We are a small family Rescue in Oakland, CA, member of the Rescue Alliance of Hairless & Other Breeds, Inc., a national 501[c]3 non-profit animal rescue organization: www.RescueAlliance.org. Mrs. Wren has been a vet-tech and dog/cat groomer for many years, involved with animal rescue work for 4 decades, specializing in rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming YORKSHIRE TERRIERS since 1995. We are a NO-KILL Rescue that takes care of pets surrendered to us until each one can be matched up with a permanent new home. Sometimes their Foster homes fall in love and can't bear to let them go, so we are always looking to qualify people as new Fosters!
* PRIVATE RESCUES are DIFFERENT from public facilities:
* We consist of a network of unpaid, animal-dedicated individuals and foster families who volunteer their own time and use their own money to care for companion animals in their homes, treating them as cherished members of their own families until just the right permanent new adoptive home can be found among the applications received.
* We have no building [and no cages!], no staff, no public viewing hours, and no predictable source of reliable or consistent revenue. We subsist on and greatly appreciate all donations and offers of assistance, particularly temporary foster homes!
* Funding is accomplished through personal finances, private donations, and ADOPTION fees, which frequently do NOT cover costs of getting a dog ready to be settled into a new permanent family home. Whereas shelters are supported by public taxes from their respective cities/counties and receive free or extremely-low-cost vet care, private rescues have to pay all their own vet bills and other costs associated with top-quality care for the animals they take responsibility for.
* Our average annual Rescue expenses are about $50,000, most of which is never recovered. Average out-of-pocket costs to get a dog restored to health and placed in the right new home run around $400--lots more if there are special medical needs beyond spay/neuter and dental to be met. That is why our average adoption fee is $400. HOWEVER--thanks to MADDIE's FUND assistance, we are now able to lower our average adoption fee to $300 in many cases. Senior or special needs dogs are often adopted for a much smaller fee, and we work with people having fixed or special financial circumstances to make sure they can comfortably afford a dog who seems like the perfect fit for them. Our bottom line is to make the best possible permanent match between dog and new guardian, so we don't let finances get in the way of fulfilling this purpose.
* You are invited to offer support at whatever level is personally comfortable, by making a donation to www.RESCUEALLIANCE.org, designating Wren Yorkie Rescue on the memo line. Email WrenYorkieRescue@aol.com to inquire how you might assist using your time and talent. For example, we have had pre-vet students spend a summer accumulating experience and hours learning the basics of small dog and cat grooming, care, medication administration, and home visit/adoption interviewing.
We carefully screen each adoption applicant using the given veterinary and personal references from people who know and have observed the applicant as a pet owner. We do telephone interviews and finally a home visit with a Yorkie or two--often a specific dog we may have in mind for that particular person--to observe the chemistry between dog and human. Applicants sometimes do not pass the home visit portion of the process if a particular dog doesn't "take" to them. Placement of our dogs happens only when the correct mutual match for the dog is found. This often takes 4 to 6 weeks or longer of living together to determine. We move as quickly as possible with adoptions, but WILL NOT RUSH into an adoption, as this rarely turns out well for the dog--and the dog's best interest and welfare is our bottom line! One notably choosey little Yorkie girl took 3 years and 9 interviews before she announced quite clearly that she had finally met the woman she wanted to spend the rest of her natural life with.
* If you are interested in a dog, please first carefully read the profile on the dog and then email WrenYorkieRescue@AOL.com for an application form.
* We do not have a public facility. All dogs live with foster families in their homes. Arrangements to meet a dog occur AFTER an application is received, reviewed and approved. Dogs left with you pending completion of the process DO NOT BELONG TO YOU until the final home visit and signing of the adoption contract transferring ownership.
* We prefer not to ship dogs, but if you seem like the ideal household for a specific dog, we can arrange with www.PilotsNPaws.org for a Rescue flight to a new home.
* Adoption fees for all dogs/puppies varies by individual, but is usually between $400 and $500 for young, healthy dogs, and less for seniors or dogs with ongoing medical issues.
Successful placements happen when the chemistry between dog and human is just right. We therefore try to get to know YOU as well as we know our dogs, to ensure a mutually happy and lifelong permanent match. We can help you determine the personality type, gender, size, age, and activity level of the companion dog that will have the best chance of becoming a permanent and mutually loved and respected member of your family group. The questions on our Adoption Application are not intended to be invasive, but to help furnish those important pieces of information.
Before the dog can be left with you for a trial adoption period, we require you to sign a Foster Agreement stipulating that the dog in your possession DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU until the final home visit and signing of the adoption contract transferring ownership has occurred.
Please understand that because of the home visit part of our rescue protocol, which involves two or more visits, we prefer to place dogs within an hour or two driving distance of downtown Oakland. Exceptions can be made under certain appropriate circumstances.
STEP 1: an emailed request for an application to WrenYorkieRescue@aol.com. Your responses to the questions give us a beginning picture of your particular situation and expectations.
STEP 2: We chat with you by phone to hear your pet stories, learn more about your "ideal" canine companion, and to answer any questions or concerns you might have about adopting a Yorkie.
STEP 3: We have further chats with your vet and the people you've indicated have known you as a pet owner, and then
STEP 4: We set up a mutually agreeable time to visit your home with a Yorkie, to see where your new dog would be spending his or her time, and to meet all the people and other animals that would be "regulars" in your new companion's life. We use the opportunity of the first site visit to walk what would be your normal dog-walking route, point out any features in the house, yard or neighborhood with potential for becoming an 'issue' with a particular dog we think might otherwise be "The One" for you, and allow you get to know and trust us.
STEP 5: If all seems 'right', the visiting dog may be left with the applicant on a trial-adoption basis for 4 to 6 weeks or longer, to assess compatibility of the applicant's lifestyle with the dog's needs. A check covering at least 50% of the agreed-upon adoption fee will be collected at that time and a Foster Agreement stipulating that you understand the dog does not yet belong to you will be signed. After the trial weeks have been completed, if it is mutually determined that a particular dog or home is not a good match for whatever reasons, the dog will be returned to the Rescue and all but $25 will be returned to the applicant--unless the applicant wishes to donate funds already given. We always appreciate donations, which are tax deductible when given to the Rescue Alliance.
STEP 6: The final step in the process is payment of any remaining adoption fee and signing of the Adoption Contract during a final home visit. At that time, copies of all the dog's records will be given to the successful applicant and ownership will pass to that individual.
Please understand that because of the home visit part of our adoption protocol which sometimes involves multiple visits to your home--we prefer to place dogs within an hour or two driving distance of downtown Oakland. All factors being equal, preference is given to local applicants, but exceptions are made when it seems in the dog's best interest.
We are passionate about what we do and take considerable pride in the care and treatment given to dogs entrusted to us. A great deal of time, travel, personal funds and enormous effort is taken to restore broken bodies and spirits, and to find the best new home for each individual rescued animal. Dogs in our Rescue stay either in our own home, or with one of our foster families, depending on the individual dog's needs and preferences. Each "furry little 4-legged family member" receives the safety, emotional security, love and attention each deserves while growing in health and waiting for the best-fit new guardian to be located. When all factors seem equal, we let the dog ultimately choose his/her new family from among the pool of applicants. As noted previously, one particularly choosey little Yorkie girl worked her way through 9 interviews over a 3-yr period before announcing most emphatically that she had finally met the woman she wanted to spend the rest of her natural life with.
Wren Rescue dogs are treated like members of the family, with furniture and people-bed privileges, and free access via a doggie-door to the brick-paved patio and large upper lawn areas. New members of the Wren Pack are taught how and when to use the doggie door; and if they've come into the Rescue system from an abusive or neglected situation, they are given the opportunity to replace unpleasant memories with new ones of safety, warmth, plentiful tasty and healthy food and treats, and lots of the love and affection a companion animal so richly deserves.
New dogs are thoroughly evaluated by vets located near where the dogs will be fostered. They are given all necessary medical care and treatment, and referred to specialty vets as their health conditions may require.
Each new dog is spayed or neutered, brought up-to-date with Rabies and required vaccinations, heartworm tested, given a dental if needed, put on parasite prevention, professionally groomed, and microchipped prior to being adopted. We use HomeAgain microchips which are registered with a national database, kept under the Rescue's name, and updated with the new owner's contact information.
Unlike the larger national Rescues who need to move dogs into permanent homes quickly to make room for more, dogs brought into Wren Yorkie Rescue are kept as long as it takes to learn enough about each one's personality, habits and preferences to make the best permanent match with a new home. We always listen carefully to each applicant's stories and offer educational information, suggestions, or referrals as appropriate to help you and your new furry family member find and keep each other. Locating the perfect match can take at minimum 1 month, or several years! Reliable FOSTER FAMILIES are always needed. Email YorkieRescue@me.com if you are interested in fostering.
Please research the breed before you buy or adopt, you'll be glad you did! Good websites are: www.YTCA.org and www.AKC.org.
Do you know that Yorkies typically live to be 15 years old or older? Some have had a beloved Yorkie live to be 20, and we currently have several super seniors ranging in age from 14 to 19+ years! Don't miss out on a wonderful opportunity to enjoy one of these dogs just because of a number. If you are considered a senior, please consider a dog that will be compatible with your age, home and lifestyle. Young dogs want to run and play energetic, interactive games inside a fenced yard and go for long and/or fast walks. Dogs are matched with age appropriate homes. Why not think about bonding and falling in love with an older dog?
DONATIONS of goods or $$$ are always gratefully accepted to help offset the many costs of restoring dogs to optimal health, taking them around to meet and interview potential new guardians, and getting them settled into their new homes. Donations can be made by check, cash or PayPal. Donation checks should be made payable to RESCUE ALLIANCE, and mailed to Wren Yorkie Rescue, 4100 Redwood Road, #339 Oakland, CA 94619 for processing and to receive a tax deductible donation receipt.
Please direct mail to the address below. Thanks!
