many of these dogs have come in with multiple medical issues, but we are very enthusiastic about this as we believe they have come to the right place as we have the expertise to help them.  We partnered with some smaller transport companies who do transports with smaller vehicles.  These transports have taken longer, but the rides north for the dogs are more comfortable and humane.  Many of the dogs have hopped out of the transport vehicle and immediately given us welcome kisses.  These dogs have adjusted very well to Rirverview and once they complete their treatment, will be going to their forever homes.

We are close to capacity now at Riverview, and that will be changing soon with many of these dogs coming off “hold” and going home.

The picture I am including this month is one I took personally, instead of an official YGRR picture.  The reason I am including this picture is as an example of how successful the program has been.  This is Belle who, at the time of this writing is almost 15 years old.  She was left alone in an abandoned home for nearly 6 months after her family moved out.  She came to us barely weighing 30 pounds and is now over 40 and doing well.  She went home in late September with a retiree who is home all the time.  She has two cat sisters and they are all getting along very well.  She is in her loving forever home knowing what it is like to be loved because of your support.  Pardon the picture quality, but being with her is an emotional time and it’s hard to hold the camera steady.

Links:

• Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue