If possible, would you consider donating a small amount more to cover PayPal's service fee?
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Foster homes: We desperately need foster homes. Our area coordinators are often too busy to take care of a needy dog. Our ideal foster home is someone who has one or two pet dogs or cats and can take in one needy dog at a time to work with and prepare for adoption. Often rescue dogs are ill or underweight; they need to be spayed or neutered, in addition to any health problems that they may have. Dogs may need to stay in foster care for at least two weeks and often longer. Often rescue dogs have been neglected and so have no training and little socialization. A caring foster home can provide the basics that make a dog much more adoptable. The foster home can evaluate each rescue dog and help NCR make the best possible placement so that the dog will be sent right away to its forever home. It's no exaggeration to say that fostering is the most important part of a successful rescue. Can you help us with fostering, even if it's only one dog per year?
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Area coordinator: The area coordinator organizes and oversees all the rescue activities in her or his area of coverage. We presently have too few area coordinators to cover northern California well. The area coordinator rounds up volunteers to foster and to be local shelter contacts and other tasks. The area coordinator is a point of contact for owners relinquishing dogs and for adopters. The area coordinator oversees adoptions, screening adoptive homes and matching potential adopters with a rescue collie. The area coordinator collects donations to turn over to the NCR treasurer and files all forms with the NCR secretary. The area coordinator also contacts local veterinarians to help donate services for rescue dogs and may organize fundraising and adoption events and other activities to promote collie rescue. As a result of all these duties, the area coordinator cannot afford time to foster very many dogs, but some experience fostering is necessary to be able to direct the area coordinator's other foster homes. To become an area coordinator, you would apprentice under a mentor area coordinator for some period. That mentor will then present your qualifications to the NCR board, which votes on all incoming area coordinators. The area coordinator is an essential and important position, with financial authority and considerable responsibility. In a sense, the area coordinator is an autonomous local rescue organization under NCR's 501(c)(3) umbrella, but all area coordinators adhere to NCR's guidelines and policies. The area coordinators work as a team to bring together needy collies and prospective adopters from all over northern California to ensure the best possible matches between the collies and forever homes.
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Shelter checks: An area coordinator needs someone to visit the local shelters and make contact with the shelter staff. Someone needs to check the shelter regularly for purebred collies. These days, most shelter checks are done on the internet, and NCR needs volunteers who can check shelter’s web pages and internet postings (such as Pet Harbor, Petfinder).
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Transporation: Once a collie comes into a shelter, the dog needs to be picked up and transported to a foster home. Sometimes relinquishing owners need someone to come and pick up the dog from their home to be transported to a foster home.
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Home checks: Every potential adopter is asked to allow a NCR to do a home check. This volunteer will look for evidence that the home is a good one for a collie: We require that all collies be adopted into an indoor/outdoor home. There should be a clean, safe environment both inside the home and outside in a yard for the collie to exercise and potty. This volunteer also has a good opportunity to explain the responsibilities and requirements for dog ownership and to educate pet owners in good stewardship of their pets.
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Other activities for volunteers: These include making phone calls for area coordinators, making fliers, helping out at fund raising events and other educational events such as Adoption Days at shelters or Scottish games, transporting rescue dogs for various purposes and just doing legwork for the area coordinator. Perhaps you can think other ways you can contribute to a successful rescue.