Underdog Rescue is celebrating our 1st Anniversary, our 100th rescued pet (see Jazzie the Beagle mama) and our continued success thanks to our all-volunteer staff, our supporters and all of our wonderful adopters!!! What a fun year this has been for everyone and for the 100 dogs and cats who have found fabulous, permanent homes and families.This could not have been achieved without your support, and we would like to thank all those who have helped Underdog Rescue help the animals.
We'd like to invite adopters and their animals to join us in marching in the Antioch fourth of July parade! Watch this space for more details.
Visit our main site at www.underdog-rescue.com for more updates.
Underdog Rescue matches wonderful people with wonderful pets. Our adopters are people who have a special place in their hearts for orphaned, abandoned or neglected dogs and cats. Most of our pets are dogs and cats that overburdened animal control facilities and other shelters don't have space to hold. Our name, Underdog Rescue, grows out of our passion for the "little guys"--the waifs and strays who've had a bit of bad luck but never quit hoping to win someone's heart and a home. All our "underdogs" and "undercats" have a story. Our goal is give each one a happy ending.
Underdog Rescue does not operate from a shelter but rather from a network of foster homes in Northern Illinois. Underdog Rescue seeks loving and caring homes for our rescued dogs and cats. We are willing to work with many situations to ensure an appropriate placement. For more information on adopting an underdog, contact the foster home listed in the animal's profile. For general questions, call Kathy at 847-980-7081 or Joan at 847-529-5959.
The foster home setting allows us to better evaluate the dog's or cat's temperament in order to make the best possible match with their
future permanent homes. Foster care also helps the pet to readjust to family life after living in a shelter or being a stray.
When you have chosen an animal that you are interested in, please call or email the foster home contact identified on the pet description page to arrange a meeting. The
foster home can provide you with the most up-to-date information
on the pet and answer any questions you may have. Before the appointment, you may also print and fill out
the Adoption Application Form from the links below
and bring it with you.
After you meet with an animal you'd like to adopt, your application is processed by Underdog Rescue's foster specialists. Your references will be contacted, and in most cases, we will conduct a home visit. Our goal is find a good match between our adopters and animals. We want you to be happy with the "underdog" or "undercat" you bring home!
On average, we suggest the following baseline:
Adult large dogs: $175; Puppies 1 year or younger and adult small dogs: $200; Kittens: $85; Cats: $75. Please be aware that our adoption fees are based on the minimum required to cover basic veterinary and related costs at the special rates our wonderful vets give us. Individual fees may vary if the animal is a purebred or if additional medical expenses were incurred or if the animal was in foster care a longer period of time. Your prospective pet's foster home can tell you exactly what his or her suggested donation is.
Every animal we adopt out has had a recent health examination and is up-to-date on essential, age-appropriate vaccines. Our dogs are tested for heartworm, our cats are tested for feline leukemia and all are de-wormed for intestinal parasites. Because animal overpopulation is a major concern of ours, our pets are spayed/neutered prior to adoption. If a medical issue requires postponement of the surgery, we work out an arrangement with our adopters.
Unfortunately, some of our rescued animals require medical care above and beyond the basics. They may need prenatal care or treatment for kennel cough, heartworm, injuries or other illnesses. Your donations above and beyond the baseline adoption fee go a long way toward helping us offset the medical costs for these needy animals.
Please download, fill out and fax or email the Adoption Application to your foster home contact. Or, you can complete the application when meeting with the animal you are interested in.
( Click on the links below to bring each document up.)
| ADOPTION FORMS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Adoption Contract | ||
| ADOPTION APPLICATION | ||
| Release of Liability for Pet Visits | ||
( Adobe Acrobat Reader required) | ||
A not-for-profit (501c3), state licensed (Illinois Department of Agriculture), all-volunteer organization based in Northern Illinois, Underdog Rescue is founded on the belief that kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us.
Collectively, our members have decades of experience in animal rescue, including disaster relief. (See our Hurricane Katrina photographs below.) We have personally saved the lives of hundreds of dogs and cats through our foster homes. And we are always seeking to learn more. Our leadership recently completed an intensive, week-long rescue workshop at the nation's largest and perhaps most respected animal sanctuary, Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah. After much thought, we decided to launch an organization of our own in spring 2007. Today, we are making a difference through the care we bring to the adoption process, our reasonable adoption fees, our all-breed focus, our humane education programs and our quality foster network.
We are proud to have the support of the dedicated veterinarians at Animal Care Center of Lake Villa (ACCLV) as well as respected animal trainer and educator Robin Bengtson of Robin's Dog Stars. Learn more about ACCLV at lakevillavet.com and about Robin Bengtson at RobinsDogStars.com.
Photos from the Underdog Rescue scrapbook:
Above, pictures 1-8 show our animal rescue efforts following Hurricane Katrina. Below are UR's president, Joan Boro (center), at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, the largest pet sanctuary in the United States, with Best Friends co-founders, Faith Maloney (left) and Jana de Peyer (right). Click on any picture to enlarge it.
We need more foster homes! Foster families provide temporary care for an animal prior to adoption. Becoming a foster parent is a wonderful and personal way to contribute to saving homeless pets. Medical care for fosters is paid by Underdog Rescue.
Our organization also needs and values volunteers for other tasks besides fostering. We have many opportunities to get involved. Please contact Kathy H. at 847-980-7081 or Joan Boro at 847-529-5959 for more details.
Lassie, Rin Tin Tin and Toto don't show up very often in rescue. We don't always get the elegantly groomed, classically beautiful, completely trained, perfectly behaved dog. We often get… the leftovers. Dogs that other people have incompetently bred, inadequately socialized, ineffectively trained, and badly treated. Most rescue dogs have been abandoned. They've been pushed from one lousy situation to another. They haven't had proper veterinary care, kind and consistent training, or sufficient company. Too often, they've lived outside, in a crate, or in the basement. They may be scared, depressed and anxious. Some are angry. Some are sick. Some have given up.
But we are Underdog Rescue and we don't give up. We know that a dog is a living being, with a spirit and a heart and feelings. Our dogs are not possessions or disposable. They are part of sacred creation and they deserve as much love and care and respect as the next Westminster champion. So please don't come to a rescue in the hopes of getting a "bargain," or indeed of "getting" anything. Come to us to give. Come to us to love. Come to us to save a life. For rescuing an animal will reward you in ways you never thought possible. We many not be able to guarantee a rescue dog’s breed or personality or behavior, but we can promise you this—a rescue dog will touch your heart and mend your spirit. A rescue dog may rescue YOU.
Thank you for visiting Underdog Rescue.
The good news: Thanks to adoption services, shelter- to-shelter transfers, and aggressive spay/neuter programs, the number of animals being killed in shelters and pounds each year in the U.S. has dropped from 17 million in 1987 to 6-8 million today, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
The bad news: Six to eight million euthanized animals is far too many. Every adoption from a rescue organization saves another life!
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