UPDATE ON VENICE DOGS MAY 17, 2012

Several more Venice dogs are available for adoption.

Today, they were microchipped, spayed and examined by our vets. They all had a dental scaling and were treated for ear mites.

They have settled in for the night all snuggled together. Our vet cannot determine exact ages, but estimates that they are between 1-3 years old.

These four girls are now listed in Petfinder: Bess, Asta, CeeCee, and Daisy.

UPDATE ON VENICE DOGS MAY 15, 2012

Several of the Venice dogs are doing exceptionally well and are ready for adoption. We posted the bios for 4 of of them: Bizzy, Charmin , Copper, and Powder.

Keep checking for more Venice dogs to be posted in the next few days. If considering adoption, please fill out an application and A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR EXPENSES!

UPDATE ON VENICE DOGS MAY 10, 2012

Four of the Venice dogs were professionally groomed recently; a huge THANK YOU to Cindy Jenkins who made a house call to the fosterer's home and spent 8 hours grooming all of them! What a beautiful difference!

Cindy has a special talent, inherited from her Native American ancesters, for patiently communicating and interacting with animals. Her grooming service specializes in caring for small dogs with disabilities. She has been faithfully sharing her skills with UnderDog to help prepare rescued pets for their new lives. Email cindypenny@tampabay.rr.com for details about her customized services.

UPDATED SLIDESHOW: Our volunteers took photos of some of the dogs that had arrived at Animal Services. CLICK HERE to view the updated slideshow with grooming pictures.

The Venice dogs are all adapting to a normal household after spending years in cages with no loving human contact. It will take time for them to adjust to a normal home.

The good news is we have rehabilitated puppymill dogs in the past, and we can do it for these sweet little girls too! These dogs will appear in the pages of Petfinder when each dog is ready to be family member. Please search our 'adoptable dogs' in the purple dropdown.

MANY THANKS for all the loving contributions and offers to help! We have not been able to thank each one of the potential foster homes personally, but the dogs are in experienced puppymill foster homes local to our vets and support network. Please remember these little girls are examples of why NOT to buy a puppy in a pet store or off the internet. Please adopt from a rescue or public shelter when you are looking for a new family member!

Please read Puppy Mills: Frequently Asked Questions , from the Humane Society of the United States.

UPDATE ON VENICE DOGS MAY 9, 2012

We have good news to report! All of the 263 dogs that were confiscated in Venice have now been accepted by at least 16 Florida rescue groups. UnderDog Rescue has taken 14 of these poor souls, and they are all either with our vets or in area foster homes awaiting their appointments.

Now the real hard work begins! Each dog must be given exams, spay/neuters, vaccines, wormers, heartworm testing, preventatives, dentals/extractions for the older dogs, medications for infections, microchips, and any other treatments they may need to be adoptable. But many of these dogs are likely to be feral in nature until they can be rehabilitated and learn how to "just be dogs".

They have not had much - if any - human contact, and have had nothing to anticipate from day to day other than the next delivery of food and water.

They are all very tiny, are not potty trained, and are not socialized. In fact, most (perhaps ALL) have never been in a house, and most probably had never walked on the ground.

Being removed from their enclosures and companions can be very traumatic for dogs who have lived their whole lives in this static kind of environment, and it can be a slow, difficult process to teach them to trust humans and acclimate to our busy, fast-moving world.

Everyday things that we and our own pets don't even ponder can be horrifying to them.

Some, especially the youngest ones, may have attitudes of wonderment and find our world a virtual Disneyland of adventurous experiences, but others may seize in terror at the alarming sounds of a vacuum cleaner, door slam, microwave beeper, hair dryer, dishwasher, or TV.

Each dog is being carefully introduced to a normal life and will be posted for adoption individually after frequent evaluations to determine feasibility. That determination will be based on the type of family/environment/lifestyle that would likely be most suitable for each dog.

Every applicant must submit a COMPLETE application to be considered for one of these special dogs. We will do our best to keep the adoption fees as reasonable as possible (based largely on expenses and donations), but we are not able to predict what they will be at this early stage.

We will continue to update our homepage often with news of our "Lucky 14".

Saving large numbers of dogs in this condition stresses a rescue organization's funds to the max; the dogs require extensive amounts of vetting, running up the financial commitments, but since they are likely to require longer-term fostering, their adoption fees won't be available to recover those expenses by the time the vet bills need to be paid.

Adoption fees can reflect a dog's care costs to a point, but the dogs cannot be adopted until they have made the psychological adjustments necessary to live a happy life in our big world.

Therefore, we depend greatly on donations to keep us in good graces with the vets who work with us so that they will continue to do so. Please donate now! ANY amount can make a difference!

Hundreds of Dogs Seized in Sarasota County MAY 4, 2012

Hundreds of small dogs were confiscated from a Venice hoarder by Sarasota County Animal Services on May 7, 2012. CLICK HERE to read this horrific story published in the Bradenton Herald.

These dogs were living in cages in the hot Florida sun. Even more disturbing are the aerial photos! They show that there was NO SHADE for many of these helpless animals. And even MORE difficult to comprehend, other homes in that area were within earshot of those that suffered there day and night. There were over 300 dogs packed in stacks of crates and chicken coops, yet no one, year after year, said or did anything to help them until now.

Shona Otto picked up Puddin, her puppies, and several other small dogs on Friday.

We are sending out an URGENT PLEA FOR DONATIONS towards their vetting expenses. If ever we needed to come together as a community in the name of justice for the abused, it is right NOW!

If you can help with funding, we need donations - any amount - to offset the medical expenses of these dogs. Sadly, it appears that none of them have ever seen a vet and their care is going to be costly.
UnderDog founder Shona Otto can be seen in the video at 1:06.

Please report animal abuse.'Qui tacet consentit': To remain silent is to consent.

Welcome

UnderDog Rescue of Florida is a Non Profit 501(c)3 Organization.

We are an ALL VOLUNTEER rescue. Every cent donated toward these needy dogs will help to pay their vet bills.

We do not have a shelter. All UnderDogs are living in various foster homes from Tampa to Naples.

Relieving Misery at the Public Dog Pound

The gift of 4 beds to the Manatee County Animal services has been extraordinarily well received! The staff at Manatee County Animal Services has been so glad of these beds they RUN out to get them when they are delivered! Manatee County Animal Services is working hard to make the public pound more humane but there is little county funding for extras.

This is the kindest thing you can do to give comfort to a dog that did not go home with Underdog or other area rescues. We THANK YOU! The shelter is truly a terrible place to be for the dogs but YOU can make their lives bearable with a gift to help us get the dogs off the floor. Perhaps a memorial gift in memory of a dog you have loved? Remember that while we can't take them all home with us we can make their lives bearable. Please donate through pay pal here.

CLICK HERE to have a bed sent directly to UnderDog Rescue at a 28% DISCOUNT!

Be sure to verify that your order states 'Your order will be shipped to Underdog Rescue in Palmetto, Florida' when checking out. When the bed arrives, we will assemble it and personally take it to our local shelter and send you a 'thank you' card.

You can also donate using our PayPal button, or send us a check specifying 'FOR KURANDA BEDS' and we will purchase the bed, assemble it, and take it to Manatee County Animal Services.

The beds are chew-proof, have inexpensive, replaceable parts, and are used by shelters across the country. A large bed costs $56, and it will make the life of a dog waiting for rescue or euthanasia more bearable.

Donate a bed as a thoughtful gift to an animal lover or in memory of a loved one. This is a way to 'bring them all home with you' by bringing 'home' to all of them.

How Our Adoption Process Works.....

We are a Florida rescue and only adopt within the state. Applicants are subject to home visits, and veterinary references (please include phone number) will be checked. If you are browsing our dogs on Petfinder, and reading the bios, you will see a contact e-mail (usually the foster home) when you click to enlarge the photos. Feel free to e-mail the foster family with any questions about the dog.

We rescue our dogs for life. Once an UnderDog, always an UnderDog. If, for any reason, challenges arise do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help. If you cannot keep your adopted UnderDog, we will take the dog back until a new home can be found. Try to give us as much notice as possible. We understand that life is unpredictable, and we will always accept a returned UnderDog, or help you through a temporary situation so that you can keep him/her.

Keep in mind that we are an 'all volunteer' organization. We all have jobs, families, our own pets, and foster dogs. We are also busy working out details with various shelters and other rescue groups, and transporting dogs from the shelters. Often times we have to drive to shelters for emergency situations to save injured dogs that must be picked up immediately or they will be destroyed. Unfortunately emergency situations must take precedence over the application process. We ask for your understanding and patience when we are unable to return your calls or e-mails immediately.

Please spay and neuter your pets. Read Common Myths and Facts About Spay/Neuter, from the Humane Society of the United States.

About UnderDog

The majority of our dogs were scheduled for euthanasia at kill shelters throughout Florida. We are an 'all volunteer' organization. We do not have a shelter or a paid staff. We collect adoption fees to pay our vet bills. This includes shelter fees, medications, spay/neuter, all shots, heartworm testing and treatment, monthly flea/tick/heartworm preventatives, microchips, dentals, surgeries, skin treatments, setting broken bones, or any other health care deemed necessary by our vets. Our vets offer reduced charges so that we can keep our adoption fees reasonable, but their services are not free. We often rely on extra donations to pay expenses when the cost of care exceeds a realistic adoption fee.

We are an 'all volunteer' rescue. None of our volunteers or officers collects a wage or salary. Every cent donated toward these needy dogs will help to pay their vet bills.