Guest post by Karen Hartman
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Ladybug, Periwinkle, Paisley & Sassy
Pohnert pose for a holiday picture.
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I haven’t dealt with many rescue organizations. Probably because the first
one I ran across was so great that I didn’t look any further. That rescue is Northern
Virginia Sheltie Rescue (NVSR). It’s the most amazing group of caring, organized,
and active rescue volunteers. These people have an incredible passion for
Shetland Sheepdogs (also known as Shelties). This special combination of love
and energy has helped rescue and rehome more than 900 Shelties since 1999.
I stumbled onto the
NVSR
website a few years ago and was really impressed! This site has all kinds
of useful material, from general information on Shelties to details about
adoption and rehoming. One page even features the
Shelties that are ready
for new homes, describing their age, size, and temperament and posting a
picture or two of each dog.
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Toby is just one of the wonderful NVSR
Shelties looking for a forever home.
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Reading the Sheltie descriptions, it’s plain to see just how much the
NVSR volunteers care about finding those dogs forever homes. And they put that
passion to work, participating in a variety of local events to raise awareness,
interact with the community, and find potential foster and adopter families—events
like the Richmond Pet Expo, the Scottish Walk in Old Town Alexandria, and the
Reston Pet Fiesta, to name a few. The
volunteers often bring their own Shelties to these events, as well as ones that
are ready for adoption, so people can spend some time with the Shelties and see
if it is the right breed for them.
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Shelties and their families at
the Scottish Christmas Walk.
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NVSR booth and Shelties at the
Richmond Pet Expo.
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NVSR will take in any Sheltie in need regardless of age, except those
with histories of repeated, unprovoked biting. The rescue doesn’t have a
shelter, so all Shelties stay in volunteers' homes and receive veterinary care
and necessary resocialization until they are placed in a loving home. For the
remainder of the adopted dogs' lives, NVSR stays in touch with the adoptive
families.
The rescue even has Hospice Care and Permanent Foster Dog programs for
dogs that are difficult to place due to age or illness. And NVSR supports
efforts to reduce pet overpopulation; all of its Shelties are spayed or
neutered prior to adoption or, if not yet at a safe age to be neutered, placed
on a spay/neuter contract at the time of adoption.
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Puppies Simon, Alvin, and
Theodore will be ready for adoption soon.
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If you are interested in learning more about or donating to NVSR,
sign
up for the e-newsletter,
Sheltie Spin, or
join them on Facebook!
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Anneka checks out a recent copy
of Sheltie Spin.
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Karen Hartman, Sheltie-lover and volunteer for NVSR, is the proud parent of a little Sheltie named Buttercup.
4 comments:
Enjoyed reading about the Sheltie rescue organization, Karen. Buttercup is a lucky little lady.
Love learning about GREAT rescues!
This sounds like an awesome group. Definitely enjoyed learning about them, and those pictures are 'oh, so cute'! Thank you Karen for sharing this rescue with us.
Such lovely dogs. Hard to believe so many need to be rescued. What a wonderful group of rescuers.
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