A Volunteer PAWSpective

When my husband and I first settled into our new home in Dallas, one of the first things I wanted to do was adopt a third boxer. Within days of my first contacting Norcal Boxer Rescue, Amy Northrup and one of our previous volunteers, Rhiannon Ott, were at my house for my home visit with "Chester," the male we were interested in adopting. It was during that initial meeting that my husband realized he was not yet ready for a third addition (grin) and it was my first introduction to the challenging nature of canine rescue.

You see, along for the ride with Chester was an older male boxer just transported up from Houston. He was emaciated, dirty, sick and very weak. I was in shock, I had seen the face of human cruelty and neglect many times on television and read about it in the brochures I often get from the ASPCA and local Humane Societies, but here I was, looking right at it, up close and very personal. His name was Maverick and he was hungry, tired and very unsure of the world around him. I learned shortly after that Maverick died. He was too weak and his heart was too loaded with heartworms (a disease that is completely preventable with a monthly tablet). My heartache and my anger compelled me to action. I am still here, over two years later along with our many fabulous volunteers fighting this very good, but very heartbreaking fight.

Over two hundred boxers were rescued in 2005 between our Northern California and Dallas-Fort Worth groups. Veterinary costs for these dogs totaled $92,500. Our adoption fees are rarely enough to cover our veterinary expenses. On average, each dog costs us between $350 - $425 and we therefore rely heavily on donations and fundraisers. Along with vaccinating, spaying and neutering each dog in our care, we treat for heartworm disease, repair broken bones, perform necessary surgeries, remove fatty tumors and benign bumps, even bullet fragments.

With your continued support, there will never be a dog left in a shelter simply because we cannot afford what he or she needs medically. We have no paid employees, no business overhead and no facility to run. Each dollar earned for NCBR is literally "going to the dogs."

Please take a moment to remember the many boxers that we have not saved in the past and the dogs that we can't save today. Even with all of our genuine effort, the hundreds of dogs ending up in the California and Dallas-Fort Worth shelters every year overwhelms our ability and our resources. However, let us also remember the many lucky and deserving dogs who find loving, stable and permanent homes through our organization.

I'd like to offer a special thank you to our President, Amy Northrup-Adcock and our extraordinary volunteers who spend much of their personal time and money on our foster dogs. Special praise is also owed our spectacular veterinarians for their stellar veterinary care, for treating our rescued boxers like equal citizens in the canine community and for their overall excellence and patience.

The need is great, the road traveled to reduce the need is tiresome, but the reward of saved life is worth ten times the effort. We will continue to cherish the simple yet profound bond between people and their pets and we will keep fighting to save this special breed. We ask for your continued emotional and financial support, we ask that you take some time to visit your local shelter so you see what's really going on and we implore you to generate awareness on spaying and neutering as well as committed and responsible pet stewardship. With the aforementioned effort, one day, the number of cats and dogs of every shape, size, color and breed will be forever reduced.

Thank you for being a part of the lifeline for these very innocent creatures, thrown away by those people unlucky enough to not yet understand their value to us as friends, as guardians and as companions.

~ Holly Gaddy
Norcal Boxer Rescue Volunteer