Sheltie Rescue

A Dog Sits Waiting
(Author Unknown)

A dog sits waiting in the cold autumn sun,
Too fearful to leave, too frightened to run.
He’s been here for days now with nothing to do
But sit by the road waiting for you.
He can’t understand why you left him that day.
He thought you were stopping to play.
He’s sure you’ll come back and that’s why he stays.
How long will he suffer?  How many more days?
His legs have grown weak; his throat’s parched and dry.
He’s sick now from hunger and falls with a sigh.
He lays down his head and closes his eye.
I wish you could see how a waiting dog dies.

Sadly, thousands of dogs are abandoned beside roads, in parking lots, and anywhere else you can imagine each year.  Instead of contacting a rescue group, or turning the animal over to a shelter, these poor animals are left to fend for themselves by the very humans they loved and trusted.  In addition to starvation and thirst, they must contend with attacks by roaming dogs, inclement weather, being tormented by abusive people, hit by cars, and the intense confusion and loneliness of abandonment.

Some dogs prove to be too much for their new owners to handle, have personality clashes with family members or other dogs, or are unwanted for any number of reasons.  Sometimes an owner dies, and the relatives are left with a dog nobody can care for -- often elderly or unhealthy at that.  These dogs are often abandoned, or passed off to other people, or to an animal control shelter. 

That's where Rescue comes in.  Both mixed breed and pure breed rescue groups work to take these animals in, evaluate their suitability for rehoming, restore health, work with behavioral issues, and then place them in good, loving homes carefully chosen to complement the dog.  

Rescue groups are made up of volunteers who patrol shelters and other places where unwanted dogs might be found, provide medical care, training and foster homes, and often travel great distances to transport a dog to its new forever home. 

Sheltie rescue is provided in every state to take in unwanted or neglected shelties deserving of a new home, or being fostered through their old age until their natural death.  You can help out in many ways...

• Contributions
• Foster care
• Volunteering
• Education

For additional information, please visit the National Rescue website run by Dorothy Christiansen of Lynnlea Shelties. 

Each year, sheltie breeders and fanciers from all over the US are encouraged to submit a panel for a sheltie quilt.  This quilt is raffled off, with the winner being announced at the ASSA National. 

You can obtain more information HERE. 

If you have a sheltie that has proven to be more than you can handle, you've inherited an animal you cannot provide a home for, or if you are no longer able to care for it, there is NO SHAME in seeking help!  

What is shameful is allowing the situation to deteriorate to the point where the dog is harmed, or abandoning the animal to its fate. 

Please contact Sheltie Rescue if you have such a situation.  Give your sheltie a chance to live out a fulfilling life as a beloved pet.  Many rescued shelties go on to live wonderful lives as performance dogs (agility, obedience, herding, tracking).  Some become therapy dogs, providing comfort and affection to the sick and the elderly, in nursing homes and hospitals. 

Please give shelties a chance!!!