Your concerns are reasonable, and certainly things that should be considered before offering support to an organization or individual claiming to do rescue work. I urge everyone to check out the organization’s website, I think it’s a worthy cause.

Thank you for your thoughtful and important comments. I have to agree that the environment doesn’t sound great for all the reasons you mentioned. Although, it’s difficult to know for sure what the scene is really like without seeing it. And, the story of your dog’s hoarder certainly gives pause.

Maybe some of the people on twitter who know Steve and his sanctuary, or know of him, will comment.

Regarding the last fellow doing rescue work with ‘red zone’ dogs, I want to give the guy credit, but I get little red flags going off in my head about the scene. As stated in the article, dogs spent most of their lives in a cage. Regardless of whether I believe that any life is better than no life, I can’t help but wonder about the emotional, mental and physical effects of a caged life.

I wonder what it must be like for a dog reactive dog to be caged in a place where it is surrounded by its triggers 24/7. I’m sure the article didn’t cover everything about the rescue but the description of the place didn’t sound very appealing to me, with little time for outside activity and what outdoor space that was available was wet and muddy (not that a do would necessarily care). I also believe that the best chance of having success helping these dogs involves the liberal use of play, exercise and training, I have to question how much of any of those things his dogs get.

What of that litter of 7 week old pups that was already aggressive toward other dogs? Anyone who has worked with a damaged dog knows that it takes more than love and kindness to mend a broken brain. The challenge of helping just one dog learn appropriate behaviors can be overwhelming, never mind dozens of them. And if a dog is likely to change the chances are better if they are identified and worked with as young as possible.

I don’t mean to disparage the guy since all I know of him is what I read in that article. My own dog’s hoarder openly solicited money (and got it) for her ‘sanctuary’ where she ‘specialized’ in ‘aggressive breeds’. When she had close to 500 dogs the conditions in which those dogs lived were finally exposed. Perhaps I’m jaded, but stories about any one person trying to ‘save’ large numbers of dogs, by housing and caring for them themselves, makes me want more information.