Inside a rescue group

Looking for a forever home.

These baby girls are looking for their forever home.

I have met many rescue groups, visited far too many shelters and worked with countless second hand dogs. There are lots of rescue groups popping up and I wanted to have a look into a well run group to see what makes them tick. How much goes into the actual rescue, rehabilitation and placement when it’s done right? So I looked up a local group here in Southern California, I.C.A.R.E. dog rescue. I made a trip out to one of their adoption events to get some photos, meet some dogs and a few of the people who are dedicated to finding great homes for some unwanted dogs.

As I write this blog there is a new post on this rescue groups FB, fosters needed for 13, 3 week old puppies with no Mother.  Rescuing dogs is far more commitment, dedication, passion and work than most realize.  Countless hours spent nursing, training, rehabilitating and caring for a dog that will hopefull someday be a families best dog ever.  It is a selfless job and thankfully there are many wonderful people out there willing to give up there time, to save a dog. 

I.C.A.R.E. is run by a group of committed people who take unwanted dogs and find them a wonderful forever home. These unwanted dogs are placed in great foster family homes (no kennels here) until they can find their very own family. Foster homes are essential with this type of rescue group, so I.C.A.R.E. is always looking for people who would like to get involved. They solicit new foster families via Craig’s list, their Facebook page, website and events. “We can’t take anymore dogs until we get more fosters,” said Danielle who is one of the founding members and adoption coordinator. This is the wonderful thing about a group like this, each dog is put into a home where they can relax and be more themselves. This allows the foster family to let the adoption people know what it is like because they have seen firsthand how the dog behaves in a home environment.

This very handsome boy is looking for his new family

"Can I live at your house?"  Those eyes!!!

 When someone contacts the group as a prospective foster they must fill out a foster application, foster contract and have a home inspection done. Once all the visits and paper work are done its go time. The foster guardian is given a dog and all supplies needed to care for the dog. The group pays for everything; the only requirement from the foster family is a happy, safe home environment. This makes it much easier to obtain foster families for more dogs to be saved.

  What a doll.

I.C.A.R.E. displays their available dogs at adoption day events, their website and Facebook site. I found them through Facebook. When a family is interested in one of their dogs they are required to fill out an application, then they go through a slew of other related questions and are invited to come to an event to meet the dog. If they have children, they meet there.  If they have another dog they can meet at the event or have their trainer come out to the house to see if it is a match.  If that goes well and they still are interested in adopting the dog then a home visit is required. These steps ensure that the best match can be made and there is no need to re-home again.

After the home visit an adoption contract is signed. One stipulation on the contract is that if for any reason the owner needs to find a home for the dog that it MUST be returned to the rescue group. Dogs are micro-chipped with the new owner information and the rescue information as a back-up. Safety nets are always a great idea.

The group consists of the 5 founding members:

Daniel and Corrie Bravo (President and Vice President)

Danielle Robillard (Adoption Coordinator)

Elias Galvan (Behaviorist/ Trainer)

Amanda Tobon (Foster Coordinator)

and volunteers. It is like a big dog loving family with everyone working together towards one goal.

This group gets dogs in from owner surrender, shelter pulls, strays and rescue to rescue transfers. Daniel Bravo, President of I.C.A.R.E. says “sometimes we just get puppies handed to us from nowhere.” But wherever they come from; I.C.A.R.E. is a good place to land if you are an out of luck canine looking for a forever home. To date the group has 100% success rate, pretty impressive batting average I’d say.

GREAT NEWS:  Pooh Bear was adopted this weekend and now lives with a lady Pitty friend.

This little gal also got adopted; she sure caught my eye, what a cutie.

This blog is dedicated to all those who dedicate their time and life to saving dogs.  You are my heros.