How do I start a rescue?

How does one start a dog rescue farm?

• I'm in LA and want to start an organization to help get the strays off the street and out of kill shelters.

• Answer:

  Here are some suggestions (by no means complete or definitive). Read Redemption by Nathan Winograd. This provides a roadmap for what you want to do. (Maybe you already have. If you have, I can tell you, from my experience, that I think he's spot-on in terms of what needs to be done. Think more in terms of "How do I create better ways to increase adoption rates." Think outside the box. Instead of thinking in terms of creating a nw shelter, consider the idea of building a small foster network -- don't overcommit. Perhaps you can find a few friends or associates you really trust willing to foster a dog for several months to a year while you're new organization comes up with great ways to reach adopters. Good fosters can also help promote the animals in their care to potent NETWORK! Think about all the businesses, organizations, friends, associations, you know. Invite them to help you get the word out. Reach out to people in other non-profit fields -- you'll find you'll get a lot of support from people working on non-animal related issues. They will admire what you're doing and provide you all kinds of synergistic help. (Some of them will adopt from you too.) Ask people in ALL LINES of work how they would do adoption marketing. Get ideas from internet entrepreneurs, bankers, police officers, whatever. They will be flattered that you trust their creativity and judgment and will start helping you spread the word. Motivate the small businesses in your immediate neighborhood and work area to provide spaces in their places to put up adoption notices or digital frames (which can hold a lot of photos of various animals for adoption.) Many businesses will welcome this, and will probably offer to provide more resources. Volunteer at an SPCA or other organization doing rescue and learn from their successes and failures. I highly recommend learning as much as you can about adoption vetting. This, I believe, is the most difficult part of finding new homes. It takes patience and a sense of humor. Finding adopters and learning how to judge whether a person is a suitable adopter is key. And if they're not suitable to adopt, learning how to politely and kindly steer them in the direction of perhaps volunteering or becoming a foster parent first. Many would-be adopters end up becoming awesome volunteers and fosters. Focus on adoption marketing first. In fact, I would rather you spend a LOT of time coming up with great adoption marketing ideas, posters, networking, etc, for existing shelter dogs than starting your own rescue shelter. The time/money it takes to rescue and just take care of dogs can easily overwhelm your adoption marketing work, and then you'll wind up in the same position as the kill shelters. Good luck and please don't overcommit yourself. Don't allow yourself to become overwhelmed by snowballing requests for help. I did this recently, and it's really taking a toll. You're doing a wonderful thing, so take it slow and make sure you have fun doing it!