The idea of Dark Dog Posse came from both a literal and figural dream. The concept is to help more dogs—and frankly any animals that need assistance—find furever homes they can call their own, and to educate people on how they can join the effort. Thank you for your initial interest. We hope you’ll join us in our mission.
Over the years, the founders of Dark Dog Posse have had literally hundreds of dogs share our home on their way to find forever families and it has had a deep impact on us. We’ll admit, some are hard to let go of. Some you hope will go sooner. But we have a lifetime of memories, and we sincerely hope that every one of those souls has reached a wonderful place to call their own.
Not long ago, we had an amazing dog (best dog ever, according to my wife—and I have to agree), pass away from lung cancer at the tender age of six. It was heartbreaking. It was devastating. So much so that my wife almost wanted to stop fostering and adopting because it was just too painful. But there are too many souls that still need help, so we continued on. We are their advocates, and we hope you will be, too.
How We Got Started
Back around 2005, we went to an informational meeting about volunteering and fostering hosted by our local SPCA that was free and open to the public. They explained how their program works and we got hooked on the idea of fostering, even though we already had two dogs and four cats at home. We were excited about being able to take a dog out of a shelter situation and give it a chance to experience what it was like to be part of a family.
Let me just say at this point that we appreciate the efforts of animal shelters and understand they have a lot of animals to take care of, and they usually have limited resources to help them accomplish their mission. It’s a Herculean and often never-ending task. Fostering not only gives shelter dogs a chance to be in a family environment, it provides the shelters with at least one additional spot to provide assistance to another homeless animal.
We didn’t immediately join the SPCA’s program, but we did soon connect with a local rescue group. Unfortunately, they didn’t end up being a good fit for us. But, they were getting dogs and puppies out of shelters and into homes, so we felt they were filling a need in a positive way.
A Learning Experience
Eventually, another couple volunteering with the rescue we were with decided they wanted to do things differently and broke off to create their own rescue. We went with them because we liked how they were more interested in doing background checks and home visits on the families that would be adopting their foster dogs. They also weren’t trying to just push puppies off on people but put animals in foster homes with the understanding that they would be there until they got adopted instead of just trying to make a buck off a tragic situation.
However, as much as we were excited about joining a new rescue that shared our ideals, we need to recognize that the experience we had with the other rescue provided us with some valuable information that helped us grow as fosters and rescue dog enthusiasts.
A Chance To Grow
We started Dark Dog Posse for a couple of important reasons: to advocate for all of the animals out there in shelters and to support the shelters and people out there who are trying to make a difference in saving lives. One additional reason is we’d like to do more to help.
Our overall goal is to eventually start a rescue ourselves. Not to leave the rescue we currently work with, not to compete with others in this field, but to provide additional resources for the rescues and shelters out there that are already filled to capacity. In fact, we’re hoping we can work with our current rescue, and potentially with other local rescues, to collaborate on how to make a bad situation better.
Please Join Us
We know rescue work isn’t for everyone. But there are so many ways people can get involved just a tiny bit of commitment. The mantra in the animal rescue world is:
1. If you cannot adopt, foster.
2. If you cannot foster, volunteer.
3. If you cannot volunteer, donate.
And above all else, if you can’t do any of the above because you already have a dog at home, please spay and neuter. Too many people don’t understand that they are part of the problem because they won’t take care of a simple procedure that will not only help with the animal population, it will also help your pet live longer and may correct some behavioral issues. If you’re thinking of joining as a foster, please check out “Is Fostering Right For You?”
Thank you!