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Pulling for Rescue

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Corinne August 29 at 18:33	Pulling for Rescue A question came up on the main board, and I'd like to answer it FROM a Col Potter point of view. Mind you EVERY RESCUE GROUP HAS ITS OWN RULES AND PRACTICES. Col Potter coordinates our intakes thru our intakes team - the CPCRN address I gave in the other message. They must approve all intakes - if you find a dog at your local rescue - they have to approve it first because they know if we have foster homes available and they will check to make sure it meets our 80% looks like cairn rule. This is great because they call BEFORE you go to the shelter - its always harder to refuse a dog you see. They get agreement from a foster home.. and someone close to the shelter/owner to get the dog. I originally just pulled then had transports take them to their homes.. if you also foster, you may be the one who keeps them with you.. but we do tend to move the dog elsewhere. Mostly because the closest foster may be full, but also because it gives a fresh start for the dog. We can only take in a dog if 1. we have a foster home to take care of it, 2. we can get there in time, and 3 if we have funds to care for it. CPCRN spays/neuters all dogs before adoption AND has all shots given. From some shelters / pupy mills we also require a 14 day vet isolation for the safety of our foster homes. For middle aged or old dogs, this usually means we pay more than what we will get for an adoption donation. yes, its complicated, but we are trying to keep everyone safe. We do take in some biter dogs - they go to experienced homes for fostering only, and yes, some are incorrigible (repeated bites without warning or reason) and have to be put down. But many can be trained once they get into a better situation. Sorry if this was long.. but I thought it might answer some questions... if you are interested in assisting us.. go to volunteers on the CPCRN website. We need people for all sorts of tasks, transporting, fostering, pulling, and fundraising activities (my specialty) as well as reference checkers, home checkers.. the list is very long. Col Potter Cairn Rescue Network

Lynda and the Minkies August 29 at 18:47	Re: Pulling for Rescue Don't get me wrong here, Corinne. I'm well aware of all you guys do for the rescues BUT something bothers me about Colonel Potter's....this thing of not saving them unless they're full Cairns...in the past some dogs have been posted here that needed saving and now 2 or 3 times I've seen posted that you were not interested or getting involved because of this. I appreciate you have your hands full but I still think this is harsh....just my opinion. Easy for me to say, I expect you think, stuck over here !! Please let me know your opinions on this as it really gave me a "downer" on your group. XXX.

Corinne August 29 at 23:22	Re: Pulling for Rescue Its an IRS thing. We are a charity as described by the Internal Revenue Service. We had to write a legal charter to allow people who donate to us to be allowed to take their donations off their income tax. That charter states we are there for purebred cairn terriers and near cairn terriers. If we take in a dog that does not meet our charter, we can lose it - and if we do so, we lose the ability to get money from some sources. (As an example, the company I work for, Verizon, will give a charity $500 a year if I work more than 50 hours for the charity. For me, thats usually done in less than 3 months - BUT Verizon only gives that money to IRS registered charities.) Trust me, many of our members HAVE helped non cairns.. and we DO notify other organizations who do other purebred or mixed dog rescues, but Col Potter itself cannot support a non cairn dog without chancing losing our status. We arent ignoring them, we just cant take them into our system. One side effect of the cairns we take out of the shelters, is that a cage is empty for any other dog. By helping remove dogs from the shelters, hopefully another dog gets another day to get adopted. The situation in the states is that there are far more dogs than folks that want them. There are shelters in NY that kill over 100 dogs a DAY. Any rescue group here is using a thimble to bail. We at Col Potter have not refused any cairn due to lack of funds or foster homes but there have been a few times we were close to it. We have grown from about 100 members when I joined last year to over 250 members now. We LOVE it when people tell us about a cairn in a shelter, because we know we arent hearing about all of them. Sorry about me rambling, but we do work with other groups, to help as many dogs as possible, its just we can only take in cairns. A personal example of this is how we work with Westie Rescue... last March, Angie G posted a dog on Westie rescue that they did not have a foster home for, that had bit a baby, and that was 13 yrs old. Lynne cross posted it to Col Potter.. and I ended up with Frankie. I couldnt bear to think of a 13 yr old guy getting a dirt nap for something his mom should have prevented. (I have a kid, my kid was NEVER alone with the dog). Oh well, Ive rambled enough. If you want to read how Col P came about, its on the website under who we are. Corinne Col Potter Cairn Rescue Network

Corinne August 29 at 23:27	Re: Pulling for Rescue oh,and one other thing..you dont have to prove its purebred, but it needs to look like a cairn.. We did in the begining take some that were a bit less cairn.. but they took forever to get adopted... people dont come to us for a spotted dog, or a large one.. they check us out for cairns... Once a dog is in our system, it stays til we find a wonderful home.. but lets face it.. we are limited by the number of foster homes we have. Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, we also post cairns for other organizations on our pages. Corinne

Lynda and the Minkies August 30 at 07:00	Re: Pulling for Rescue Thanks so much for the explanations, Corinne....that was interesting regarding the status you must adhere to...I am so pleased that you guys are not just being "funny" which is how it seemed. Now we all know !! Thanks. XXX.

Corinne August 30 at 08:35	Re: Pulling for Rescue Glad it helped.. and rest assured.. if we refuse one because it isn't 'cairn' enough.. we do contact other rescues that take mixed (or other) breeds to try to get it helped. . You'd be surprised how many times a dog is labled 'cairn' when it isnt even a terrier... Cairns are scruffy looking little dogs... so if it meets that description... well the shelters want to save them too... We try to help all we can, we just can only take cairns in ourselves. Corinne

Debi August 30 at 13:42	Re: Pulling for Rescue Corrine, I am a bit confused about Col Potter also.I have worked with Aly on pulling dogs in the Las Vegas area.I also work with other national resuce groups and their requirements don't seem to be as strict. I have found that their 80% rule isn't very clear on what they require. I now have a cairn rescue that I am keeping. Col Potter wouldn't take him because of his size and weight. He weighes 32 lbs and is over their weight limit. My vet says he is full cairn but probably from a bad breeder. The other rescue groups I work with don't have the 80% rule. None of them understand this 80% either and say it has to be because of the way the charter was written and this is not something the IRS requires. I would love it if you could find out the facts. Col Potter could also contact other rescue groups for fostering if they have no foster home available. These homes have already been checked out by their own rescue group. We do this here if one group is full and another one has room they will help out.Thank you for all you do and esp the fund raising. This is the hard part of rescue. Finding the funds.

A.J. in Omaha & the kids August 31 at 00:38	Re: Pulling for Rescue Hi...I must add to this as well.. Had a situation in Nebraska with a stray found in a field in Nebraska and in a shelter. I was sent an email alert about him... Closest Westie friend was Eileen, Chester's mommie... Contacted Eileen on an early Sunday A.M.......she drove to the shelter...(even though it was closed) ...a worker was there... Eileen also knowns the shelter people. She was able to meet Darcy...and let me know he is a wonderful Carin.. We tried to work via Col. Potter...but were told we had to have the board approve him, impound him for a period of time,IF they had their board of directors meeting after viewing a photo and would accept him... Well.....thanks to Kim...WRM... We moved on this.... Eileen got him out of the shelter with our encouragement and blessings..on Monday... Took him to the vet for a all the health check ups.... got him up to date on vaccinations, got him neutered...He also was groomed and began feeling great about himself..... Darcy got to go home with Eileen and be fostered.... We had a Wonderful adoptive home waiting.... In fact, this was the applicant who really wanted to adopt Carter...(Now Kim's Ozzie boy) Darcy has become our very own Terrier Club member, Luigi..!!! Within a week... And Cece and Tony and all the extended family.....continue to live happily from now on...Thanks to being given the opportunity via rescue friends like Eileen...who made it happen..for the best of the Carin in need and the adotptive family. Moral of the story.... We could NOT WAIT ...for approval...this was a wonderful little very young dog...and he NEEDED to get out of the steel cage...and have a chance for a forever family...and we had a wonderful one waiting to adopt and love him forever!!! Cece and Tony had just lost their 15 year old Carin,Guido, and were Very ready to have the love of a Carin in their lives soon. They believed SO Much in adopting a Rescue. This Carin needed to get out of the shelter...and on to a wonderful perfect family waiting for him... Their are times in Rescue...We cannot Wait for approval and email the photo for the "board's approval".... WE NEEDED to help thi dog....!!! And even IF he is NOT pure Carin... It really does not matter to us OR his forever family... I do not want to sound out spoken or unkind in any way......but..this was not very long ago..& I will never forget..being told to WAIT for the board to decide.... Well... we just did what our hearts said...Save the dog.. WE will make it work.... It DID!!! Guess that's WHY I have branched out.....and even though...I am Westie Rescue... I also am into Scottie Rescue...Carin Rescue...Yorkie Rescue..(and even a lab...if they need help and are along for the ride...) ..Oh, and cats come along too....So what I am saying is... We do this for the animals... I wish I knew IF I am at least 80% of whatever!??? Our Love and best for the animals in need.

Eve,Phoenix, Faith August 31 at 11:33	Re: Pulling for Rescue (We do this for the animals...) This is what it's all about. This 80 % should not be part of it and waiting for approval sounds snobbish to me. Lets see how long they would like to sit in a cage waiting for approval.

Corinne August 31 at 13:33	Re: Pulling for Rescue So now its ping on Col Potter.. 80% is how we describe our guideline.. there are many things we can skip on a particular dog, but generally, they need to be 'cairn' enough. (after all we ARE a CAIRN TERRIER rescue) Well, we are trying. We've saved hundreds of cairns and cairn mixes and most of the money to do this is out of our pockets. Yes our fundraisers help, but again, most of our ebay winners are members, and most of the folk buying from the mall are as well. (although we love it when it is from someone else) Yes, we draw lines.. All purebred rescues do. A group of friends started rescuing cairns as a result of an untimely death of one of our pets...and others joined in. we don't ask for proof, but we only rescue dogs that 'look' like a cairn... thats what people come to us for when they want a dog. Someone wanting a yorkie goes to yorkie rescue.. we have in the past rescued 30 lb cairns.. and we had them for many months.. Yes, we could ask other rescues to help foster - but what happens to THEM when one of their dogs becomes available and they dont have a home. We have helped some dogs with severe allergies and paid a great deal of money to do so. I hope the critical folk are helping rescue dogs in some way. As it is, those of us in Col Potter are putting our money, time, family life where our hearts are - with cairn terriers. We realize we cant save all dogs, but we dont just sit and whine. We work with other groups to save those we cant (ask westie rescue if we tell them about rescues). We have NO paid members, all of us are volunteering much of our time, weekends, space in our homes out of LOVE. I'm sorry you disagree with our methods.. but since you want to help ALL dogs, let me suggest you donate to an all breed rescue .. that way ask for help for a dog that is 'not cairn enough'.. they can help us as they always do. At least that way YOU are making a positive impact on rescue. Personally, I have had Cairns for almost 30 years. I am giving back to the breed that has loved me so much. All Breed Rescues

Corinne August 31 at 13:37	Re: Pulling for Rescue Actually we are asking to see if we have a foster home and money to care for the dog.. sometimes it has been very close, but our members have always ponied up funds and homes so if it WAS a cairn it had a place. I lose about 1 week a month transporting dogs to an open foster home.. do you?

Danielle Col. Potter Cairn Res August 31 at 14:51	Re: Pulling for Rescue Hi everyone, Danielle here from Col. Potter. This is a great thread, and there have been some super points and questions asked. Corinne, thanks for your knowledge and your posts here. Any thanks also for some great questions. Perhaps I can also help to answer some questions and also make a few comments (OK, actually, you all know me, I could go on forever about the rescue kids :O) Cairn rescue is no different that Westie rescue. We both are faced with fantastic little dogs that are not as popular in NUMBERS only as say Chihuahua's, shepherds, poodles or any of the other breeds that have multiple tens of thousands more rescue workers doing rescue for those breeds across the country. In the Los Angeles area alone, we had 13 AKC Sanctioned German Shepherd Dog clubs within a 100 mile radius. ALL of these clubs have a rescue program. This does not take into counts rescue groups for GSD's that are not sanctioned clubs, this is ONLY the clubs. NO shepherd has to be transported more than 100 miles to any foster home. YES, being a "larger in number" breed means obviously MORE dogs to rescue, however your volunteers are generally within hours of a dog that needs to be rescued and because of the breed popularity, there are more people close also who want to adopt. It's easy to run to the shelter or to a home, look at the dog and take it back with you. Working National rescue within one group, this is not the case. This is NOT the same in most situations with a group that works NATIONAL rescue (we also help with Canadian rescue also). It is not unusual to have no one in specific areas within a ten or more hour drive. HOWEVER, as Corinne so correctly stated, NOT ONE TIME have we even had to say NO to a cairn or almost cairn. We always manage to get someone somewhere to help pull the dog and then we get them on transports to a foster. A major problem we have in our breed IS breed identification. Everyone knows what a Westie looks like. Most people think a Cairn is a mix . . . it's as simple as that. If it's a terrier mix it has to be a cairn. When we started Col. Potter, we wanted to pull more than what is considered to be "pure bred" cairns, EVEN poorly bred pure breeds which even with papers, sometimes leave a lot to the imagination. Because of this, we have our "ALMOST CAIRN" designation. The Cairn, VERY UNLIKE the Westie, as an example is really hard to ID at times. For starters, the Westie is almost always pretty white in color (variations from white to cream to even very very light shads of yellow or tan, depending upon the breeding and situation the dog was in). With the Cairn, since we come in ANY COLOR BUT WHITE (however we do have CREAM as one of our colors and obviously every shade of wheaten also), we are faced every day with the identification of dogs that are more of a "scruffy little terrier type . . . we lovingly call these Benji" type dogs with more of the dropped ear." MANY MANY mixes fall into the terrier-Benji type category. As Corinne so correctly stated, we have taken in dogs that really were a far cry from being a cairn and they sit on our website forever. People who go to a breed specific website are looking for that breed in 99% of the cases. They want the dog to fall within the size package and also the general (THIS IS GENERAL) appearance/traits). Since we ship so many of our adoptive dogs, anything we get that is larger than 30 pounds, with the weight of the crate that is required along with the size for a 30 pound dog, this also bounces the airline charges up a huge amount, and they dogs cannot fit in a Sherpa bag for inside the airplane transports. So, these kids have to be transported or picked up by ground transport. Anyone here, who is a member of CairnRescueMentoring, which is our Yahoo site that most of our foster volunteers belongs to knows that multiple times a day we ID dogs of different breeds, forward information to other breed rescue groups or contact people that we know to help with a transport. I believe (well, I would hope) that most groups do this. Our fundraiser efforts are huge, and you all have been so wonderful in supporting our mall and special projects. The Cairn Fancy (just as with the Westie Fancy) draws pretty much on the same people time and time again for support of our projects. We just don't have the fosters, don't have the funds, don't have the homes to foster in to be able to take dogs that are really a mixed breed. I LOVE THE MIXED BREED DOGS, I TOTALLY LOVE THE BENJI type dogs . . . this has nothing to do with who should be saved or who should not be saved. It's really hard to stay focused, but we have to do this. If a person purchases something from our Mall or they make a donation to perhaps honor a little cairn they just lost, our "charter" if I may use these words state for Cairn or ALMOST Cairn rescue. People want these funds to go to further help the Cairn or almost cairn breed...this same thing can certainly be said for Westie Rescue or Boarder Terrier rescue, or Norwich or Norfolk or Schnauzer or Australian terrier groups. These are just a few of the breeds that often look like a cairn mix . . . and breeds we work with closely (as they do, to notify us of a cairn). Life would be easier if we worked regional rescue or even a one state rescue rather than National (do you know that Petfinders IS NOT EVEN SET UP FOR NATIONAL RESCUE GROUPS there are actually so few of them?? which means we can't list our rescue dogs by individual states?) So many of our foster homes have taken in fosters that REALLY are not even anyway near a 50% cairn on their own, and they have received the support of CP with applicants who check off the Cairn MIX box on our application. However, I have to say that perhaps 1 out of every 20 applications we get have the mix box checked off. This is probably because so many purebreds look like mixes when you are talking about some Cairn mill breeders. On CRM, we have an ongoing thread that pops up a time or two a month. We have a volunteer who is single and we have made her the designated "find an old old old multimillionaire who is breathing his last few breaths, one who supports reasue," and then when he passes on, we can have transport vans, we can build facilities to house and care for thousands more dogs a year," however, this is but a dream. In the meantime, Col. Potter, as with every other rescue groups works their buns off and we try to do the best that we can under the conditions that we need to work under . . . and I KNOW we are doing a pretty fantastic job. I hope that this further answered some questions, however if not, please ask away :O) OH, I might also say this. Someone mentioned a 30 pound Cairn. YES, we have taken in 30 pound cairns when verified as being a Cairn. George and I also purchased a purebred puppy of English breeding from a fantastic breeder and when this little guy was 9 months old he was already 13" at the shoulder and 25 pounds . . . just a tad too big to show . . . the whole litter was lovely, but large. OH, and did I ever tell you all the story about MY positive Cairn rescue ID that I did on a dog that I was 100% positive was a cairn from a photo sent to us. I would have bet the booty that this dog was a lovely little guy. Well, I don't know what all of a sudden made me expand the picture size to crop and lighten a bit, but the little prick ears turned out to be drop ears and what EVERYONE through was prick ears turned out to be two perfectly placed tree branches (the dog was photographed outside in the fall). OH, did I also tell you that when we called the shelter to find out more about this little guy he was FIFTY POUNDS :O) I still laugh over this [yup, and I am still teased about it as well, and rightfully so] so you can see why ID'ing a dog is so important. Hugs, Danielle http:www.cairnrescue.com

Lynda and the Minkies August 31 at 15:20	Re: Pulling for Rescue "HOWEVER, as Corinne so correctly stated, NOT ONE TIME have we even had to say NO to a cairn or almost cairn."..... Danielle, what upset me originally was I'd read you HAD refused dogs that weren't full blooded Cairns. This has happened 2 or 3 times that I've read here but nobody from Col.Potter's ever refuted this at the time..... Keep up the good work with the Cairns you save though....Corinne always keeps you well publicised here, I must say..... XXX.

Cathy and Thistle August 31 at 19:05	Re: Pulling for Rescue Regardless of charters, 80% cairn or anything else you have talked about, hats off and many many thanks to the members and volunteers who work tirelessly to change the world for one small animal at a time. Without them the world would not be as happy a place for many dogs. Whatever is in your charter I applaud each and every one of you and wish I could do more to help. Mine is by donating so if I ever win the lottery I will be you millionaire donar rest assured. Till then keep up the good work Cathy in Canada

A.J. in Omaha & the kids August 31 at 21:04	Re: Pulling for Rescue I am SO GLAD we have ALL of this information to share. Just brings the world together in a much better way with our LOVE for Rescues in need. Without great communications... With lots of kindness and understanding.... This could not happen and make ALL of the wonderful rescue friends ,who give SO much ... Unconditional love, care, resources ... (& we ALL know 'resources' are not only $$$ but time', & all of the parts of our live that are given to Rescue... With every foster...who moves forward to a forever loving adoptive home of their own...a part of our hearts go with them... (We do tears....alot of happy tears...when we find the wonderful forever family & say "Good Bye"...and stay in touch...and WE DO!!! Whatever breed...Because we can and want to be the ones who Will Make a Difference ..&... Give the Animals an opportunity for a wonderful forever loving family and an HOME!!!! I am just So glad....... Thanks to the T.C. message board... We Can ALL help bring the world together..in a better way... With Alot of Love and compassion and understanding for each other... Aren't we fortunate to have such a wonderful common BOND.. Our Love for the Animals!!! Our Best. & Alot of Love for ALL our friends who care....to Make a difference!!! A.J. & our kids... & ALL the Furkids who come in & out of our home to forever homes in their journey to... A New Loving Forever Family of their OWN!!! We in Rescue are doing this for the VERY SAME REASONS......that is WHY it WORKS.....If not a Special Breed or ALL Breed Rescue...We have the same values... Of our Love of those who need us...and cannot help themselves..

Danielle Col. Potter Cairn Res September 01 at 02:40	Re: Pulling for Rescue Ohhhhhhh, thank you here for making the comment about the Terrier Club. You all miss so many of the nice things that are said about you in our Intakes group. WITHOUT A DOUBT, we have received more support what I cried out HELP, we need help . . . than ANY OTHER GROUP OF PEOPLE, and this includes the CairnList with 650 Cairn members. Earlier this year, when I reported that we possibly would be involved in a mill confescation, and I asked for people to contact me in the given area, I probably had 10 people write to me the same day. This is UNHEARD OF. The same thing happened when I posted that we might need help when they closed down a mill in Georgia and a shelter was loaded with Cairns. Once again you all said "I'm here if you need me". The last situation was pretty sad since the judge didn't allow rescue groups to take the dogs (sometimes you wonder where their minds are) but we were able to get the pups that had Parvo or that were in the same litters as pups that had Parvo (we ended up with 3 and then got 2 more later). I just have a little clarification also on reporting back to the "board" for ID and approval on taking in CP rescue kids. Actually, our intakes group has full charge of taking in ANY dog without checking with anyone on the Board at all UNLESS we are talking about a seriously ill dog (one needing more than $800.00 in vet care) if they feel the dog is cairn enough. If there is an ID question, the info is sent to me along with the picture, and I'm on line almost all day long every day and I'm a phone call away if I don't respond within a few hours. The Board does NOT neet to approve an intake, the members of the Board are on line every day also, and if there is a question, anyone on the Board can approve a dog or approve exceptional vetting needs. We have so many wonderful new foster homes and people who want to help who really don't know how to ID a dog. It's pretty easy if you work Dalmation rescue . . . if it has the body shape and size, short white coat and black spots chances are it's a dalmation. . .the ID is easy. NOT SO with the Cairn . . . our little guys are so scruffy that they are often confused with other breeds. So, I just wanted to say once again, that we really appreciate all of you. You are a great group of loving and caring people. Hugs, Danielle http://www.cairnrescue.com

Sandy, Lucy and Taz August 31 at 21:04	Re: Pulling for Rescue Corrine, Danielle, Kim, Angie, A.J., Pam and all the rest who work in rescue - all of you are WONDERFUL in my book. We need to band together to help each other and make rescue better by positive thinking and acting. As long as there are unscrupulous breeders, puppy mills, ignorant owners, and just jerks - we NEED all of you. You are all very special people and I take my hat off and bow to you all.

Corinne September 01 at 07:09	Re: Pulling for Rescue Sorry I was so testy. I was supposed to pick up a 10 mo old puppy from Pa (about a 1 1/2 hr dr each way) for Col P on Sat.. but the shelter put him down for SNAPPING at people ... mind you not biting... SO I was a bit off in my mood. Thank you all for being so thoughtful. (Please know our intakes person who worked on it is very very upset.... as am I)(My DH went off, he is such a softie for dogs he couldnt imagine why they would do it) Danielles point about the Judge in the puppy mill case, and now my shelter owner.. Lets all pray they realize that legitimate rescue can HELP these dogs.. that we arent lunatics.. Corinne

Lynda and the Minkies September 01 at 13:23	Re: Pulling for Rescue That's awfully sad...what a rotten waste...poor wee pup. XXX.

Adrienne September 01 at 11:08	Re: Pulling for Rescue Oh my Corrine, I'm so sorry. And I don't think you were too testy, just passionate, and that is what it takes. Chin up! Adrienne, Thistle, Ceilidh in spiritland.

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