Are you a rescuer, or a rehomer? Does your group rescue or rehome?
PetRescue believe these are two different things, that can simply be pried apart for a 'disruptive' take on animal rescue. From PetRescue's recent G2Z presentation on their Home2Home program:
"(PetRescue) believe that both rescue and rehoming are both really important ways to help pets. By rehoming a pet, you're helping a pet owner who is no longer able to take care of their pet and you're giving them peace of mind knowing that the pet is going to a good home. And by rescuing a pet, you're giving them a second chance at life; you're taking in a pet that has been through a lot and you're showing them what it means to be loved. If you rescue a pet you focus on those that maybe need medical or behavioural rehab, or maybe they just have no where else safe to go, and they truly need to be rescued. And we believe that together, you can save more pets and focus on those that really need it."
Home2Home (G2Z presentation 2023)
Home2Home is PetRescue's way of taking the low hanging fruit of purebred dogs and housekept cats and moving them through a 'virtual' rehoming process, cutting rescue off from easily placed pets and leaving them to do the heavy lifting of treating and rehabilitating those pesky, less convenient, less adoptable animals.
(That is, unless the Home2Home adoption doesn't work out, as then rescue 'safety net' rescue groups are supposed to step up and take the pet).
All the success and credit (and fundraising opportunities!) to PetRescue - none of the responsibility.
Which pets PetRescue takes on is completely at the whim of their comms team. And how does it look in practice? Below are the last six months of pets adopted via PetRescue's Home2Home program. 150 healthy (often purebred) dogs and perfectly tame housecats being flipped for an adoption fee, which goes right into PetRescue's payroll.
As your rescue group volunteers run themselves ragged battling through the season and personally go without at Christmas - think of the PetRescue offices emptying for the holidays as they pause their AIAM 'Innovation in Animal Management and Welfare Award' winning program of selling pets online and calling it 'rehoming' until the new year, as all PetRescue's staff take a lovely paid vacation.
Merry Christmas from PetRescue!
#RespectingRescue
Further reading:
(July 2023) - Pudge - seven failed adoptions, PetRescue's Home2Home
(August 18, 2020) - PetRescue begins cherry picking surrenders; side-stepping rescue groups