Who is Purebred Rescue, anyhow ?
We're a group of volunteers forming an organization whose sole purpose is to try to find homes for as many of the thousands of lost or abandoned dogs found in the Metro Atlanta county animal shelters as we can possibly manage before they are put to death. We have virtually no assets and do not solicit donations, although we are a charitable organization recognized by IRS under section 501(c)3 of the US Tax Code.
The organization was established in 1980, and for most of the time since then has supported the Cobb County Animal Shelter by organizing, staffing, and conducting adoptions at sites away from the Shelter in order to increase exposure for many of the dogs to potential new owners. Although this procedure proved to be extremely effective for many years, a new administration at the Cobb County Animal Shelter has decided to sever the ties between their organization and ours*; consequently, we've revised our approach to reflect the new realities of life in Atlanta today. We continue to support the Cobb County Humane Society in its efforts and we wish the Animal Shelter nothing but good. It's the dogs, after all, which are important.
Our focus now is to try to provide a forum for as many of the Metro Atlanta and other counties to present to you some of the dogs they have in their shelters. These dogs, and the many others we just don't have the space to present, are for the most part house pets and companion dogs. They aren't in the shelter because they are dangerous or present a health problem - you'd never see their description here if they were - but because they were lost, abandoned, or just wandered too far from home they were picked up by the Animal Control unit of the county as the law requires. Because there is such a constant inflow of such animals, the Animal Control units have no choice but to make space for the newcomers by putting the current occupants to death as painlessly as possible. It's a necessary job that everyone hates but which has to be done.
We try to help break that cycle by providing you with information about some of the dogs in the hope that you'll go to the shelter or the foster home and adopt the dog. We'll admit that we feature mainly the most attractive and "adoptable" dogs on this site, but it's done this way because we have only a limited amount of space and time in which to get the information to you, and because we want you to go to these places in person (on the theory that even if you don't adopt the dog you see here, there may well be another you like even better).
We won't under any circumstances deliberately mislead you about a dog. If the dog you just drove fifty miles to get isn't there, or isn't what you expected, it was due to a mistake - and we're as careful as we know how to be to avoid that kind of error ever creeping in. Our foster owners are people of the highest integrity and the organizations represented here are solid and dependable groups. There'll be no "bait-and-switch" tactics used by any of them.
* Click here to read the text of an interview
with our founder and Coordinator which appeared in the July 19, 1998 issue of The
Sunday Atlanta Journal-Constitution
**For more information on the situation between Purebred Rescue and the Cobb County
Animal Shelter administration, click here.
We'll be acting more as a consulting and coordinating agency for several of the county Humane Societies and Animal Shelters in the Metro Atlanta area and less as a direct action organization. We'll have a Web page here at the Purebred Rescue site for each participating agency or organization, with a list of some of the dogs available in the shelter.
We also have a Voice Information Line with the same information (or as much as we can cram onto the answering machine) at (404) 843-3751. This line is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, so you can call whenever the mood strikes you and get the latest information we have to offer.
We have a fax line available for incoming faxes, if you'd like to send us one: (404) 531-9413. At this point we don't have a fax-on-demand capability, but stick around - anything is possible.
Foster Homes: Georgia state law requires certain standards, the most important of which is that all dogs adopted from a public shelter must be spayed or neutered. We adhere to that standard rigorously. With very rare exceptions, a dog you adopt from a Purebred Rescue foster home will already have had the procedure when you get it; if it has not, the operation must be performed within a period of thirty days from the date of the adoption. Please talk about this with the foster owner before you adopt the dog.
County Shelters and Rescue Organizations: Each county establishes its own rules for adoption, consistent with those mandated by the State. Be sure you understand them fully before you commit your money and your heart to a dog. Call the contact number we've included on the Web page and ask the volunteer or employee about the dog. Keep in mind that the County Animal Shelters and Humane Societies are not one and the same organization.
No. Despite the name of our organization, we're happy to work with any dog, regardless of pedigree or the lack thereof. The name originated in the early days of our rescue work and was adopted mainly because it was a way to keep the number of dogs we advertised down to a manageable number, and to provide an eye-catching "hook" that would invite further investigation. It's also much, much easier to describe a dog belonging to a standard breed than a "combination dog". We have kept the name because of the difficulty involved in changing it in all the places we need to have it displayed, and, frankly, because it still invites scrutiny.
You'll find, because of the space and time limitations we've referred to elsewhere, that many of the dogs described here are in fact purebreds, but it's not because of any prejudice against mixed breeds on our part. It just makes it easier to describe them.
Any way you'd like.
We don't solicit monetary donations (although we will accept them if you insist).
You can volunteer to do liason work on the telephone, maintaining contact between one of our participating counties or Humane Societies and the Voice Information Line and Website to help us keep them up to date.
We really need volunteers who can provide foster homes for dogs until they can be adopted; transport and "chaperone" dogs to and from the adoptions; and advise prospective owners on the pros and cons of particular dogs - all because they love dogs. Frequently, the dogs in their care need medical treatment, neutering, or special attention to overcome the effects of abuse, and our foster owners provide these and more and try to recoup their expenses when the dog goes to its new home. They are truly exceptional people, and we are proud of them.
There are a myriad of other tasks to be done, as well - some we don't even know about yet.
If you'd like to talk more about becoming a volunteer, call Betty Crawford at (770) 612-9940, or send her an e-mail message at ponderosa3@aol.com
How can I know what breed would suit me best?
Isn't spaying or neutering a dog cruel and unneccessary?
That's easy - the answer is an unequivocal, positive, resounding, and emphatic "NO!" It's a procedure that lengthens your dog's lifespan and makes the dog healthier for its duration, and it helps control aggressive behavior and roaming. It's inexpensive, safe, and in Georgia it's required by State Law if you get a pet through a certified shelter.
We've got a page of articles written on this subject that answer your questions better than we can, so if you'd like to know more - and, as a responsible pet owner or potential owner, you should - just click here and we'll take you to the Spay/Neuter page. If you haven't read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article The Kill Rate, click here for a sobering look at a problem that is prevalent in all parts of the country.
We wouldn't. Don't misunderstand us... puppies are cute, cuddly, and altogether adorable, and we love them. Nothing gives us a warmer, more fuzzy feeling than watching them at play or sleeping off an exhausting session. But they need constant attention to housebreak and train them, and there's always the ever-popular teething stage where no furniture is safe from their marauding. They're wonderful, but we prefer to adopt a mature dog which has all that juvenile stuff behind it.