* STOP AND PLEASE READ: DO NOT APPLY FOR A DOG IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO ALTER AT 6 MONTHS WE HAVE NO EXCEPTIONS! IF A DOG CAN REPRODUCE IT COMPROMISES OUR MISSION *
The Charlie Project Dog Rescue formation was inspired by my beautiful boy who was supposed to be a stud dog. He suffered through his years with congenital conditions, because he was a product of micro and commercial breeding. He fought so hard to be happy and live for me. A shoebox full of pills and needles was his daily routine at the end. Meet you at Rainbow Bridge...
My story, briefly... as a child growing up I brought home every stray animal I found. By age 15, I was spending weekends cleaning kennels at Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin IL. I continued my volunteer work through my children's youth, but when I became an empty nester I became heavily involved in different rescues. I started doing transport for several different rescues when I moved to Twin Lakes, and if you ask me to this day, I wouldn't take it back. I enjoyed every rescue I worked with and tried to blend every different style of Rescue I have learned. I'm very thankful for each person who mentored me and still are actively helping me now! A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO RESCUE!
My goal is to seek the best interests of the dog and to find a home regardless of whether they are in a shelter, an owner surrender dog, or a dog coming out of a breeder situation. Several dogs such as unsold older puppies, wrong color or improperly coated puppies, may need more help than others to find their forever home. In addition, some dogs are surrendered by owners who can no longer take care of them for unforeseen circumstances. A large portion of our fees are transportation. You may notice higher fees and that is because we rarely conduct fundraisers. With some dogs, vetting can be in the thousands of dollars, and we have a low adoption fee.
A large majority of our dogs are puppies. We insist, actually it's the law, that any adopted dog be altered! Therefore, reducing the population of dogs in shelters. We do also take in shelter dogs and owner relinquishments. One by one,if they all get altered, hopefully there will no longer be the need for shelters and rescues. People must stop believing that their dog of five different breeds needs to experience childbirth or that it will be fun for their kids to raise puppies. Or that they will "take away a dog's manhood". STOP! Really? Spay/Neuter helps prevent certain cancers, decreases aggressive behavior, marking, desire to roam and your pet will live a longer healthier life. Our animals will be altered by 6 months, and you will sign a contract at the time of adoption.
The Charlie Project's Mission is to provide loving homes where they are treated like family and have a warm place to lay their head at night with responsible pet parents. That is why we have such a lengthy application. I must reiterate our focus to educate on spay/ neuter to prevent unwanted litters. Encourage owners to utilize trainers and other resources to properly train and socialize your dog, resulting in less shelter dogs. If we used trainers, spay/neuter and stopped impulse buying think of what a wonderful world it would be?
