Is PAFP Still Doing Rescue Work?

 -It's a Question.  -One Question. -Without One Answer. 

    OK, fine, cornered, if I need to give one answer, it's: Yes. 

    -We are still doing rescue work.  

    However, it has scaled back significantly.  I'm focusing more so now than ever (exclusively) on pets in planning, which is the reason this rescue initiated almost 7 years ago. 

Sweet Riley, one of the dogs of our 1st pet trust

    Before writing this post I looked back at a couple of other posts from recent years.  And this one explains quite well why we've had to scale down our day-to-day rescue efforts: pawandfeatherplan2024/01/policy-changes (*cheat sheet answer for those that don't want to read this other post: 'primarily lack of fosters and funds'): 

*

    I still get calls daily and emails weekly from people wanting to surrender their pets.  That, in and of itself, is sad and hard.

   I speak briefly with many of the individuals that call, and try to point them in the right direction to find resources and/or new homes for their pets- some are receptive and thankful, others just hang up once I say, 'I cannot personally take your pet in at this---.'  

    I also continue to actively volunteer (as time permits) with whatever shelter I'm near to at any given moment in time (currently I'm registered to volunteer at, and pull from, Louisville Metro Animal Services and Miami Dade Animal Services).  

    When we go visit my in-laws in Brazil in a couple months, I'll volunteer with a very modest shelter in my husband's hometown of Sorocaba.  -Wherever I am, I actively advocate for animal and wildlife welfare, helping animals and nature however possible.

    Naturally, as a family and foster-based rescue, we will also foster anew.  We cannot however foster at this very moment as we're living in a Miami Beach 🌴 studio, preparing to return to our little home in Louisville, Ky. in a few weeks. 

Twix, our most-recent foster, pulled from Miami Dade Animal Services, Dec., 2024, adopted out in Feb., 2025

For those of you that are rescue-curious in general I thought it'd be fun and informative to offer a little case study of other small, 501c3 rescues, for perspective:

    -Fat Heads Rescue, based in Southern In., once serving that area, along with Louisville, Ky.  

    ~For years I heard great things about this rescue; they seemingly had an active volunteer and foster base with an impassioned, visionary-president, Davida Miller.  While I don't know the details, I do know it got to be too much.  I'm sure burnout was involved... not from working with pets, but from dealing with some people!  

    -Saving Sunny Inc, based in Louisville, Ky., was an almost 'overnight-success' of a rescue due to its dramatic beginning:  In 2009 pit-bull-Sunny was 1 year old when her then-owner threw her off a local bridge in broad daylight.  Firefighters and a waitress at a nearby restaurant rescued the dog from the Ohio River. The waitress, Kelsey Westbrook, adopted the dog and started an animal rescue organization called Saving Sunny.  Remarkable, right?  There's even more to this incredible rescue story, that we won't get into here.  

    ~Despite its most recent post being from 2022, Saving Sunny's Facebook page still has 12,000 devoted followers.  -Seemingly the rescue hasn't been active for quite some time.  As for Kelsey, I had to dig a bit, but I think this is her LinkedIn profile, and I'm thrilled she seems to be doing well.  

    -Saving Grace and Her Furry Friends, based in Plantation, Fl. initiated in 2012 after Stephanie, a full time teacher, pulled and fostered a sickly mommy dog and her litter of puppies.  I still recall the day she entered Miami Dade Animal Services for puppy vaccines for her foster litter and told me, "I'm going to start a rescue!"  

    And I thought, 'sure you are, I hear that monthly.'  ~At this time I was working as the Adoption and Foster Coordinator at MDAS. 

    Steph did start a rescue named after that dog she fostered, and of the 4 rescues I (quickly) revisited for this blog post, hers is the only one still actively operating as a foster-based pet rescue.  Her sweet story's worth reading: www.savinggracefl.org/about.  (If you can spare even $5, please donate to her rescue while you're on her site). 

    -My Dog Eats First, founded in Louisville, Ky. in 2014 primarily serves pets of the homeless, offering pet food and low cost vet care for homeless and low income peoples' pets.  -Great idea and mission, right?!  11 years in, this charity seems to be going stronger than ever. In my opinion, that's largely due to the fact it didn't initiate or ever operate as a 'rescue' per se, but rather as a charity providing services to a needy population.  Keep up the amazing work! 

    -I had notes to cover one more rescue, however, we'll leave it there for the 'rescue case studies' for now.  

By now, you're probably recognizing a sad trend that small, foster-based pets rescues don't usually last long.  

    The primary reasons for this are: 

    -Finding and managing foster families

    *Many people that foster pets are first-timers; it's something they're trying out to be helpful, kind, and see if they can do it.  As you can imagine, most of these 'green fosters' try it 1-3 times, and stop.  -It's a lot of work.  There's a lot to it that people don't anticipate, primarily the angst that can be caused by 'not knowing' when or if your foster pet will be adopted.  

    Some individuals handle this better than others.  But when you're the rescue in charge of people fostering voluntarily for your org., and you're getting questions or worried comments every several days from a foster or two, about 'when do you think he'll be adopted?' or 'is it normal to take this long?' ~then that also causes you angst.  You feel badly that your fosters are feeling anxious about the process.  It's hard.

    *Seasoned, regular fosters are hard to find- they're out there- but are very hard to find.  Transport rescues typically have better luck with fosters since the pets' stays are for pre-calculated periods of time. Of course it comes with its unique challenges too! 

    -Great adopters can be hard to come by  

      *I've said it before, but it bears repeating: during Covid we couldn't keep adoptable pets- I'd list them on Petfinder and the phone would sometimes start ringing within minutes!  It was wild, like adoption-la-la-land.  -My friend Vicki of kymutts.org warned, 'We'll be paying for this for years to come,' referring to the impacts Covid had on pet rescue as a whole, and at the time I didn't want to believe her, but unfortunately she was right!  We still haven't gotten back to pre-Covid 'slightly healthier, more stable' adoption trends. Here's an in-depth post I wrote on this topic from a couple of years back: 2023/05/how-did-we-get-here-rescues

         *Anyhow, there's a tremendous amount of volatility and fluctuation in pet adoption.  -That can be very hard for a rescue to cope with, as pet lives are at stake, bonds are created, and that 'rejection, lack of interest' in your adoptable pets can start to feel very hurtful, insulting, and even personal.  The level of empathy is there for you to 'take that on,' hence burnout sets in.   

    -Lack of funding

    *Nurses work very hard.  Doctors work very hard.  So do teachers. -Animal Shelter workers too.  -Air traffic controllers, construction workers... there are a lot of jobs that demand so much from you.  But the jobs mentioned heree offer a paycheck so you can keep a roof over your head.  

    Despite what many people think, small foster-based rescues do not have some magical Lucky Charms golden pot from which to pull resources to cover operational costs.   I for one belong to a family of 3 that lives on less than $70,000 a year.  And I've said it before, but bears repeating: I'm in my working prime.  I have to work.  I'm not independently wealthy.   And the rescue doesn't pay the bills.  

    -Fundraising?  I hate fundraising.  And guess what, fundraising takes a tremendous amount of time and dedication... that I don't have.  -That's why large charities have one or more full time people dedicated solely to fundraising.  This is simply not the case with smaller nonprofits.  

     I bet you that if the women we looked at in our rescue case studies above were told, 'Hey, I'll pay you $45,000/year (or some living wage) to revamp your rescue.  And I'll pay for you to have a full time assistant.  Would you do it?' -They'd jump at the opportunity.  

    -There are some great people that want to do great rescue work, but it is a lot of work, and most of us that have small rescues also have families and regular jobs.  -Just stating the facts.  

    Why Our Focus Is, and Must Remain, Pets in Planning, and How This Subcategory of Rescue is Very Different, and Very Necessary:

    1.) As mentioned, it's the reason this rescue began- see 'about' page for reference: thepawandfeatherplan.com/about

    2.)  My vision, and the possibilities that arise from pets in planning becoming a societal norm, are enormous.

     -A financial provision is to be left for the pets in planning (via a will, trust or directive).  This addresses the 'funding issue' for pet rescue.  

    -We never permit ourselves to have a 'full house' in case one of our 'plan clients' passes away, while we of course hope and pray all of our plan clients live for decades to come 🐾.  This addresses the 'where to put the pet' issue for pet rescue. 

    3.)  An enormous motivator of this rescue's model involves helping other animal-loving, rescue people.  

           -Think 'person creates a pet trust detailing pets are to stay in his or her home for their natural lifetimes, with a live-in caregiver-'  this offers this rescue the opportunity to find and place the right person in that pet owner's home when the moment of need arises... allowing us to help house(v) animal-loving individuals free of charge! -How empowering and wonderful, right?

        -Note: I jumped the gun a bit on our first-such-scenario and was very eager to 'move someone in there' to help a wonderful person out... while in hindsight it would've been best for us to live there from the get-go as this was the first-time handling such an arrangement... but 'all things must pass.'  ~~Everything is a process, and should always be seen as a learning process. 🌠

Pretty Pixie, one of the kitties from the rescue's 1st pet trust

    4.)    The need for a pets in planning branch of rescue is more necessary than ever, and hopefully this blog post has offered you some unique insight as to why, from a pet rescue's point of view.

    5.)     To address one potential doubt, if you are thinking, 'I just want to leave my pet to the rescue in my death plans with an associated provision, but not have a live-in caregiver scheduled,' yes- that's great too.  

    This way, even in those critical first hours-days following an owner's passing, the rescue's able to place the pet in a vetted, approved temporary home, albeit as a pet sitting arrangement if need be, until an adopter or long-term foster is located~ those funds are crucial to even making this an option!!  And if your pet is adopted quickly, and funds are leftover, that's why the homepage of my rescue specifically states:    

"The few and far between that include pets in planning, naming us as 'primary pet custodian,' along with associated provisions, are assuring not only that their pets go to loving homes, but that all pets we rescue go to loving homes.You make this work possible. ~When you become part of the PAFP family, you're becoming part of something much bigger." 

 

    

Citing Articles Referenced for This Post:

iushorizon.com/24222/news/fat-heads-rescue-takes-on-harvest-homecoming

https://www.wave3.com/story/31592011/dog-that-survived-being-thrown-from-second-street-bridge-has-cancer/

-see clickable links within the post for more reference! 

This rescue currently offers pets in planning care and services primarily in the states of Ky., Fl., In., and Il., however, we 'can be' a nationwide service since I have a business model and method in place. Reach out!