Pound Buddies Rescue-The inside of the story.

A lot of people think of the pound as a place where your dog goes if he/she gets caught by the dog catcher or where you can bring strays in that you find. That’s far from what the pound is all about. Pound Buddies Rescue (PBR) also works out of the pound, along with Vector Control. Pound Buddies are the ones who care for the dogs after hours and do not receive any pay for it, unlike Vector Control. We (PBR) also do adoptions out of the pound.
Here’s what my schedule is like for the pound:
Sunday: My hubby and I don’t go on Sundays, but others do.
Monday: My hubby and I work up at the SPCA, but VC is there for the 1st shift and a PBR volunteer comes in at night.
Tuesday: My hubby and I are not there, but other PBR volunteers may be.
Wednesday: My hubby and I are there from 4:30pm-7:00pm. When we arrive at 4:30pm VC is still there, but we come in, check what dogs are in and grab a bucket of food. Then, we let each dog outside to run while we clean their cage and give them fresh food and water. When we have completely taken care of them we let them back in and move on to the next dog. Every single dog gets a chance to run in a yard while we clean and feed them. At 5:30pm the public is then allowed to come in and look at the dogs. If they are interested in a dog, they fill out an application for whatever dog they want and then we do a follow up on them. A follow up consists of a vet check, if they have one and a home visit to make sure they are a good home for the dog. We do this because we don’t want someone to adopt a St. Bernard who lives in an apartment building. The vet check is to make sure they have kept up on their other animals vaccinations along with spaying and neutering. We NEVER EVER do same day adoptions!!! There must be a pre-approval application by Tina, Connie or Barb.
Thursday: My hubby and I are not there, but other PBR volunteers may be.
Friday: My hubby and I work up at the SPCA, but other PBR volunteers may be there.
Saturday: My hubby and I host AAD up at Petco in Muskegon. There we bring our own foster dogs and invite other foster parents to bring their dogs, so people can see what we have to offer. While we are there, other PBR volunteers are up at the pound doing the same Wednesday night routine. You may adopt there from 11:00am-1:30pm.
Our adoption fees vary, depending on where people adopt from. If a person adopts a dog straight from the pound it is $125.00, but they would make a check to their preferred vet to go towards the dogs spaying or neutering, if by chance the dog is already spayed or neutered, then it would go for it’s shots. If a person adopts from one of our fosters, then it is $185.00-235.00. These dogs are already spayed/neutered and are current on shots and heartworm preventative. They are also usually house trained and crate trained, plus we know a lot about them because they have lived with us. Fostering is when a person takes a dog in their home to save it’s life and to basic train it for the dog to be adopted out by a good family/person.
When a dog isn’t adopted from the pound and it is not sent to rescue or a foster home, it is Euthanized(E) for those of you who don’t know what E is, it’s when a dog is given a lethal injection through the vein, that puts them to sleep. It’s not painful for the dog and we try not to put dogs down that are good. We do get dogs that are aggressive towards people and other dogs, that may not be adoptable due to these issues.
As a PBR volunteer, we do everything in our power to save and help care for stray dogs and surrendered dogs. We always accept donations for the dogs such as laundry detergent, crates, dog shampoo, dog treats, dog food, cat food, dog toys and we even accept money. Any little bit counts and is always very appreciated. All of these donations, whether it be money or items, are all tax deductable. If your interested in volunteering or fostering a dog (all at pound buddies expense) please stop by Vector Control off Keating in Muskegon, MI and sign up.