Announcing our RVT Saving Shelter Dogs Program!

In which Jill celebrates scale.

Last month, Outta the Cage joined a high-performance team of networkers and adopters to rescue three German Shepherds in a single day. Dubbed “3 Sheps from 3 Shelters in 3 Hours,” the project involved tight choreography among volunteers, adopters, transporters, and us, the pulling rescue. Hank, Shirley, and Oscar all landed safely and are adored by their new families.

In times like these, when fosters are scarce, shelter dogs are three to a kennel, and many perfectly sound animals are being euthanized for space, we tell ourselves we’re doing the best we can. “One dog at a time,” goes the mantra. But in practice, saving one dog at a time often feels like moving a glacier with an ice pick. Does it really make a difference?

That’s why when we have an opportunity to help multiple dogs, we jump at the chance:

Outta the Cage is launching the RVT Saving Shelter Dogs program. In collaboration with Pierce College, we’ll be rescuing shelter dogs to support their Veterinary Technology program.

It works like this: With the help of shelter volunteers, we choose a short list of dogs. We bring the dogs to Pierce for evaluation by licensed veterinarians who run the program. Once accepted, the dogs are used to teach students non-invasive procedures (like positioning an animal on an X-ray table). At the end of the semester, the dogs are returned to Outta the Cage and are made available for adoption.

East Valley shelter volunteer, Melinda Froelich, alerted us to the program and chose the initial candidate dogs. We reviewed their pictures and videos, then joined Melinda at the shelter to meet the dogs in person and assess them. A few days later, we rescued Brad, a little bully-beagle blend, and Marty, our first husky in over two years, and took them to Pierce College.

Marty and Brad with the vet techs at Pierce College.

Both dogs now live in modern indoor-outdoor dog runs roughly three times the size of their shelter kennels. These runs all have gates opening into a play yard where they can burn off steam and where the students can interact with them. Brad romps around with Riley, a puppy owned by one of the Pierce veterinarians. And Marty is—atypically for a husky—happy to be handled and “talks” to the students during playtime. Both dogs will be available for adoption at the end of May. Naturally, students in the program get first dibs!

If all goes as planned, we’ll be able to place shelter dogs in the program at a regular cadence. As with Brad and Marty, they’ll be socialized by professionals in a nurturing environment where they’re kept busy learning new skills and getting ready for their forever families.

“Pierce’s RVT program is a great opportunity to get some dogs out of the shelter, further their socialization, and ultimately make them more adoptable,” says volunteer Melinda. We couldn’t agree more. An opportunity to get multiple dogs outta the cage? We’re there for it!