Recommend a good dog rescue archived

I would go to FOWA: Friends of Wayne Animals. They do a lot of rescue in our area and we got an amazing dog from them. Good people.

http://www.fowarescue.com

We had a situation years ago where we came upon an abused stray dog who needed a rescue (JAC refused to take her) and Rawhide Rescue stepped in and helped save her. We fostered the dog short term while she recovered from being spayed and once she was recovered they took her but kept in touch while trying to find her a home. From the correspondence I received it was obvious that they were searching hard to find her the RIGHT home rather than putting her into any home and hoping it would just work out or that the people would fall in love before they decided she was too much trouble. The effort they put in impressed me. From my admittedly limited experience with them in seeing how important a good fit was vs just finding the first available home I would recommend them.

http://rawhiderescue.weebly.com/

We had a HORRIBLE experience with Home for Good Dogs, too! many other people have chimed in, in the past with their experiences. We ended up driving to CT for some big dog event where they brought in 80 dogs from down south. It was a mad house. Luckily, we had a tip to get their an hour early, so we were in the second group let in to go and grab a dog and don't let go cuz someone else might grab her, but it all worked out because Jolene is the best dog ever!!!

St. Hubert's in Madison is a great, well-run, reputable, established shelter.

Also, have you looked at Petfinder? Most rescues/shelters post their animals there.

Yes, keep checking Petfinder

I also called all the dog breeders I could find and asked about older puppies that are free or a reduced price (since you are willing to go a little older).
and after Christmas is a VERY good time to find a puppy! when reality sets in...

I would also take a look at Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter on route 10 behind the Petsmart or Eleventh Hour Rescue.

I also second St. Hubert's! The key is finding an organization that is good with dealing with the human side of the equation as well as the animal side. Some rescue folks have very few people skills even if they are great with animals.

Both St. Hubert's and Mt Pleasant Animal Shelter are very good and dedicated. We have both adopted from, volunteered with and donated to Mt. Pleasant -- like how's it's run and they do a lot of rescues from kill shelters in other states. Rt 10 behind Pet Smart.

Couldn't agree more with cupoftea -- try to visit both and see who clicks with you, if possible...

Another option would be to check with various breeds' rescue organizations. We are active with the ACDRA (Australian Cattle Dog Rescue Association, www.acdra.org), for example.

Good luck!

My mom also had a bad experience with home for good dogs at petsmart, and other people that I know to be wonderful dog owners have been turned away by them too I love St. Hubert's and Mt. Plesant Animal Shelter. Please also look into The FernDog Rescue Foundation! I personally know Fern, and he and his staff will take the time with your family to find the right dog for you. All of the FernDogs have been pulled from shelters and put into foster homes, to make sure not just their physical needs are met, but the mental ones too, and so they learn to be part of a family unit before being placed. Fern is also an ABC certified dog trainer (he was my mentor in 2011) and is an excellent resource if you ever need training advice, classes, or private lessons
www.ferndogrescue.org

Best of luck! And if you ever find yourself needing boarding in the future, feel free to schedule a visit to our home, Doggone Farm

Animal Haven in NYC or St. Hubert's. http://www.animalhavenshelter.org/site/PageServer

meandijs- My family had a bad experience with Homes for Good Dogs that I chronicled on MOL a few years ago. Unfortunately the thread disappeared. Lots of great dog people have been insulted by this group.
We adopted our beloved Frankie from JAC. I have also heard that the Mt. Pleasant animal shelter on Rt 10 is good.

Really good suggestions (and I, too would steer clear of Home for Good Dogs) Last year, right before Christmas, a relative of a friend reached out to me. Their family was about to be evicted, because management changed at their condo, and the Homeowner's Association wanted them to get rid of their 3 year old Pit. With the help of @jazznet, Eleventh Hour Rescue http://www.ehrdogs.org/,was instrumental in sending qualified potential adopters for her,by posting her as a courtesy. As a result of that posting, the family was contacted by an attorney in their area (South Jersey) who managed to help them keep their family intact. EHR is,in my opinion one of the best run rescues in the State.

We got our dog from Rawhide Rescue. From my recollection, they are very thorough with making sure that you will be the right match for the dog you want...which I applaud. Good luck!

We found the perfect dog for us via Petfinders. Rawhide Rescue was taking very good care of her. I recommend both of these options.

MOLer @jeanneh is fostering a very cute dog that's looking for a home http://forum.maplewoodonline.com/discussion/112056/jackson-a-wheaton-mix-needs-a-loving-home#Item_8

I'm a SAHM with school-age kids, a huge fenced in yard, and an excellent pet/vet track record but because my husband's work schedule made his attendance at the meet & greet stupidly challenging I, too, was "rejected" by HFGD. I offered up a phone interview, a signed/notarized letter, I begged, I cried, but they would not even condescend to meet with me and my kids. I have a friend who wanted a particular dog from them so badly she had a friend of her son stand in for her actual son at the m&g when he couldn't be there.

Eleventh Hour, understanding the situation and recognizing I could give a dog a wonderful home, brought her to us, from Boonton, in the evening, when we were all home, and we are living happily ever after. I continue to be involved with them 4 years later and can vouch for them 1000%.

One of our beloved dogs died in October. We were in shock. Usually, we'd wait 6mos-1yr to add a dog into the home but we decided to press on and find another rescue.

Our dog that died we found via PetFinder and met her at the WO Animal Shelter. We had her for almost 11 years. Our new dog we also found via PetFinder but she was being fostered by a lovely family.

We're happy, she's happy and the foster family is happy. It's a wonderful thing.

I had a great experience at Mt. Pleasant, though ended up adopting through The Last Resort. (I know, I know...). They are incredible, devote so much time and energy so selflessly, fostering and then adopting out the dogs that mainly come up from the south. They have a very stringent approval process, but it's only because they want to place the dogs appropriately. They have so much information on the dogs because they have been fostered by various people prior to placement.
http://www.thelastresortrescue.com/ouravailablepets.htm

spontaneous said:

We had a situation years ago where we came upon an abused stray dog who needed a rescue (JAC refused to take her) and Rawhide Rescue stepped in and helped save her. We fostered the dog short term while she recovered from being spayed and once she was recovered they took her but kept in touch while trying to find her a home. From the correspondence I received it was obvious that they were searching hard to find her the RIGHT home rather than putting her into any home and hoping it would just work out or that the people would fall in love before they decided she was too much trouble. The effort they put in impressed me. From my admittedly limited experience with them in seeing how important a good fit was vs just finding the first available home I would recommend them.

http://rawhiderescue.weebly.com/

I have also very successfully adopted from Rawhide Rescue and more recently from All 4 Paws Rescue who, like Rawhide, fosters all their dogs and have a very good sense of what they are like in a home situation.
http://www.all4pawsrescue.com Highly recommend both. Good luck!

Thanks so much for all these great responses and wonderful suggestionns! We will certainly be paying Mt Pleasant and St. Hubert's another visit (we were at both last weekend), and I will explore the others mentioned here! I'm also looking at Petfinder but find it slightly overwhelming and addictive. Lol

I love this MW community of animal lovers!

We, too, had a very heart wrenching, traumatizing experience with Home For Good. My husband and I are still very bitter, and my kids still cry when they remember it, and it happened 3 years ago.

We had wonderful experiences during our searches (for 1st dog 3 years ago, 2nd 2 years ago) with St. Hubert's, but ultimately found "our" dog at Plainfield Area Humane Society. Twice! I think St. Hubert's is better at behavior screening for the dogs, and their facility seems cleaner and is much bigger than PAHS. We stopped at PAHS by chance on our way to SH Branchburg location, and both times happened upon a good match.

Good luck with your search!!

Thank you eliz! Yes I have a very active and playful boy looking for a loving home thru Abandoned Angels cocker spaniel rescue--he's is NOT a cocker spaniel--he's a Wheaton/Lab mix--or something of that sort.

If interested please PM and I can give you more info.

We've been in MW 36 yrs. Our first dog came from a local litter, posted on Kings community bb. Wonderful guy- still my fave.
Second dog took quite a while to find. We went to many shelters in the area repeatedly. Finally found our girl at Newark pound. Out of hundreds of dogs over the months she and wife found each other.
Third and current guy was found via Petfinder. Again it took months of searching. He was a neglected dog- not abused. We found him at Sayreville shelter- unfortunately they've closed.
I mention all this as life example of finding YOUR match. We didn't restrict our search to a breed- unless you consider mutt a breed. Nor did we restrict our search area. Nor did we restrict ourselves by method... each of our dogs was found by a different method.
Remember You're looking for your family's love machine nothing else matters.

Of the various specific ideas folks have posted- St Hubert's has always been among the most highly respected shelter. A woman up the block worked there and told there was a 3-6 month wait; at that time. We favored looking at the rte 10 shelter also. Petfinder allowed us to cast a wider net. Highly rec checking that site frequently.
Good Luck and thanks for rescueing.

Every night at 6 P.M. (7 days a week) New York City Animal Care and Control posts the dogs "at risk" - scheduled to be euthanized for space the following day. With personality descriptions by volunteers, behavior evaluations and photos and videos. Not all are pit bulls (many of which are not large and quite lovely). The Manhattan shelter is clean and not horrible.
Worth the trip, save a deserving life!

www.nycacc.org/publicatrisk.htm

www.urgentpetsondeathrow.org/category/news/nyc-acc/

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I'm convinced Home For Good is just a front for a cult of sadists who enjoy torturing families. Check out the Yelp reviews including the 15, which according to Yelp's bizarre software, "are not currently recommended." I hope their "rescue operation" soon closes for good.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/home-for-good-dogs-rescue-berkeley-heights

mandijs said:

Thanks so much for all these great responses and wonderful suggestionns! We will certainly be paying Mt Pleasant and St. Hubert's another visit (we were at both last weekend), and I will explore the others mentioned here! I'm also looking at Petfinder but find it slightly overwhelming and addictive. Lol

I love this MW community of animal lovers!

I also find Petfinder addictive. On the other hand, I find using Petfinder to be a little safer in terms of being able to carefully consider a good fit for our family without becoming overly emotional, as I am when face-to-face with the "orphans" at a shelter.

I cannot recommend See Spot Rescued (https://www.facebook.com/seespotrescued) enough. They are based out of Jersey City and are one of the best rescues I've ever seen.

Save that, you can't beat your local SPCA. That's where I got my little one 7 years ago!

Also, thanks for rescuing instead of buying.