Austin Dog Rescue

Our main goal is to some day be put out of "business." Until that happens, we will continue growing our foster and volunteer base and increase the number of lives save. Our future goal is to open an adoption center where we can provide not only a way to show case our adoptable dogs, but to provide free resources and education tot the public. We would like to provide a free or reduced cost spay/neuter program, and free or reduced cost training for the public in hopes of giving them the encouragement and tools to keep more dogs our of shelters.
One position we have been unable to fill is for fundraising. Though we have the help and support of many dog related companies in our area, and they help as often as they can. Our goal for 2013 is to find someone on the corporate level to help us raise awareness and fulfill our desire to serve our community with a wider range of services.

Reaching out to those all ready involved with ADR will be our first step. We believe that to be effective and reach our goal, those involved need to have a solid understanding of what we do and of how the rescue community works in general. We also believe that passion is what drives people to do well in whatever they do. We also believe you have to have experience and the support from people that run the organization, and we pride ourselves on being very supportive. It is a challenge to find someone that is willing to give their time and talents for free.

Finding dedicated, reliable volunteers to fill some of the daily responsibilities that our founder and executive director is one of our top priorities in having the ability to reach our goal. We are working on breaking those duties into smaller pieces in order to free up more of the ED's time so she can focus on building relationships and outside resources. So far in 2013 we have added two additional key people that have taken on some of those rolls.

We are being proactive and gaining the support of the community. One way we have done this is through social media. With Facebook fan base of over 22,000 followers, and over 1000 following us on Twitter, we believe we are gaining the support we need to visualize our dreams of doing more for the community.

The bottom line of growing any organization is money. It's tough for rescue's to compete with the area shelters and shelter/non-profits, but we have the experience and knowledge to take our organization to the next level, spreading the word how we and other small groups make a huge impact on our community. We truly feel we get a "pay check" every time one of our dogs finds a home, or we have gained the support from a donor, whether that donation is $5 or $500. We acknowledge and value each one of them

One thing Austin Dog Rescue has is a stellar reputation. Your name and reputation is everything when it comes to saving lives and doing it right. We are inclusive, professional and though we are all volunteers, we preform our duties as if we get a paycheck every week. Because of our reputation, ADR wants towill be inclusive when we open our center by giving other small rescues and their dogs an opportunity to gain resources and find homes for their dogs.

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One of our most challenging things for 2013 was the number of medical cases shelters asked us to take. We rescued a total of 430 and over 25% of them required more than basic vetting (neuter/vacs/microchip/fecal/heartworm test..) 9 dogs were over the age of 7; 19 Mother dogs/litters; 26 dogs that were heartworm positive, and 6 that required some type of orthopedic surgery. Had these dogs a puppies not had medical issues that needed to be immediately addressed, or were urgent in other ways, all would have euthanized.