Since I do standard poodle rescue, I thought I'd break ground on this section with a post.
Three of us were interested in Standard Poodles. I had owned, bred and shown in the late 70's (in Panama and a little in the States) and a bit in the 80's before turning to grooming and obedience classes. Another of us simply admired the breed, while a third had chosen it after being in other breeds. All of us had come to the conclusion that we needed to give back to the breed that we loved.
We banded together nearly two decades ago to rescue standard poodles. Several years ago, a grateful client donated $10k to the cause. The couple also promised to donate an additional $10k if we incorporated.
This caused us to go into convulsions trying to figure out what to do with this largesse. We decided a computer, a camcorder that could take stills and Forms would be a good idea -- we'd not been able to share pics of dogs with prospective clients, nor could we go online because none of us had a computer. I researched the gear and we bought a modest computer that would last a while plus a digital 8 camcorder on clearance. Both have served us well.
I pulled up dozens of online rescue orgs, using their constitutions, bylaws, policies, forms, etc to cobble together something that would work for us instead of the informal "handshake" agreements we'd used previously. We got registered with the state nonprofit registry thingy and applied for a 501-c-3, using SCORE to locate a retired attorney who looked our papers over first to make sure they would get filed properly.
Everything looked good till I was rediagnosed with cancer. The IRS had a few questions, but suddenly we were focused on my disease and we let things slide. The nonprofit never did go through because I never responded to the IRS. I guess they've forgotten us by now . . . I rather hope so. eek.
The benefactors moved and we couldn't find them -- so we couldn't let them know what had happened. Of course, this meant no more money, but that was okay -- we were thrilled to get the first amount and wanted it to last a long time. We had sent them a thank you letter, but obviously couldn't tell them the nonprofit had fallen through.
We kept the money in a bank none of us used so it stayed totally clear of personal finances. When dogs came in, we just added their food to what we fed our dogs, but desexing, teethcleaning, and other medical stuff was paid for out of that fund. For a while, we'd buy a tire if one exploded on the freeway, or gas if we went to pick up a dog, and we bought some relevant magazine subscriptions for a year or two, but for the most part, it went straight for the dogs.
For almost 5 years, we continued to accept, clean up, rehab and place SPs with the money. We stretched it some with smaller donations that other clients made, but eventually it came down to the last couple of hundred dollars and we wondered how that we would keep going.
Then the dogs stopped. For some reason, no one is abandoning their dogs in our area! I think this is terrific, but it's kind of weird. The last funds were augmented by a few donations, but we haven't had a rescue come our way in nearly a year. I've heard about a few, but the issues were resolved without resorting to rescue. A few more have been called about, but they were minis or toys -- like 'em, not rescuing 'em. We refer them to Albuquerque, which has a well-organized small dog rescue and a club that will take in all sizes.
So we have a few hundred in the bank and places to fill. We worry that the IRS is at some time going to come after us, but figure the $250 application fee and the money in the bank may make them happy. And in the meantime, we all three work with clients to help them keep their dogs with training, education and even a bit of grooming sessions.
What's your story? How did you get into rescue? Why do you do it? HOW do you do it?
Katherine Bryce
Standard Poodle Rescue of Northern New Mexico
Santa Fe NM USA
