Helping to Save Animals Through Pledges

I've already written a few times about how Stewie to the Rescue helps low income individuals pay for their animals' medical care. You can read it again (or for the first time for our newer fans) here.

But there's another way that we are making a difference, and that is by pledging for animals that are at the NYC Animal Care and Control (NYC ACC).

The way it works is, every day, the NYC ACC puts out a list of animals that are going to be euthanized the next day, along with their pictures and behavior and medical evaluations. Though it is meant to be an internal list, intended only for a few eyes, employees sneak it to “Kay Smith” (in parenthesis as that is not her real name), whose team posts it on Facebook under her “Urgent Part 2 - Urgent Death Row Dogs” and “Pets on Death Row” pages that, as of April 2012, had over 58,000 fans.

(btw - Why the list is supposed to be internal only, I have no idea...god forbid the NYC ACC tell people what we already know, that they are a kill shelter. Anyway...)

The fans post comments about them under Urgent's postings for each animal. These comments fall into one of four categories.

1 - They simply write "s" or "shared" meaning they have posted the animal's info on their Facebook page.


2 - They curse whomever put them in the shelter. Here are a few recent examples...

"Just disgusting....I want to scream!!!!!! Some humans SUCK BIGTIME :'("


"HOW THE HELL DOES SOMONE DO THIS???11, had her all her life and then u dump her her? POS, POS!"


THESE OWNERS SHOULD BE IN HANDCUFFS AND ON A DAMN EUTH LIST...BETTER YET...GIVE ME 5 MINUTES WITH THEM...5 MINUTES OF PURE HELL!!!!

3 - They plead for SOMEONE to do SOMETHING!!!!! Here are a few recent examples...

"she looks so scared please save Star!"

"PLEASE SAVE THIS PUPPY"

"OMG!!!! first she is abused and neglected now they want to kill her please step up and show her what it
feels like to be wanted and loved...."

"o cute my goodness♥ she's got her whole life ahead of her, someone please rescue this sweet puppy♥"


4 - They pledge money to any rescue that pulls the animal.

That's where Stewie to the Rescue (and others) helps. People pledge $10, $20 and more, offered to any rescue that "pulls" (gets) the animal from the shelter. When word gets out that a particular rescue pulled the animal, someone from the rescue usually reminds people of their promise to donate. 

Stewie usually pledges between $100 and $250, though we recently pledged $700 for one dog (story behind it will be another blog post).

Due to the economy and how cash strapped the rescues are (especially those that rescue pit bulls and adult cats) are, these pledges have become an important inducement for rescues to save certain animals. 

Stewie to the Rescue is happy to help!

Tomorrow, I will blog about the problems with The Pledge System...

Harris Bloom

Founder/President

www.stewietotherescue.org

Why We Matter

All animal rescues are important.

Let's get that out of the way first. Spending time, and often our own money, trying to save animals (and speak on their behalf), is doing God's work. There's no doubt about it.

In that respect, it's silly to "rank" the various rescues on some "Importance Scale." But I will say, if there was such a thing, Stewie to the Rescue, would rank extremely high. Why?

We don't only help rescues with their dogs (by providing funding for medical care and training), but, we help pet owners keep their pets.

How are we doing this? We work with the Low Cost Vet Mobile that is stationed outside the Manhattan A.C.C. twice a week and the Brooklyn A.C.C. once a week.  I visited them a few weeks ago. Here is my blog about that visit...

http://stewietotherescue.blogspot.com/2010/12/our-new-pet-cause.html

The owner has told me that many times, the people who can't afford his already discounted medical treatment (which is 25 to 35% of a regular vet), end up surrendering their pet to the shelter. Since these pets are sick, surrenders (so the shelter knows no one is going to come looking for them), and at least middle aged (making them harder to place), they are often immediately killed.

So, not only has the pet died, but the owner has lost their companion and family member.

While we take pride in helping rescues keep animals alive, we take special pride in keeping animals alive AND with their family. We are helping people too.

If you have the means, you can donate to us through a link on our homepage. If you are in the NY area, you can donate just by coming to one of our fundraising events. Please join our mailing list, also located on the main page of our website.

Have a safe and happy holiday.

Thank you.

Harris Bloom
Founder and President
http://www.stewietotherescue.org/

Our New Pet Cause

Remember the call I got, and Daisy's sad story?

http://stewietotherescue.blogspot.com/2010/12/three-day-too-late-sorry-daisy.html

I hope you do...it was last week.

ANYWAY, I visited the mobile vet unit outside ACC (Animal Care and Control) on Saturday.

Even though it was 35 and windy, there were a bunch of people milling about with family members and dogs (though dogs are family members). I hung out on the perimeter of the group, watching as every few minutes someone emerged from the back of the vet truck, clipboard in hand, calling out another name.

I struck up a conversation with a gentleman, there with his wife and his dog (mutt). He told me he didn't know what they would do if not for this service, as there was no way they could afford a regular priced vet. When I told him my reason for being there, he got a little weepy, thanking me, and even wanted me to take five dollars (I refused - anyone waiting two hours in that weather to see a low-priced doc shouldn't be giving me money)

The next time the assistant came out to call another dog in, I told the guy who I was (ahem) and after alerting the doctor*, he re-emerged and directed me to come in.

I met the doc, and his four assistants, all cramped in the trailer. He told me they've already seen over 2,000 dogs this year. In the summer, he and his team worked sometimes from the crack of dawn till 2 AM. He said it's getting more popular as the word is being spread.

He charges bare minimum (for example, $25 for the visit - my vet charges three times that), but some people don't even have that, and while he can eat the 20-25 bucks for meds if someone doesn't have it, he cant afford to eat the 500-750 that surgeries cost (which is waaaay cheaper than any vet would charge). When I asked him, he said there are about 20-25 cases like that a year.

I gave him my number and told him to call anytime cause I can't hear about another Daisy...the next time, Stewie will come to the rescue.

Harris

Founder and President

http://www.stewietotherescue.org/

* I didn't name the vet or his organization as I'm not sure he can handle any more patients than he has anyway. As it is, he doesn't promote this business, but if you are in need, write me.

Stewie to the Rescue!

Hey all,

This is the official blog of brand-spankin' new animal rescue organization Stewie to the Rescue!

Who are we? What will we do? Who is Stewie? (besides a Family Guy character)

Coming Soon (cue ominous cute music)

The Management