About HavaHeart Rescue
Why We Do This
For every dog we rescue, thousands more are left behind.
Rescue work is expensive and mentally, emotionally, and physically draining work, but every dog we rescue is worth it.
There is an ongoing debate about the best way to rescue dogs and bring attention to the horrible conditions that roughly 2 million dogs live in. The commercial breeding industry, also known as puppy mills, is a barbarous industry that is only motivated by greed. (Click here to see a map of the puppy mills located in Missouri alone.)
One of the most passionately debated ways of rescuing dogs is by purchasing them at auction. Some suggest that those rescues who purchase dogs at rescue aren't really rescues and are somehow in it for the money. If you are a dog owner, how would you feel if your pet were forced to live in a cage (sometimes too small) for its entire life? How would you feel if instead of receiving your love and affection, your dog was abused OR neglected OR malnourished?
Puppy mill operators are only interested in their dogs—sometimes dozens—doing one thing: make more puppies. If they can do it in an easier and cheaper way, they will. Even at the expense of the dog's welfare. So we go to auctions to rescue as many dogs out of a harmful situations as we can. An argument we hear often is that we're giving these puppy mill owners more money to feed their greed. We're only perpetuating the cycle.
Let's look at the size of the commercial breeding industry. There are approximately 2 million dogs in almost 2,500 commercial breeding operations in the United States. Together they generate about $2 billion every year.
Out of those 2 million dogs, only about 7,500 dogs are sold at auction in a given year (in the entire nation). It is estimated that only 20 percent of dogs that go to auction are purchased by rescues. So, our best-case scenario is that 1,500 dogs are rescued out of that vicious and miserable world. Every other dog goes to another puppy mill.
The majority of dogs we rescue come from owner surrenders, strays, and animal control facilities. Dogs rescued from breeder auctions accounts for an average of 10-15% of the dogs we rescue annually.
Doesn't that sound like a "real" rescue dog to you?
The dogs we rescue from commercial breeders often come to us with significant emotional and medical needs, which are usually preventable. Dogs are too often unsocialized (fearful of humans) because large scale breeders do not invest the time to handle the dog. We have also seen horrific medical needs like improperly healed broken bones, teeth so rotten that jaws have rotted away, and life-threatening conditions in females from being over-bred.
We certainly don't do it for the money.
Rescue is expensive, and the adoption fees don't cover the dog's complete expenses. Sometimes the dog's expenses are hundreds, or even thousands of dollars more than the adoption fee. Why? Because these dogs often come to us sick, and we are determined to take care of every medical need we can. We want to give every dog a chance at the very best life with a loving new home.
So, where does this billion-dollar industry find the money?
From the general public who is largely unaware that puppy mills exist, or that they really are that bad. Puppy mills fly under the radar. You rarely hear about them on the news. Commercial breeders fall under the regulations of the USDA. Licensure for commercial breeding is regulated by the USDA, and the regulations are terrible. Further, staffing to properly monitor breeding conditions is insufficient, which makes the situation even worse.
How do we know rescues are honest and above board?
Havaheart Rescue is an IRS-designated 501(c)3 charity. As such, we are mandated to be transparent. Our tax returns are publicly available through the IRS website. We are licensed by the Missouri Deptartment of Agriculture and are responsible to uphold the standards defined in our Program of Care. We are inspected annually and we are very proud that we have never been issued a violation.
We take great pride in the fact that we are run by a mostly volunteer powered team. We are grateful to everyone that volunteers their time to our mission!
Havaheart Rescue's mission is to heal the bodies and the spirits of these precious creatures and provide them a home where they live the rest of their life as the loving companion they were always meant to be.
