# Rescue Groups -Disappointed Again



## Timber1

I will submit more later, but want to give the group I work with more time to respond. And yes, I will name the Shepherd rescue I work with, but not in this E Mail

A few days ago I got an E Mail that stated one of the two founders of the group had resigned, and it sounds clearly like there were disagreements with her Board. 

Not a single member provided any specifics regarding the resignantion, nor would respond to any E Mails regarding the reasons for the change. And I asked more then once.

This person founded our group, and she is opinionated. We sometimes disagreed, mostly about how much freedom you allow a resuce dog to have, and vet expenses for the older dog. But, I always respected her, and she did a great job.

Some members have decided to no longer deal with her rescue group, which is quite small. I have not decided, but unless the remaining group is willing to explain to me why she was asked to resign, I will also leave and stick with my breeder on high end GSD's.

This is not my first attempt as serving as rescue, but as my expereinced daughter says, these folks are different and you might be better off just adopting a few dogs a year off the urgent GSD board.


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## Betty

I am not involved with any organized rescue but about once a year a heartbreaker finds their way into my home and my heart. I usually do whatever needs to be done with vet care (normally extensive--my hubby doesn't even ask any more) do what training they need and find them a home. 

It works for me and for the dogs. Some people do better in an organization and some don't. I've always worked better and been happier being independent.


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## Prinzsalpha

Few thoughts Timber1-

1-Last night she gave her resignation not a few days ago.
2-You have not asked me for any specifics
3-Nancy is not opinionated. In fact she is as laid back as they come. Does she have certain criteria we fosters must meet? Yes.
4-If you call having 15 foster people a small rescue I think you need to rethink that.
5-Your experienced daughter works for a much larger organization, with alot more corporate funding available and at her fingertips. 
6-Usually when you adopt a dog you pay for them.

I will gladly discuss why White Paws GSD is going through growing pains privately. I do not feel you do any good airing out the dirty laundry on the world wide web. Feel free to contact me.

Maureen


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## middleofnowhere

Timer, why on earth would you want to name the group on this site? Small NFPs are rife with strife and disagreements. People are there because they are committed to the cause and have very strong feelings. It isn't just GSD rescue groups that has this going on. Women's crisis lines, small historical organizations, national survivor groups -- all have a lot of conflict. People that are affiliated with church boards have told me that even they have a lot of conflict.

I've been on boards and I've been a member of several NFPs. (None related to dogs!) and all have had a degree of turmoil from time to time.


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## Myamom

"I will also leave and stick with my breeder on high end GSD's"


If you're heart is really in this to save lives...some discord within a rescue will not change it..........


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## BowWowMeow

I agree, Timber. This is inappropriate. I have been working with volunteer-based, underfunded, non profit groups for many years now and there is always turmoil. 

You have this way of demanding answers immediately and then pointing fingers and making assumptions when your questions are not answered right away. I do not think your standards are based in reality. Please keep in mind that volunteers run rescue organizations and it is very emotionally draining work. 

As MaryAnn says, if you are committed to dogs then you will find a way to help out! I'm sure your local Humane Society (which I believe your daughter runs?) needs foster homes and volunteers too.


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## Timber1

Actually, you mentioned the name of the rescue group and the name of the President, not me. I had promised her a long time ago I would never mention White Paws on this board.

So you aired out the dirty laundry by mentioning her name and the name of the rescue group. I have never done that, please, at least be factual.

Again, I have asked for reasons for her resignation and tried to call her, no response. Also, no response from the so-called board, so after being in the business world for 35 years I will never understand why any rescue group does not have the courtesy to respond to its members. In reality, I do not even know any of the board members nor ever been given any info regarding their finances.

*And don't ever accuse me of blasting my rescue group on this board, you managed to do that, while I never named the group or President. *

My personal E Mail is [email protected]. I would love to hear what the GROUP YOU NAMED is going through. 

As for my daughter, yes the group she works for is heavily founded. Perhaps for a good reason.


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## Timber1

double post edited by Jean


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## Timber1

Please, I did not name the group, I believe another member by the name of Maureen did, and not only named the group, by the President.

And yes, I will probably stick with rescue, but if this group, in my opinion, was doing a bad job and has been non-responsive to us rescue folks I have no problem naming them. The lady that resigned was doing a nice job, so I don't get it.

As for Maureen, she spilled the names of both the rescue group and the President, not me.

Anyway, we will move on, and yes, I will take more rescues.


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## Lauri & The Gang

> Originally Posted By: Timber1I will submit more later, but want to give the group I work with more time to respond. And yes, I will name the Shepherd rescue I work with, but not in this E Mail





> Originally Posted By: Timber1Actually, you mentioned the name of the rescue group and the name of the President, not me. I had promised her a long time ago I would never mention White Paws on this board.


While you didn't mention the name of the group you said you were going to.

I think MYoung did the right thing by stepping up and letting everyone know what's going on and offer to explain in PMs.

One thing that people tend to forget is that most rescue groups are run by people that ALSO have full time jobs. They try to squeeze the rescue stuff into the time they have left each day - along with time for their family, spouses, children, personal dogs, housework, yardwork and the occasional 'just sit back, put your feet up and veg' time.


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## pupresq

> Quote:As for Maureen, she spilled the names of both the rescue group and the President, not me.


But Timber1, most of us that frequent the rescue sections of this board already knew what group you worked with because of all the posts when you were getting started with them and we knew who the president is (now was, I guess). So, even though you didn't name the group in that post, we knew immediately what group and what person from the first post. 

As far as non-responsiveness, this does sound again like the issues during your original search. I think your expectations of rescue volunteers may be unrealistic especially if you are using a model from business or even comparing it to a large and well-funded HS. Smaller rescue groups are entirely run by volunteers who pack their schedules beyond anything most people would even attempt, such is their desire to save dogs. 

Is it always efficient? Do they manage to allocate time for the maximum benefit? No. Definitely not. I, for one, routinely miss opportunities to do things that would benefit us FAR more in the long term because I'm stuck doing short term stuff. The problem in rescue is that you have an enormous amount being done by the people at the top, too much really, and things do sometimes call through the cracks or emails and phone calls aren't returned as quickly as people would like. But, as others have said, these are volunteers doing the very best that they can - and are doing a phenomenal amount. 

As fas as the original topic of the thread - yes, these splits and fractures are common and not just in the animal rescue world. Many of us have been through them and they are invariably extremely painful and usually have good people on both sides.


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## ILGHAUS

I am also going to step in here and make a statement -- 

Timber1, I too knew which group you belonged to from your own posts. So if you are upset that we all know the group, then you need to be upset with yourself and not others from your organization.

And why does it even matter?


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## RebelGSD

I too know which rescue group you are with Timber1.

I personally think that a person has the right to resign in privacy or say as much about their reasons as they feel comfortable with. I think 50+members calling the person and demanding an explanation is quite inappropopriate and out of line. People leave without explanation jobs where they are paid big bucks and phone calls from individuals from their former company could be considered harassment.

Most of rescue volunteers work full time jobs, have families etc. in addition to rescue. It sounds like your expectations are unrealistic.
Maybe, since the place that your daughter runs is so perfect, you should foster for them and work for your daughter. You may end up unhappy with your high-end breeder too, sooner or later, most of it depends on your expectations.


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## Timber1

I guess it does not matter for one simple reason. I, along with others will continue to serve as rescues. Of course I realize it is a commitment and that the folks involved are volunteers. 

But, being that our goal is to help save a few dogs, I have never understood the conflicts that can arise between volunteers, regardless of whether they are board members or just plain people who serve as rescues.

I could elaborate, but best to shut up for awhile and just take aniother dog.


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## pupresq

> Quote:But, being that our goal is to help save a few dogs, I have never understood the conflicts that can arise between volunteers, regardless of whether they are board members or just plain people who serve as rescues.


Because people are people. They may have different ideas about how to do every aspect of rescue from which dogs to pull to how much vetting they get to what kind of homes they go to. And sometimes people with differences can work together and other times they can't. And sometimes it has nothing to do with the dogs at all, personality conflicts, issues over finances, ethics, you name it, it's probably caused a rift in some relationship. Even if everyone has the same common goal of "saving animals" you can run aground on a million different variations of how best to do that. 

My current group formed when about half our members split from another group because we wanted to focus our efforts on working with rural shelters and the other half of the group wanted to keep doing things the same way they always had. It was a lot more complicated than that, but that was one of the splitting points. It was very painful and got very ugly. In the end, I'm happy with the way things turned out and feel good about the group we've got now - our motto is "no drama!" but while the separation was happening is was very difficult. 

In rescue you want it to be all about the dogs, but what is best for the dogs isn't black and white and we do need to spend at least some energy focusing on what's best for the people - how can we support each other through difficult times? How can we help each other be better rescuers? How do we handle it when there's a problem? 

Compassion and patience are good practices not only with the dogs we rescue but with each other.


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## Timber1

As a rescue I keep learning and appreciate your comments. 

Suffice it to say the people I have worked with regarding rescue and I have not always agreed as you can probably ascertain from my prior posts, but nonetheless, the decisions made have always been toward the best interests of the dog.

Frankly, there are issues, such as fund raising, but the GSD rescue folks are the most dedicated I have met.

And if I made comments in prior posts that some did not appreciate fine. But, the result of those comments is beginning to be positive.


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## WiscTiger

Timber1, I am not involved with any rescue group, I just spend time in the Rescue forms trying to be helpful and keeping things organized and I knew what group you were with.

Also, I have been involved with several non-profit organizations, some have been really good about communication and others just sucked. Many times people running groups don't have the best Organizational skills and some resist change. 

Just curious to the rest of the rescue people out there, how do you communicate with your foster homes, is it email, on a private BB, something other or very little communication?

Timber1, if you stay with the group you are with you might want to ask what is their normal form on communication with foster homes. If you don't stay with the group you are with you might want to write down a list of your criteria and see what group bests fits your personality.

Val


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## elginhaus

I think most groups that have a website also have a private BB. All that I have been involved with have it set up that way.


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## Timber1

Val, a few quick comments. I would like more info regarding the group's finances. A short six months ago we were doing OK, and now $$$ are an issue. I have no idea if it is vet care, tranportation expenses, etc. I do know some of us involved with my group have never billed for any expenses, so I think it is either vet care or transport, mostly the former.

Regarding foster people, my group regularly communicates with me, and vice-versa. When I started rescue, I promised weekly updates to them and they are posted via the Internet and distributed to all members. Once some one adopts a dog, I have found in most cases they do let our group know how the dog is doing. With few exceptions, the adoptees are very happy with their dog. 

I will say my first E Mail was to reactionary. I will stay with this group, continue to serve as a rescue for dogs, and make darn sure when they are adopted, it is the right home.

The financial issues will be discussed at an upcoming meeting. I tend to think the major issue will be how much do we spend to save a rescue dog, but I may be wrong. 

In terms of my criteria regarding rescue, my grouip has been perfect. They have allowed me some leeway with the dogs, and also relied on my opinion regarding placing a dog.

My disappintment, the resignation of our President and the internal bickering. 

Again, I have probably said way too much.


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## artisgsd

I agree, you have probably said way too much - it seems like many of your concerns would be best addressed in private. 

I'd love to know of a rescue that doesn't bicker (it doesn't have to be negative either)...then it means people just go along with each other without voicing opinions and without chance for improvement. We all have them. It's like a marriage...when you care so much about something, you bring your emotions into it. We love each other, we love our dogs, and we love our own families...add paying jobs to that and it's quite a lot for us to balance 24/7/365!

And...if your involved with a rescue in a capacity other than just fostering...well, then it involves other people - handling adopters (who never seem to understand the demands of a person in rescue - who think we're all at their beck and call), handling foster homes, making tough decisions on which dogs to pull (or which dogs live or die), watching the budget and balancing which dog can have a surgery or what dog can you afford to save? Oh and what about a fundraiser and brainstorming ways to keep money coming in. Step back and see the big picture...I think it will make you appreciate what everyone has going on. 

As Val said...non-profits can be tricky...you don't have people in paid positions...sometimes skills of some are less desirable than others. Some of it comes from their personal and professional background. Bottom line is, you have to realize that people bring what they can and you have to learn how to use the skills that people have and if you can, mentor along the way. It doesn't matter if this is rescue, a local athletic organization, the PTO...they are all very similiar, from my personal experience. 

Anyway...take a break...maybe you need a mental one. 

Val - We have a private BB, we use email, phone calls - whatever it takes. I think many of us will tell you that there is no day off.


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## WiscTiger

Timber1, I think you need to address your concerns to the group you work with in private.

I will only state what I know from working with groups that were NFP, but not dogs.
First, if we had a financial glitch, the BOARD would get together either in person or on a phone conference, discuss what is going on and what are the possible solutions. 
Second once we had all the information and possible solutions, then we notified the balance of the membership, scheduled a meeting if necessary to go over and vote on things.

Now this works if your group is an actual membership group, where you pay a membership fee.

Most Resource groups that I see do not have an open membership. There is a Board of Directors that manage the organization.

While they may or may not take the advice of Foster Homes, depending on the Incorporation documents, they do not have to release or discuss financial dealings with people other on the board members and when they file the NFP tax documents.

There are more groups out there than foster homes. So if the issues that bother you can't be resolved then work with a different group.


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## Timber1

I appreciate your advice and the subsequent post. 

However, it is not time for me to take a break, rather I want to take another rescue ASAP. Another rescue gets my attention, and as I said in a prior post, so far, so good with my rescues. That may be the break I need. The dogs have been great.

Also, time for me to shut up.


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## Prinzsalpha

LOL Timber1


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## Timber1

Thanks, look forward to meeting you.


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