Grateful Dogs Rescue

Since we last checked in with Grateful Dogs Rescue in San Francisco, they've been hard at work, rescuing the dogs who are too untrained, terrified, sick or injured to make the "adoptable" list in shelters. Grateful Dogs gives these needy souls the TLC they require to get into loving and well-suited homes. Volunteers tell us that lately the group often finds mother dogs languishing in shelters after their puppies have been snapped up, and gets them to safety. more »

For over two decades now, Grateful Dogs Rescue has been serving as a safety net for countless dogs deemed not suitable for adoption from the shelter by San Francisco's Animal Care and Control because they have some fixable issue: they need medical treatment; they need training (an all too common reason dogs end up in the shelter in the first place); they're absolutely terrified in the shelter environment (as is only natural, particularly if they suddenly end up there after years in a loving home). This all-volunteer group takes in these dogs, gives them the care and resources they need, gets to know them, and, as one story after another attests, finds them the perfect families. 

As an all-volunteer group, Grateful Dogs has little administrative overhead; hence virtually all donated funds go directly to the care of the dogs, with the greatest expense being vet bills, as everything from luxating patellas to broken bones require attention to get the dogs in their care back on track -- like Rigby, a cute Cavalier King Charles Spaniel/Chihuahua mix, who came to Grateful Dogs from the shelter because he needed surgery for cherry eye. Then while recovering from the surgery he managed to break his femur, so he's currently recuperating while awaiting his forever home. Photo credit: Rigby recuperating: Grateful Dogs Rescue more »

The first volunteer at San Francisco's Animal Care and Control department in 1990 was Michelle Parris, who quickly discovered that all too many potentially great pets never had a chance. SFACC considered them unadoptable because of a fixable but resource-consuming issue.

Grateful Dogs was born; two decades later, the organization has made a life-saving difference for San Francisco shelter dogs who need a little extra help, whether they're terrified of the shelter environment, in need of training or dealing with medical issues. Besides providing treatment, training and a safe haven, Grateful Dogs works to find the perfect match for each dog it takes in.

Along with the rest of the state, says Administrative Director Kim Durney, Grateful Dogs recently has been deluged with Chihuahuas and Chi mixes-the latest Hollywood-inspired, now-abandoned fashion accessory. "Everyone sees this perfectly behaved, well-trained little dog and says, I want that," Durney says. Reality soon intervenes, and thousands of dogs find themselves homeless.

In 2009, after SFACC held a press conference and Virgin Airways airlifted a batch of Chihuhuas to the East Coast, Grateful Dogs stepped up to help a bit closer to home. "We realized that these were dogs we could really help," Durney says. "Now about half our dogs at any given time are Chihuahuas or Chihuahua mixes."