Dog Fancy Column No. 2

February 2004

You’re on a budget, live in a small house and feel the daily demands of a full-time career and family. It would be nice to help all those homeless dogs populating shelters and rescue groups, but how?

Bay Area resident Marie K. Whelan knows that tune. This dog-rescue volunteer, career woman and mother of three-year-old twins became so frustrated when faced with such concerns, she felt compelled to address them.

"Ninety percent of society wants to do the right thing and help out," she says. [But] they assumed there was nothing they could do."

Until now.

Whelan is the author of the inspiring book, "Rescue Rover! 101 Ways You Can Help Abandoned Dogs." With the help of various shelters and rescue organizations across the country, Whelan composed an all-encompassing "wish list," letting people know how easy it is to make a difference.

"Every rescue [group remarked], ‘This is exactly what we’ve been trying to tell people’," she says.

"Rescue Rover!" is packed with easy-to-accomplish, high-yielding tasks anyone can fulfill, even children or busy moms. Some of the more-obvious suggestions are to adopt a homeless dog or foster one for a rescue group. Yet many people don’t have the space or inclination to tackle those things right now.

No problem, says Whelan; "Rescue Rover!" offers 99 other suggestions, many of which don’t require much money or time at all.

Ideas include:

• Browse garage sales. When hunting for inexpensive suburban treasures, take a few moments to see if there are any sheets or towels for sale, as well as any useable dog items like leashes and collars that can be given to a local shelter.

"I don’t need this, my dog doesn’t need this, but someone’s dog does," says Whelan.

• Encourage family and friends to adopt a dog rather than buy one from a breeder.
• Donate old, yet rarely used dog toys and equipment. Whelan did this with her Greyhound’s never-utilized kennel. You can also pass on dog-safe people toys, like tennis balls and Frisbees. Old baby supplies, such as burp cloths and bottles, are also needed to help rescues with newborn pups.
• When you buy a toy for your dog, pick up another and donate it.
• Teach children to be kind to all animals.
• Volunteer your skills and professional services. If you’re a lawyer, offer to do some pro-bono legal work for a rescue group. If you’re great with numbers, sign up to help them do their books and finances. If construction is your thing, help with various building projects at the shelter.
• Set up an "honor-system" snack bar at work and donate the proceeds from your sales.
• Give your old car to a rescue group, as Whelan did when it came time to upgrade the family van.

Yet the most important thing people can do to help homeless animals is to spay or neuter their own dogs.

"It astounds me that such an intelligent society can think of such ridiculous reasons to not spay and neuter their dogs," says Whelan, who peppered "Rescue Rover!" with the top 10 excuses.

Excuse No. 7: "I’m a responsible owner. I will always find homes for the puppies."

But as Whelan points out, those six or so families you found for your pups are now six families who won’t go to a shelter and adopt. "An equal number of puppies will have to be put down because their prospective homes have been taken," she writes.

Above all, Whelan encourages people to not assume they are powerless because they don’t have a lot of time, money or influence. All it takes is a good heart and a willingness to pitch in, bit by bit.

"Ultimately, it becomes a more humane society when we stop seeing life as disposable," she says.