A Panoramic View of
Animal Rescue Work
by Marilou Chanrasmi
There are thousands of animal rescues/shelters in the United States. A search on petfinder.com reveals 171 rescue organizations in Minnesota alone. Despite thousands of rescues, and thousands of volunteers, working tirelessly to rescue and re-home dogs and cats, 3-4 million healthy, adoptable dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters across our country every year.
Animal rescue organizations can’t afford to hold a single view on such a multi-faceted problem. As Jenny Brown of the HSUS says, “we can’t adopt our way out of pet overpopulation.” While animals remain the central focus of our work at hand, we need a much more holistic approach to the complex problem of pet homelessness. We need to increase spay/neuter initiatives, educate the public on animal welfare and pet overpopulation issues, and we need to advocate on behalf of companion animals. Like a photographer, we need to shift perspectives, change lenses, focus in, zoom out and work within the landscape and environment we are in. Every perspective has its purpose.
A majority of Pet Haven’s efforts, since its inception in 1952, has been on our adoption program. We zoomed in on rescuing and re-homing, one dog, one cat, at a time. In recent years we have chosen to expand our reach. We have switched to wide-angle lenses, and put into place a strategy that considers many angles and a larger landscape. We continue to focus our efforts on 
rescuing and re-homing. In addition, we are committed to expanding our spay/neuter initiatives, education/outreach efforts and advocating on behalf of companion animals. We have grown and doubled our volunteer base over the past year and a half, and we have extended our reach to include and engage volunteers who previously would never have considered volunteering with an animal rescue organization: photographers, creative writers, graphic designers, marketers, fundraisers, lawyers, freelance writers, and artists.
ZOOM IN:
In July, 2008 Pet Haven took in a 12 week old puppy named Ode (pronounced ‘Oday’ and means ‘heart’). Ode’s ears had been intentionally burned – a victim of horrific abuse. For all that Ode had endured, her brave spirit and open heart pulled a community together and taught so many of us about love, hope, letting go and forgiveness. She is a reminder to us, of the incredible wisdom inherent in our animal companions. She is reminder to us that in the end, love and hope prevail. We are grateful to Red Lake Rosie’s Rescue for opening up their heart to a burned and battered puppy, and entrusting this brave spirit to our care. Click here for Ode’s complete story.
Hundreds of neglected, abused and abandoned animals have come through our foster program. With love and patience, we witness their spirits, once beaten down, come to life. As volunteers, our paycheck comes in the form of uncontrollable tail wags, wet noses, and sloberry kisses.
We do whatever we can with the resources we have to make a dent in the pet homelessness problem. We zoom in with telescopic lenses, to the Odes, so our hearts touch and our souls connect. Every successful re-homing lifts our spirits and fuels the passion for us to keep doing the work we do.
ZOOM OUT:
Meanwhile, millions of unaltered dogs and cats continue to roam the streets and country, and litter after litter are born. Many are abandoned and left to their own devices to survive – others, euthanized. Zoom further out and witness puppy mills - mass dog-breeding operations - continuing to thrive as dogs spend their entire lives behind cages, in horrendous conditions, with the sole purpose of churning litter after litter, and their puppies sold to pet stores. Pet stores, in turn, prey on customers who fall for that cute puppy or kitten in the window. The cycle of proliferation continues.
These are a couple of reminders to us of the importance of educating the public on spaying and neutering, promoting responsible guardianship through educational programs, and advocating on behalf of companion animals.
SHIFTING PERSPECTIVE:
At Pet Haven, we believe the work we do with people is as important as the work we do with animals. We believe in building bridges, in collaboration and in a community approach to pet overpopulation. Pet Haven is an all-volunteer, foster-based rescue without a building facility. Taking a holistic approach to addressing the overpopulation problem means looking beyond the immediate need of an adoption program. It means attracting a whole new set of volunteers. Like other rescues, we have the 
challenges of recruiting and retaining volunteers, raising funds to cover our expenses, developing leaders, and developing an infrastructure to support our efforts. We actively recruit volunteers with a variety of skill sets to help us in education/outreach, fundraising and advocacy. To continue the work we do, it has become essential for us to increase our fundraising efforts and to increase our visibility and exposure. Because of these efforts, we had our first ever fundraiser in 2007, and raised $16,000, which went directly to helping homeless dogs and cats. Our second annual Fall Benefit was on Saturday, November 1st, 2008 and featured dinner, silent auction and a pet fashion show (dogs and cats!) where we raised over $20,000 – many, many thanks to all of our supporters and partners!
Many of us have come to Pet Haven because of our love for companion animals. Over time, we have learned it’s as much about the people - from volunteers to adopters to supporters to partners, and to those that surrender their animals. It’s about learning to suspend judgment and opening our hearts. It’s about building bridges. It’s about collaborating. Being advocates for the dogs and cats we love so much sometimes means finding compassion for the humans we often don’t understand. We have to work with both if we are to make a difference.
COMPOSITION
A photographer considers composition and lighting when taking photos. Like a photographer, animal rescue organizations must choose what image, what area, to focus their efforts on; what to 
include, what to exclude, and how much light to let in. There isn’t a single path. Possibilities are endless. Like a photographer, allow yourself to be creative. Allow yourself to be touched by the soul of a homeless, abandoned, neglected or abused dog. Let passion and hope be your light. Animals need for all of us to be their voices. Without volunteers, there are no voices. Without outreach and advocacy, there are no voices. Without fundraising there is no adoption program.
We welcome every person into our organization as someone with the potential to lead and change the landscape of the pet overpopulation problem. Every volunteer brings with himself/herself a new lens, a new filter, a new perspective. We must allow ourselves to be surprised and touched by every image. And hold in our heart, an image in the viewfinder, of a world where there are no more homeless animals.