These are some of dogs UnderDog Rescue acquired from the Venice Confiscation. They have not had much - if any - human contact, and have had nothing to anticipate from day to day other than the next delivery of food and water.
They are all very tiny, are not potty trained, and are not socialized. In fact, most (perhaps ALL) have never been in a house, and most probably had never walked on the ground.
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Now the real hard work begins! Each dog must be given exams, spay/neuters, vaccines, wormers, heartworm testing, preventatives, dentals/extractions for the older dogs, medications for infections, microchips, and any other treatments they may need to be adoptable. But many of these dogs are likely to be feral in nature until they can be rehabilitated and learn how to "just be dogs".
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Dear Family, Friends and Volunteers of UnderDog Rescue,
It is very difficult for us to reach out to you and ask for help, but at times, it is necessary. In the past, many of you have communicated, "Ask for help when you need it." Truthfully, we can always use help, but we only reach out when we are in dire need of assistance. We have the utmost respect for the wonderful relationships UnderDog has and the ongoing support we know is out there. We also realize this is a difficult time for many people, and we do not want to be an organization with their hands out constantly asking for assistance. Today, we are asking for your support; we need it - we really need it ! As you know, UnderDog Rescue is a 501C3 non-profit organization. We are a small breed rescue. We support all of our local shelters, but we also reach out to Orlando, Miami, Polk and many of the high kill shelters around the State who contact us on a daily basis asking us to save dogs. Along with the shelters, we receive phone calls and emails from individuals pleading with us to accept their animals into our rescue. UnderDog has an excellent reputation for doing the right thing. We have a solid adoption process to ensure dogs are adopted into safe, loving, permanent homes with responsible people. All of our volunteers and foster homes multi-task with different roles to support an ongoing effort to save as many dogs as we can from euthanasia in the shelter. Some of us foster, some perform home visits, others do background checks, process applications, maintain our website, and some drive dogs back and forth to vet appointments and grooming. It is a collective effort amongst many people whose passion is to give these rescue dogs a better life; a new beginning. As volunteers, we do this on our own time, and at our own expense. We do not have a facility to house dogs and our administrative costs are minimal because we are all volunteers. We operate solely from donations and adoptions. For the month of March, just one of our veterinary invoices was $7,300. Typically, we average between four and five thousand dollars per month in vet bills. UnderDog has several wonderful veterinarians who provide excellent services with fixed pricing to support our efforts. Even with our discounted fees, we still spend thousands per month. We are one of the few rescues who will take injured dogs, heartworm positive, or dogs who have eye problems. Just last week, we took Shakira from Miami. She was dumped at the shelter as a bonded pair. Another rescue saved the more attractive dog and left Shakira behind because she has cherry eyes; a totally fixable condition (see Shakira on our website). Most recently, you may have heard about the hoarding situation in Venice, where Sarasota Animal Services confiscated almost 300 dogs from a back-yard breeder. Last week, UnderDog Rescue was asked to help support Sarasota by taking some of the cruelty case dogs. These poor dogs spent their life in wire cages stacked on top of the other with no shelter. They were matted, filthy, and although sweet, will require an abundance of work, not to mention all the associated vet costs. The majority of dogs we take into our rescue were disposed of like trash before they came to UnderDog. We do the very best that we can to provide them a new life; a life with love, safety and security. There is no light at the end of this tunnel, and we at UnderDog will continue to do the best we can to make a difference. If you are able, please help with our vet costs, so we can continue helping those who deserved so much better.
Please visit our website at: www.underdogadopt.com We have a PayPal account on our website and greatly appreciate anything you can do to support our efforts. Also, please visit our website which details the story of the hoarding situation in Venice. We also have several pictures listed of the dogs from the Venice confiscation. Please, share our story on Facebook and with friends. We need your support.
Collectively, we can make a difference. Here is our mailing address in case you do not use PayPal:
UnderDog Rescue of Florida
P.O. Box 351 Bradenton,
Florida 34206
As always, we appreciate each of you,
Thank you,
UnderDog Rescue
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