To those of you who have questions about Border Terrier rescue and its funding and who does what to whom......
North American Border Terrier Welfare is Border Terrier rescue... but we do other things in addition to rescue. We help owners whose breeders won't or can't help them...finding a new home for a dog that must be given up, finding sources of accurate information, and finding them supporting resources close to them. We do the same things for anyone with a dog we have helped to find a home, whether a rescue or a placement dog. We also provide breed informattion and counselling to potential owners who contact us. If only a puppy will do, we refer to trusted, responsible breeders. We also provide information on trends to the board of the BTCA. We have helped breeders place really hard-to-place dogs, and provided a home or foster care when a dog had to be placed really fast, to protect the dog. We will help a first-time breeder place puppies, with some reasonable strings attached...neuter-spay contract with surgery proven before registration papers are turned over, and reduced price; we expect that the owner of the sire and the breeder of the dam participate in the search for homes for those puppies.
Our money comes from donations from breed clubs and from individuals. How long has it been, before Sadie's [a recently rescued BT] needs were made known, since you made an individual donation to either the rescue fund of the BTCA (our emergency back-up funds) or NABTW? Think about it; you can't fudge...I know. We handle our money very carefully; Sadie is the first dog we've had that hasn't totally paid her own way by new owner reimbursement of the costs that got the dog ready for adoption. Yes, most of them have been subsidized by donations of time, effort, caring, transportation, foster care and phone bills, and sometimes by donation of the cost of immunizations and/or neuter/spay. But those costs that people had to get back were paid by the new owners. They were reasonable...not over about $260 for the most expensive, that I am aware of. When the rescuer can't afford to wait until the dog is placed to pay the bills, we cover the costs until reimbursed. We will not place a dog that is aggressive; such dogs are euthanized as unsafe for human company. (If you object to that...you can buy the liability insurance...if you can find it available.)
People wanting a dog from us may have to wait a good while (most don't) or may get one in a few weeks; this is not a predictable business. We will often move to the top of the list a home with a very pressing need. I regularly refer people to several breeders in their area to get on the grapevine for an adult dog from breeder sources, as our dogs come in such a sporadic way, and because we prefer for the dog to stay in the region where it entered the system. Often, I ask people to contact a nearby owner or breeder so they can meet a Border up close and personal. Those contacted are more than welcome to give me their assessment of the people as BT owners.
Dogs end up in new homes for dozens of reasons. Most of those placed by the current owners and as returns to breeders, and some of the rescue dogs, are due to divorce. Usually dad doesn't want the dog, and mom and kids are lucky to find any housing they can afford...which usually denies the right to have a dog. Then there are dogs with owners who are irresponsible and let them run loose, the owners and breeders who don't trust each other, dogs lost while traveling, dogs sabotaged by one member of the household, and breeders who just want to sell the puppy to any home that will pay the money, people who don't hear a thing the breeder tells them about the breed but manage to hide the fact, then don't like the dog, and of course, people who don't bother to train the dog to be a good pet. There are owners who should have gotten a bird or fish, not a Border Terrier. Even sterling-seeming people often see dogs as disposable. There are irresponsible breeders who place puppies as pets without requiring neuter-spay, and rescue ends up with their off-spring because that pet-owner/backyard breeder didn't care enough to find out how to place a puppy, let alone neuter or spay to make a better pet. We know of some breeders who deliberately recruit puppy buyers who would breed...ostensibly to make money for all of them. Wrong! Doesn't happen. We've cleaned up after some of them when they didn't get rich.
NABTW is not run by the Border Terrier Club of America or any other organization. We are a loosely organized group of people who care about the welfare of dogs of our breed. We work with and through other purebred rescue workers, and literally any Border Terrier owner we can identify near a dog that needs help. Until very recently, I have contributed all of my phone bills, mailing and copying costs, and other administrative costs, but these will now, as costs rise, become a regular operating cost.
What have you done to make Border Terrier rescue and welfare work? Are you part of the solution or part of the problem? If you are just thinking about breeding, get really good advice first...from very experienced and honorable people who will tell you like it really is...or someday you will get calls from us telling you that we have dogs you need to take back or otherwise support. Don't depend on the net to teach you what you need to know; most of it isn't there yet, and won't be for many years... Above all, neuter or spay your nice young pet Border Terrier; you will have a happier and longer life together.
NABTW is active in Canada under Stacey Mercer's able direction, and operates much as we do in the U.S. We are here to help. We need reports of dogs assisted, of owners helped (saving the dog's home), and we need active involvement of every BT owner. We wouldn't say no to donations...
Jo Ellen Wolf, U.S. Coordinator, NABTW
Phone: (706) 863-0951
Go to Border Terrier-Rescue Page
Border Terrier Database
Last changed 8/23/2003