Our annual fundraising raffle is only two short months away.  The raffle is held during the Celebrate Virginia Cluster in Fredericksburg, VA.  This year it falls on January 12.

We had such a good response pre-selling tickets for people unable to attend, that we will be doing that again this year.  Last years winners were in Maryland and West Virginia!

This year is going to be very exciting!  We have a wonderful group of small business owners donating items for the raffle and it is definitely going to be our biggest and best raffle ever!!  Start saving for tickets now (I know I am)!

In the upcoming weeks I will be posting links to our generous benefactors store fronts on Etsy or their website.  I implore you to please check out their stores while you are Christmas shopping this year.  Take a moment to let them know in the comments during check out that you found them through the Virginia Pom Club so they know how much we all appreciate their donations.

If you have something you would like to donate to the raffle, please contact us via Facebook or through the links on our site.  It does not have to be Pomeranian or even dog related!  It can be new, vintage, big or small!  We will be combining items into baskets.

As always, thank you for your continued support.  Your generosity throughout the past years have allowed us to rescue many dogs that had special needs that may not have found homes otherwise.

Before you pass judgement on a rescue that you perceive as “picking and choosing” only to take “cute & quickly adoptable” dogs, please read the following and reconsider your judgments.

Recently there was an abused and neglected Pom that was taken in by a rescue who unfortunately, despite heroic efforts, weren’t able to save his life, but were able to provide him with more love than he’s ever known in his short life.  It takes extraordinary people to be able to provide these dogs love and care knowing that you are probably the last person that will have the opportunity to befriend these precious Poms.  While it is fulfilling, it is also emotionally taxing and no one should feel guilty for not being able to open up their home and hearts to severely ill animals that demand around the clock or hospice care.

That being said, some of the comments hit a little too close to home for me.  They were not made with the intention of being negative, but they hurt just the same.

The comments made were worded differently, but all carried the same message.  The sentiment was that rescues that “pick and choose” the dogs they receive by avoiding sick dogs or only taking in “cute, quickly adopted” dogs were terrible and run by horrible people.  It was borderline offensive to me, but basically just hurt my feelings.  Not just on my behalf, but on behalf of the other fosters in my group or other groups in similar situations to ours.

Our group, and me specifically as Rescue Chair, have the unenviable task of deciding which Poms we can take into our rescue program at any given time.  Every time I have to say “No”, it is not done lightly.  I understand that my decision may have negative consequences.

While our rescue program has grown these past 5 years and is now a 501C(3), it is still extremely small.  We have 2 “full time” fosters that always have a few in their care, and just a couple “part time” fosters who will occasionally take a foster, but not on a regular or consistent basis.  We live in cities with limits on how many animals we can have at a given time (in my case it is 5) and we run at the max allowed.  Our annual budget is less than $3,000 and any special care has to be paid for by fundraising which we are constantly doing and always trying to come up with new ways to increase our “medical cost kitty”.  Adoption fees seldom cover the actual costs incurred. We pay out of our personal pockets for food (even special diets), treats, toys, shampoo, vitamins, grooming, gas, and anything else not veterinarian related unless it is donated or sent from our Amazon Wish List.  It is a full time passion on top of the full time jobs we already work.

Even with these limitations, we have taken HW positive Poms, puppy mill Poms, Poms with congestive heart failure, collapsing tracheas, broken legs, diabetes, luxating patella’s, blind, deaf, missing a jaw (he’s been with me for 2 years now), and even a paralyzed pom in a wheelchair.  We can’t do them all at once and we can’t take them all the time, but when we can, we do!  And every time we do take a special needs or senior pom, we have to consider if we are the best resource for this pom? Or is there another organization that can better handle their needs?  Will this most likely be a long term foster?  If so, how many Poms are we going to have to turn away because we simply do not have the space to foster another legally? The only absolute rule we have when taking in fosters is that we will not take any Pom that has bitten or shown unnecessary aggression.  We don’t have the resources or capabilities to take them on.

So again, before you pass judgment on rescues that say “No” to certain poms, please consider their reasons.  If you’d like them to be able to say “Yes” more often, consider becoming a foster home or donating to their medical fund.  We have one donor that setup automatic PayPal donations for $5.00 every month.  You may not think that is much, but her donation covers the cost of a little one receiving HeartWorm and Flea Prevention meds every month!

If you would like to set up a recurring donation, or a one time gift, please click here!