Adopting a friend

Some rescues call their dogs “rejects”.  We don’t have “rejects”.  We have dogs that are great pets in the right home.  We match the dog or cat to the family’s lifestyle, life stage, or needs, including therapy pets for special need children and adults.

The BCSP is easy to work with.  We have designed a simple adoption contract. All animals taken in this Project are spayed and neutered, or if a puppy, the new home must agree to have the pet altered as stated in the contract. WE do not believe in spaying or neutering baby puppies. We believe they should be at least 5 months of age for proper conformation development and for their safety.

We welcome out-of-state adoptions and will ship our pets out of state.

Only about one out of five dogs accepted are owner relinquished.  They are required to sign a transfer of ownership form. The majority are strays. Strays are listed in our local Banner Press newspaper and may also be listed on our Facebook site in an attempt to find the owners.

New admissions receive a thorough veterinary examination and are administered a 5 or 9-way vaccination, rabies vaccination if of age, a fecal test if a puppy and are de-wormed.  Older dogs are given Safeguard dewormer for three days.

Strays age 6 months or older receive a heartworm (HW) test after the hold period.  The HW test is given to all owner relinquishments the day of initial exam if not up to date on the test and preventatives.  The test generally includes tick disease, depending on which veterinary office conducts the test.

Dogs aggressive towards humans are not accepted.  Dogs with aggressive tendencies towards other dogs are not accepted.  If after acceptance aggressive issues arise, generally this may happen with pups as they mature and develop confidence, they are re-evaluated and may be euthanized.  Dogs with serious injuries who will not allow the vets or volunteers to change bandages are euthanized.

We refuse to put the life of a dog or cat above the safety of the volunteers and adopters.  We euthanize about 10% of the intake pets due to aggressive behavior, injuries we can not afford to treat, and contagious illnesses we can not isolate other pets from.   Quality of life issues take precedence.

Without your donations we can not continue to spend larger sums on the pets that need us most.  We have no thrift store and little time to organize fund raisers.

Sponsoring a pet with donations is a feel-good experience.  You can be part of a happy “tail”.

Our wish list includes corporate sponsors or resources to help us help dogs with heartworm, injuries, and other illnesses.

Project pets are evaluated for sound behavior before adoption. The evaluators include a retired veterinarian tech, long time dog rescue volunteers, the veterinarians who give us Project discounts, and an obedience instructor known for her ability to work with difficult dog behaviors. The seasoned obedience instructor also teaches prisoners in a Puppy Parole Program, focusing on dog behavior with over 14 years experience.

The evaluators are honest about the temperaments of the dogs listed on the BCSP website: no sugar coating.

Assistance with a Stray

If you need assistance with a stray, need to re-home a pet, or need to report animal abuse in your community, please contact us.  If you know of a family that has litter after litter of unwanted pets, assistance may be available to help educate that family about programs available to spay their female(s).

Please help us get-a-grip on the overpopulation in our county and surrounding area. Continue to help the strays: volunteer to foster, donate to the BCSP, and discuss with friends the serious problems of pet abandonment.

It is true that great quality animals are dumped in our county. This is because there are so many dogs and cats and we have so many low income families. With your help, we will help all we can afford. We would like to say “Thank You” to you for all you do for the critters too.