Senior dog rescue in general – and in particular Muttville, a local nonprofit dedicated to just that – was a close runner-up for Best Canine Cause in our first annual Beast of the Bay Awards. This article by a Muttville volunteer explains the organization’s mission and urges you to get involved. There are plenty of other rescue groups in the Bay Area equally deserving and equally in need of your help. Please heed this call to compassionate action by volunteering with one or more of them. — Ed.
When I decided to dedicate some of my free time to a good dog cause, I chose to volunteer with Muttville, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization whose mission is to create better lives for older dogs by providing rescue, foster, adoption, and hospice services. Muttville rescues senior dogs from shelters all over California, provided they are friendly with humans and other dogs. On a local level, Muttville helps senior and special needs rescue dogs by finding them foster homes and, when needed, providing them with hospice care. Through its website, www.muttville.org, the group provides information about caring for older dogs and support for people who do.
Generally the process goes something like this: Muttville get an email or phone call from a shelter where there is a dog (or dogs) in danger of euthanasia. Transport is arranged to take the dog to one of Muttville’s partnering veterinarian clinics to take care of whatever medical issues there might be. Grooming and other essential services are often provided, then each dog is placed in a foster home while awaiting adoption by a forever family.
Many such dogs have come from loving senior homes, where the owner has passed away or gone into a facility that doesn’t allow pets. Even if these dogs are healthy and have wonderful personalities, they are often considered unadoptable because of their age. Sadly, that can lead to euthanasia at an overcrowded animal shelter. But Muttville can often match a senior dog with an older person, or with a family that has other dogs that are older.
“It’s a win-win situation for a senior human and a senior dog. They provide each other with companionship, the energy level is similar, and they both need love,” says Muttville founder/director, Sherri Franklin.
The ultimate goal for Muttville is to have a facility where they can house dogs that are not yet placed, or that are unlikely to be placed. In the meantime, the group’s success of depends on its volunteer fosterers. One of the key goals of Muttville’s outreach and networking is to continue to identify additional foster homes for these dogs.
The economic situation and housing foreclosures have increased the number of family pets that are being surrendered into shelters. Services are strained and existing fosters are full, so the need to foster a dog is particularly important at this time. Foster families serve such a great purpose, because without them dogs can’t be rescued and eventually adopted out to a permanent home. It is the foster families that keep this positive cycle going. The more foster families Muttville has to rely upon, the more frequently the organization can say yes to rescuing dogs.
Muttville’s foster homes help not only care for the dogs, but can also provide potential adopters with valuable information about a dog’s personality and disposition. Fosterers are fully involved in the adoption process and always have direct contact with adoptive families.
Placing older dogs in need with loving foster families, then into permanent homes, is not only good for the animals; it can greatly enhance the quality of life of the people involved. If you would like to join the ranks of Muttville’s loving foster homes, your help would be very much appreciated. Muttville pays for most of the care, providing training advice, food, beds, bowls, veterinary care, and even dentistry.
Many stories of Muttville “clients” are truly inspiring. One dog rescued from a San Jose shelter, Jackson, had a large tumor on his face that looked like a second nose. Muttville found a veterinarian who was able to remove it. Jackson healed quickly and was adopted at the first Muttville event he attended.
In another situation, Muttville rescued seven small senior dogs from the house of a hoarder in Bakersfield who had passed away. The dogs were well-socialized but dirty, with matted fur, and they had not been spayed or neutered. Muttville funded the necessary procedures and saved all of these dogs.
Muttville’s greatest wish is for no dog to spend its last days in an impersonal shelter, and all of us who volunteer for the group work toward that goal every day. We all believe, without a doubt, that every dog deserves a happy ending.
Ben Bartos lives in San Francisco, works for a non-profit in the education field, and is a longtime fan of dogs. He doesn’t have a canine companion all his own at the moment, which is one reason he enjoys volunteering for Muttville.
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