The History of ABRN

All Breed Rescue Network began at the Denver Municipal Shelter in the winter of 1989 when one of our founders was helping a friend look for her lost dog. She was amazed to see so many unclaimed purebreds, including a Wire Fox Terrier, her own favorite breed. She bought it, cleaned it up, had it neutered, and found it a home. She also tracked down other dog fanciers and told them about their breeds. Since she lived close to the shelter, it seemed fairly easy to drop by once a week or so and let people know what was there. Little did she know! She met and joined forces with others already doing rescue for their breeds, then other area shelters began to be covered, and the network emerged.

All Breed Rescue Network was formally incorporated on January 3, 1993. Our purpose is to provide breed assistance, welfare, education and placement. We received our 501-c.3 in November of 1994 and maintain membership in the Colorado Federation of Animal Welfare Agencies.

We are recognized as an integral part of the animal welfare community in this state and work cooperatively with nearly every shelter, both public and private, to place dogs in breed-appropriate homes. We have approximately 40 members who pay dues and volunteer their time to support the ABRN program, in addition to their individual rescue activities.

Our Contributions to the Community

Some of our contributions to the community at large are the following:

ABRN publishes an annual Breed Rescue Referral List of about 150 reliable breed rescues. This list is a formidable undertaking and represents hundreds of hours of volunteer effort. It is provided free of charge to area vets, groomers, pet supply stores, animal control agencies, and other humane organizations.

Our shelter liaisons notify many other animal welfare groups about shelter animals that are their special concern. It is not true that purebred rescue people care only about purebreds. We care about all dogs; indeed about all animals. We may feel a special affection for a particular breed, but what prompts us to do rescue is a sense of responsibility to that breed, not a belief that purebreds are "worth" more than others. In addition, most of our groups will find homes for mixes of their breeds when they have the resources to do so.

Breed rescue people spend countless hours providing support and education to puppy buyers who acquire their pets from commercial sources. Many of these puppies would be abandoned as adults without breed rescue assistance.

Many shelters use us to help place dogs they have received. They know that if one of our members refers an adopter, the home is qualified; and they will not be dealing with that dog again. This frees up staff and resources to concentrate on other dogs who need extra time. We are able to do this in Denver because almost every metro area shelter spays or neuters intact animals before they are released to new owners.

Many breed rescues are able to take and place some animals who cannot for reasons of health, temperament, or age be successfully placed from a shelter environment. In fact, a number of breed rescues prefer to pay the fee and adopt the shelter dog themselves so that it can be observed in a home environment before being placed. Fostering by individuals with extensive knowledge about a specific breed increases the odds for a successful adoption, especially for some of the more challenging breeds of dog. Also, a well funded rescue is able to do a more thorough physical assessment than many shelters.

Breed rescue is a resource other than the commercial breeder for the average pet seeker who thinks he wants a purebred. Most people settle on a breed purely on the basis of how it looks, with little or no information about temperament and behavior. Frequently, we can prevent an individual from acquiring a dog who would be a disastrous match and steer him or her to something more suitable.

We are a coalition of quite disparate groups with different policies and procedures, but we are united in our commitment to finding quality permanent homes for all adult dogs, as well as reducing the population of unwanted animals. We believe that this can best be done by working cooperatively with others in the animal welfare community and by supporting the spaying and neutering of all pets before placement.

Our "Numbers"

Every year we gather statistics from our rescue groups. Here are our results for 2006.