animal rescue Archives

National Lost Dogs Awareness Day

National Lost Dogs Awareness Day National Lost Dogs Awareness Day was first celebrated on April 23rd, 2014 after Susan Taney and Kathy Pobloskie, the directors of Lost Dogs Illinois and Lost Dogs of Wisconsin, created the holiday. The two established the day in order to bring attention to all of the dogs that get lost each year, but also to celebrate the joy of lost dogs that are reunited with their families. Finding A Lost Pet Have you lost your pet? We know this can be a time of constant stress and uncertainty. Pets are like our family members, and when […]

08Dec

December 8 – Pretend to be a time traveler day

Ok all of you Marty McFly fans, today is your day. You get to be a time traveler and go back in time to right the wrongs of the world. Well, at least you can pretend to be a time traveler today because it is national pretend to be a time traveler day after all. Who knew that there was such a day? So you might be wondering how we are going to align this national day with animal rescue aren’t you? Well not to worry, we always have a plan. Animal rescue is an industry that has transformed over […]

20Sep

Rescue Myth vs. Fact: Animal rescues do not have a physical facility

Myth: All animal rescues do not have a physical facility Many of our fact versus myth posts are difficult to write because the truth about the topic in question lies somewhere in the middle between two extremes. We cannot say that all animal rescues do not have a physical facility. We can say that the vast majority of animal rescues (90%+) operate out of a foster home network, instead of a central facility. What is an animal rescue? What is an animal rescue group? The term “animal rescue” is a generic term that is used by a lot of different […]

27Jul

National talk in an elevator day – Face forward. Look up. No talking.

You know the drill. You walk into an elevator and make brief eye contact with the other passengers in the box, before staking out your personal space and facing forward for the journey upwards. The rules of the elevator are simple. Rule 1: No talking. Rule 2: The person closest to the buttons has the responsibility of minimizing the amount of time from door open to door close by rapidly pressing the buttons on behalf of the other passengers in the tube. Since you were a kid you likely learned the rules of the elevator and they’ve stuck with you […]

05Jul

Rescue Myth vs. Fact: Animal Shelters are funded by the government.

With so many types of animal welfare organizations out there, it’s easy to get a rescue, shelter and animal control organization confused. The majority of these organizations are operated as charities (501c3 organizations) but there are a fair number of them that receive municipal funding as well. So this fact is partially true and partially false. Let us explain. The term animal shelter is a generic term usually used to refer to an animal rescue organization that has a physical facility where you can go and adopt an animal. Some organizations even use the moniker animal shelter in their title. […]

14Jun

Rescue Myth vs. Fact: Animal rescue people are crazy

We’ve heard it, and probably said it at some time before, “Rescue people are crazy.” They spend thousands of hours trying to pull animals, raise funds, transport and do home visits. Pictures are posted by the thousands (some of which are horrific) in an effort to raise awareness to the plight of these defenseless creatures. They drain their bank accounts, and retirement savings in an effort to save one more animal. Often when you talk to them they are overwhelmed, emotional, at the end of their rope and frustrated so they can come across as well…crazy. Fact: Animal rescuers are […]

07Jun

Rescue Myth vs. Fact: Animal rescues have facilities to house the animals.

Another long-standing myth is that animal rescue organizations have facilities similar to the animal shelter organizations for housing their animals until they are adopted. This is another one of those that depends on the organization. But many forever home adopters are often surprised when they are working with a rescue organization to find out that there is not a central facility where they can go to view the animals or see the rescue in action. Fact: The majority of animal rescue organizations rely on several foster homes for animal housing. As you might expect, operating a facility can be quite […]

12Apr

Biggest problems in animal rescue: 2) recurring funding

Biggest problems in animal rescue. We need money. We’ve been discussing the challenges that animal rescue volunteers and organizations face, and we would be remiss not to discuss the challenge of recurring revenue which is a constant challenge in rescue. How do you run a business when it’s difficult to predict what your revenues and profits will be versus your cash outlay every month? How can you ensure continuity of your operations when it seems like there’s always an expense you can’t predict? Local animal shelters and animal rescues need recurring revenue to survive and thrive. Rescue organizations are historically […]

04Oct

4 creative ways to fund your animal rescue

You know it and we know it. Finding sustainable sources of revenue to support your animal rescue operations is hard work. But if you’re reliant solely on adoption fees, you’ll quickly realize that your model is unsustainable and you’ll quickly be looking for new ideas to keep the funding flowing in. So you’ve gotta think creatively and work collaboratively to get some other sources to support your life-saving operations. Here are some ideas to spark your thinking and we’d love to hear your ideas! Partner up – You’ve probably noticed the trend lately is going pet friendly. So jump on […]

19Jun

What It Means to be an Animal Rescue Professional

As you would guess from our organization title, we have an opinion and perspective on what it means to be someone that is called a professional in the world of animal rescue and we’re happy to share it. Please know though, that our goal is to start a conversation and not to pass judgment. We welcome YOUR perspective on the subject so please talk back to us. Here’s our take to get the conversation started: At ARPA we believe that there are 4 criteria that differentiate whether someone can be called an Animal Rescue Professional or not. In our opinion, […]

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