APF supports Utah Doberman Rescue Mission

Abuse Prevention Foundation is excited to annouce the work they are doing with Utah Dobes. Utah Dobes is a Doberman Pinscher Club but more then that they are a Doberman Rescue. The UDR (Utah Doberman Rescue) consists of volunteers who are dedicated to locating quality homes for needy Dobermans. They place an average of 100 dogs a year. Most of the dogs come from the Salt Lake City area but they also assist in the rescue of Dobermans from much of the intermountain region, including Wyoming, Idaho and Southern Utah.

Utah Dobes mission is "to help promote the Doberman as a loving, loyal companion; to fund and maintain our rescue and educational divisions, to preserve the working temperament of the Doberman, and to foster good relationships with other Doberman lovers, offering support through knowledge and friendship."

Utah Dobes places these dogs in qualified foster homes until they can find permanent homes for them. They evaluate the needs of both the prospective owners and the Dobermans to find the right match. The Doberman Rescue pays for all expenses related to the dogs in their care including veterinary exams, vaccinations, spaying or neutering, micro-chipping, treating for worms, and heartworm testing. Adopting families make donations at the time to help cover some of these fees.

All prospective owners fill out an application and agree to an adoption contract. This helps to ensure these animals go to loving, permanent and stable homes.

Reasons to consider a "Rescue Dog" Most of these Rescue Dogs are housebroken. They are no longer puppies and are house trained as well as past their "chewing" stage. Their personalities are already developed so you can pick a large or small; active or peaceful; goofy or brilliant; sweet or sassy personality that would best match your environment and lifestyle.

You can choose a Rescue Dog that is best suited for your home. A companion that is good with children and other animals for example. Pet mis-matches are one of the top reasons Rescues get "give-up" phone calls. Good rescues do extensive evaluating of both their dogs and their applicants to be sure that both dog and family will be happy with each other permanently. Alot of the dogs that end up in the Rescue are dogs that were not matched to their owners. The dog may have grown out of the cute puppy stage, or perhaps they became to large or required more care then the family had anticipated. Many owners rush into ownership and find that the dog required much more then previously realized. Utah Dobes evaluates the dog before accepting them regarding health, behavior and breed confirmation. They rehabilitate the animal if necessary and only adopt them out to a home that matches and is realistic in their expectations as pet owners. Utah Dobes offers these "Rescue Dogs" a chance they may not find otherwise. A "Rescue Dog" may be the best decision your family may ever make.

The Numbers According to a statistical study (http://www.dobermanrescue.org/astatisticalstudy.htm) done by Elizabeth Barrett of ADAMAS Dobermans, in 1993 there were 3,795 confirmed Doberman rescue cases. This number rose to 39,00 in 1994. An estimated additional 7,800 to 15,600 Dobermans were displaced from their original homes and never tracked to see if they were actually placed as they never came into the rescuer's hands but were telephone referrals or shelter animals. The states with the highest percentage of rescues were California with 40% of the countries Dobermans that were rescued in 1994. Florida and Texas follow with 7% each; Michigan and Massachusetts at 5% each.

About the Breed:
The breed was developed by Louis Dobermann in Apolda, Germany. He was both a tax collector and dog catcher. He determined the traits he wanted in his companion dog, and used the opportunities presented as dog catcher to choose appropriate animals for breeding. The traits were anything but simple; a night watchman, a dog capable of recognizing and responding to threats, alert him to impending danger, and a loyal companion and friend. Dobermans are successful in search and rescue, agility, obedience/rally, conformation, tracking, working dog sport, Schutzhund, guide dogs for the blind, and therapy dogs. Most of all, any Doberman owner will describe these animals as "Always Faithful". (source: http://www.dpca.org/faithful)

Please support your local area Animal Shelters and Rescues. Most of these organizations rely on donations and volunteers to continue their work. According to the ASPCA, there are about 5 to 7 million companion animals that enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Approximately 3 to 4 million of those are euthanized. Five out of ten dogs in shelters are destroyed simply because there is no one to adopt them. This is one of the reasons that animal rescues are so vital to the issue. They "match" and "evaluate" the placement of these animals so that they go to permanent homes and do not end up back at the shelter or unwanted and homeless. Abuse Prevention Foundation is proud to support Utah Dobes as both a financial contributor and by offering fostering of their "Rescue Dogs".

February 2010 - The Abuse Prevention Foundation is proud to support the annual Doberman Rescue Mission Raffle 2010 by donating needed dog items. We look forward to continuing our work with this amazing organization. If you are interested in donating to or supporting the Doberman Rescue Mission, please email us at help at abusepeventionfoundation dot org.