Dog Rescue Saves Lives

THE ARGUMENT FOR ADOPTING A NO-KILL GOAL

- Karen Romano Young

He was leashed to a stake in the snow: a lanky white puppy, shaggy and damp. I sat and looked into his huge brown eyes. He lifted a paw and touched my arm. With that, I was rescued from being a dogless human.

Bino was a 10-month-old Great Pyrenees, a huge sheepdog breed popular for its work guarding livestock. Volunteers rescued him from a “kill shelter” in Georgia and brought him to Connecticut for adoption just before Christmas. My daughter found him on Petfinder, a website that posts profiles of adoptable dogs and the rescue agencies providing foster homes. For a fee that covered his shots, transport, and food—and contributed to the rescue organization’s expenses—sweet Bino was ours. I loaded him into the back of my car. As we drove home, I heard what some dog folks call the “rescue sigh”—a dog’s exhalation of relief at being delivered from a life without people, place, or prospects. Rescue organizations are just one way that animal-care professionals are working to save the lives of dogs.

How many dogs? Their goal is all the dogs.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) reports that dog and cat adoption rates rose during the pandemic. By the spring of 2021 alone, some 23 million households acquired a dog or cat. Many of these new pets were “rescues.” Dogs and cats got homes, people got pets, and cars got bumper stickers saying “Who Rescued Whom?” In dog parks across the land, saying your dog is a rescue makes you seem kind and cool—and a step above people who buy pets from a pet shop or breeder.