Some come from shelters who call rescue volunteers when they suspect they have a sporting breed needing a home. Some are surrendered by their owners for a variety of reasons. Some are strays and we'll just never know their story. Many shelters call the rescue volunteer in their area because releasing dogs to rescue frees up space in the shelter without euthanizing an animal. Sporting Breeds don't thrive in confinement and we are very grateful to those animal control workers who help the sporting breeds by calling one of the rescue organizations.
Because pet shops and irresponsible breeders will sell a sporting breed to anyone bearing cash or a credit card, Sporting breeds sometimes end up with people who should never own any dog at all, certainly not a sporting breed. Ethical breeders take back the dogs they breed, but other breeders - including backyard breeders and a few show kennels - refuse to take responsibility for dogs they have bred. In brief, some rescue dogs have survived the difficult journey from puppy mills to pet shops to homes in which they were not loved; others were bred by people who fail to take lifetime responsibility for their puppies.
Some dogs that come through rescue are turned in by owners who realize that a sporting breed - or any dog - was a bad mistake. Many of these dogs have simply been chained in back yards, given food and water, but deprived of attention and affection. Some have proven too big and strong for their owners. Owners who are moving, getting divorced, or making other major life changes are sometimes unable or unwilling to include the dogs in their changed lives.
A healthy, friendly, well-behaved sporting breed occasionally appears on the back steps of a kind person who takes in the dog, tries and fails to find the owner, and calls TSBR. Dogs rescued from animal shelters have either been turned in by owners or picked up by dog officers. A typical story is of a healthy, friendly young sporting breed found wandering in a schoolyard or turned loose on a highway. The dog has no tags, no identifying tattoo, and has not been micro-chipped; no one responds to ads about him; no one places a lost dog ad for him.
Some rescue dogs show no signs whatsoever of abuse. In others, the signs are unmistakable. A hand-shy or rear-shy dog expects to be hit and shies away from an outstretched hand. Some of these dogs cringe at the slightest word of correction. One of the pleasures of rescuing such a dog is the privilege of teaching the lesson that, from now on, human hands and voices mean kindness and love.
Available dogs
All dogs accepted into the TSBR rescue program are evaluated regarding their health, temperament, and other characteristics to establish their suitability for placement into adoption homes. Based on this assessment, TSBR rehabilitates rescued sporting breeds to the extent necessary, if at all, to prepare them for placement in an adoptive home.
All dogs in TSBR's rescue program are evaluated by a licensed veterinarian, are brought up to date on their inoculations, are spayed/neutered if they are still intact, and are provided other veterinary care as is required by the particular dog, including, heartworm treatment and necessary surgical procedures. Veterinary care for the dogs in our rescue program is our largest expense.
A significant part of dog our assessment program is ensuring that healthy dogs within the program that are attending events are not at risk of being contaminated by brand new dogs entering the program. There is a 12-day waiting period when dogs enter our program and become available for adoption. This is so that volunteers have a better understanding of a dog’s temperament, and so that dogs are not attending public events and inadvertently infecting other dogs. The dog’s available date is provided under “Status”.
Texas Sporting Breed Rescue, Inc. (TSBR) is a State of Texas non-profit organization and is a public charity recognized as exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3).
