Fostering Dogs for Rescues Illegal in New Hampshire - A Sad Farewell to Foster Dog Summit

Scilly hiking on the Coppermine Trail

On Sunday, my dog Scilly and I enjoyed a hike along the Coppermine Trail to Bridal Veil Falls. She is no longer a foster dog, but this time last year, she entered my life as one. Scilly, a border collie mix, was rescued from a hoarding situation in rural West Virginia. After authorities confiscated all of the animals from the hoarder, Scilly was ultimately transferred to a local rescue group and narrowly avoided euthanasia at the nearby high kill animal shelter. Scilly resided for several months in this foster home where she interacted with other dogs, cats and people of all ages. She had the opportunity to recover from severe neglect while waiting for a foster home to become available in New Hampshire where her rescue group had established a solid working relationship with a local non-profit rescue organization.

Roadie's first hike. He much prefers swimming.

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, I was struggling with how to best add a second dog to my home since I knew that my current dog was rather selective about his canine companions. As a former stray, Roadie's history was unknown, and I wanted to find the perfect fit for him. I took him to a professional trainer for obedience work, and she recommended a smaller sized female dog. I still had to contend with the issue that Roadie needed carefully managed introductions with other dogs and that he may even need to be around another dog for a few days before I could be confident that they would be compatible long term.

I contacted a few local rescue groups to inquire about the type of dog I was looking for and to let me know if they came across one that might be a good fit. If possible, I wanted to take on a foster-to-adopt situation in which I would agree to foster the dog and have the option to adopt her if she proved to be a good fit. If Roadie did not accept the new dog, then I agreed and thankfully had the ability to keep them safely separated from one another until the foster dog could be adopted into a different permanent home.  

Scilly out for a spin

Within a few weeks, an email arrived from a local rescue group with a subject line that read, "Lisa-Marie, meet Priscilla!" And in answer to your question, I am not named after Elvis' daughter, but I am a fan of his music. I considered this amusing coincidence to be a positive sign. Priscilla was vetted and transported to New Hampshire in compliance with state laws and rules governing rescue groups. She was promptly renamed Scilly. She and Roadie needed a few days to adjust to one another but quickly found common ground in their mutual love of chasing squirrels. Scilly enjoys hiking almost as much as she enjoys wave running.

Sadly, this trip report marks the end of a bittersweet journey that I began over four years ago and had hoped to continue well into the future. Unfortunately, opening your home as a temporary residence for healthy, adoptable rescue dogs is now illegal in New Hampshire, so I can no longer hike with them and blog about their adventures on Foster Dog Summit.

My heart dog Bandit on our final hike in 2013

Back in 2011 when I started this blog, my own dogs at that time were ages 13 and 14 and physically unable to accompany me on long hikes. So, I decided to contact a local rescue group and see if any of the dogs residing temporarily in their foster homes would like to join me. I had previously volunteered in a number of animal welfare organizations, including local shelters, as well as temporary shelters put in place to assist the animal victims of natural disasters and puppy mills. Therefore, I was very familiar with the important work that rescue groups do in providing a network of foster homes where homeless animals reside while waiting to be adopted into permanent homes.

When rescue groups are run correctly, adopting from one can be a very positive experience. There is an incredible benefit to being able to adopt a dog that has already resided in a home environment. Many foster homes have other dogs, cats and even small children living there. So, unlike homeless dogs that reside in a shelter environment, questions about how rescue dogs interact with various types of people and animals, as well as whether or not they enjoy activities such as car rides or need training in certain areas, can be determined through real life experiences. Shelters, on the other hand, are often limited to assessing a dog's interactions using strictly adults doing things like reaching into a food bowl with a fake hand on a stick to see if a dog is food aggressive and using a toddler sized doll to determine if it likes children.

In my ideal world, all homeless dogs would be able to temporarily live in a foster home while waiting for their forever home instead of having to reside in a kennel in a shelter.

For several years now, as a result of New Hampshire's community wide effort in addressing the problem of pet overpopulation through education, legislation, and sterilization, shelters and rescue groups throughout the state have been able to import homeless dogs from other parts of the country that have not yet succeeded in replicating our state's success. I have always remained hopeful that as we continued to import homeless dogs, we would ultimately succeed in exporting our strategy for solving the problem elsewhere. As I have travelled around the country or communicated online with anyone involved in animal welfare, I frequently discuss how New Hampshire succeeded and refer them to additional sources of information.

Jack "nothin' but a hound dog" on Mt. Sunapee

When I set out in 2011 to hike with foster dogs, I wanted to be certain that the rescue groups I volunteered with were reputable and law abiding. Unfortunately, there are some people who claim to be rescue groups that do not abide by the rules set forth by the NH Department of Agriculture/Division of Animal Industry regarding the importation of dogs. I wanted to steer clear of any rescue groups who were knowingly or unknowingly violating the rules meant to keep people and animals safe. I am convinced that most of those people just want to help healthy, adoptable dogs escape death and are simply not yet aware of the risks involved and the procedures to be followed that can significantly minimize the spread of disease. I also know that people and their dogs travel into New Hampshire from all over the country and the world without obtaining a health certificate from their veterinarian before entering our state permanently or temporarily. So, we can minimize, but certainly never eliminate, such risks.

Most important of all, I know that if people do not have the opportunity to safely operate a rescue organization, their desire to help animals will find an outlet in an unregulated underground network that could pose a significant health threat to people and animals.

So, my own personal criteria for locating a reputable rescue group required that organizations were operating as follows:

1. Adopting only healthy dogs that had been properly vaccinated, transported and quarantined
2. Had a strong relationship with rescues groups or shelters that were sending dogs from another state
3. Carefully screened adopters and foster homes
4. Would take back and rehome any dog they placed if an adopter could no longer keep it
5. Requires adopters to return an adopted animal to the rescue if they need to rehome it

With the above requirements, I felt confident that I could safely hike with healthy, adoptable dogs that would be placed into good homes and not be later abandoned or surrendered to an animal shelter if the initial placement failed.

Marvin taking in the views from Mt. Welch

I found the ideal rescue group in Canine Guardians for Life, Inc. - a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based out of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Founder and President, Judith Apy, and her fellow volunteers had a stellar reputation and met all of my requirements. We met for lunch. I told her about my plans. I started hiking with foster dogs and blogging about the experiences.

Now, Canine Guardians for Life, Inc. has effectively been put out of its not for profit business even though the organization has never had a complaint filed against it for adopting out sick animals and has not otherwise been found to be in noncompliance with any rules or regulations. Canine Guardians for Life, Inc. operates under a broker's license that is issued by the state, and its operations are overseen by the Division of Animal Industry. The organization relies on foster homes and does not have a physical shelter to house animals that are waiting to be adopted. Foster homes provide temporary shelter for dogs that are waiting to be adopted and also serve as a critical safety net if an adopter is no longer able to keep an animal and needs to return it to the rescue organization. Without a foster home available to reclaim a dog in a failed adoption, the only option an adopter has is to surrender the animal to a shelter.

In addition to importing homeless dogs from out of state, rescue groups frequently assist local families who need to rehome their pets and do not want to surrender the animals to a local shelter. For example, I find it incredibly painful to learn of dogs who are surrendered to an animal shelter because of the death of their owners. The ability for such dogs to be placed in a foster home and rehomed through a rescue organization is very much needed, but sadly no longer an option, in the State of New Hampshire.

The state veterinarian who is in charge of the Division of Animal Industry claims that there have been complaints made to his office about unhealthy dogs entering the state and being adopted out to local families. I have requested statistics from the state veterinarian's office regarding these complaints, but there does not appear to be an official record of these complaints available for public inspection. I also listened to testimony from a recent hearing in the state senate where the state veterinarian did not cite any specific evidence and did not in any way quantify the risk posed by fostering healthy, adoptable dogs for licensed rescue groups.

Canine Guardians for Life, Inc. operates under a broker's license that is issued by the state and its operations are overseen by the Division of Animal Industry. A new administrative rule {Agr 1704.10 (e)} recently adopted by the Department of  Agriculture/Division of Animal Industry specifies that, "Brokers shall not use foster facilities."

Scilly was adopted through Canine Guardians for Life, Inc.

So, let's consider the impact of this rule change if I wanted to adopt my dog Scilly from Canine Guardians for Life, Inc. today. I would have to agree to officially adopt her before her arrival in New Hampshire without having the opportunity to meet her in person and determine if she would indeed be a good fit. If it turned out that she did not get along with my other dog and I had to rehome her for that reason or for any other reason, I would have no choice other than to surrender her to an animal shelter. As a broker, Canine Guardians for Life, Inc. is no longer able to legally use foster homes in the State of New Hampshire, so they could not even take her back into another foster home. My choices now are to adopt sight unseen through a rescue organization or see if any of the local shelters have a healthy, adoptable dog that I want to adopt from a cage. Also, I agreed to return Scilly to Canine Guardians for Life, Inc., if at any time in the future, I can no longer provide a home for her. Should that unfortunate circumstance ever arise, I would not be able to honor my commitment since the organization, through no fault of its own, has effectively been stripped of its ability to pursue its charitable mission of helping homeless dogs.

If you agree with me that this is unfair, I invite you take a virtual hike with Foster Dog Summit. Your own dog can join you for this virtual hike. Send an email to the State Veterinarian along with a photo of your dog and the Subject heading, "Why is Fostering Healthy, Adoptable Dogs Now Illegal?" You can also post a photo on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media site.  Please use hashtags #fosterdogsummit and #nhpolitics so that your posts can be located and shared. The NH Department of Agriculture has a Facebook page and a Twitter account, so you can post there too!

I am going to send and share my dog's photo along with this blog post, and I welcome you to join me.

You do not have to own a rescue dog to take this virtual hike. You can send any dog photo that you wish. If you would also like to share a story about the positive experiences that you have had volunteering with, adopting from or contributing time or money to a rescue group operating in New Hampshire that is impacted by this rule change, it would be extremely beneficial for the State Veterinarian as well as your State Senators and State Representatives to hear about it as well.

The law needs to be changed.

Here are some helpful resources and links to learn more and share.

Learn more about Canine Guardians for Life, Inc. and see some of the hundreds of dogs that have gotten a second chance thanks to their dedicated volunteer efforts.

We do not want to return to a situation where animals are being euthanized for space in the State of New Hampshire. In the early 1990s, nearly 12,000 animals were euthanized each year in New Hampshire shelters. Watch and share - A Community Comes Together to Save Homeless Animals - the New Hampshire Story (2012) -to see how education, legislation and sterilization brought NH to where it is today. 

Fostering dogs should live free not die in New Hampshire!