Posh Pets Rescue

Dogtime's Road to Rescue program salutes New York City's Posh Pets Rescue.

How did your organization get started?
We started by rescuing one dog, a ten-year-old Chihuahua, from animal care and control. After that dog found a foster home, we rescued another and then another. Last year we rescued 550 dogs and cats.

What is your mission?
To rescue, rehabilitate, and find permanent loving homes for dogs that come to the rescue through whatever means--sometimes as a stray or owner surrender but mostly dogs who are about to be euthanized at city shelters come to us before they are going to be put down. No matter what condition the dog is in, we vet them, groom them, get them proper medical care, and place them into foster homes until permanent homes are found.

How do most of your animals find their way to you?
We are a member of the NYC Mayor's Alliance for Animals and the majority of our dogs come from the New York City shelters.

What happens to the animals once they are in your care?
Animals are vetted, spayed or neutered, teeth cleaned, tumors if any removed, groomed and placed into foster homes.

Tell us about a particularly compelling animal or inspiring rescue.
Luke was an eight-year-old brown Cocker Spaniel with a terrible skin condition. He was missing a lot of his fur and had scabs all over his body. He was placed on a special diet and given the proper medication.

It took many months but finally Luke's skin condition began to heal. He looked a lot better, but he was in a foster home for almost a year. Playful and loving, for some reason Luke could not get a home.

But then a wonderful thing happened: Stump, a ten-year-old dog the same color as Luke, won Best in Show at Westminster. Posh Pets advertised Luke, and another other senior Cocker Spaniel, and guess what--both dogs got adopted in a couple of weeks!