How to Start an Animal Rescue

Starting an animal rescue requires a person to put their business hat on. Make no mistakes about it; an animal rescue is a business. Some animal lovers don't like to hear this, but it is true. An animal rescue that is not well planned out and does not have a business plan behind it, is doomed for failure. Unfortunately, many well meaning people start up animal rescues without the proper preparations and quickly find out that they can't keep the animal rescue running. Lack of funds and/or legal problems inevitably shut them down.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you read about all that starting an animal rescue entails. Doing things the correct way, is not always the easy way. If you start an animal rescue fully prepared, you will be able to realize your goals of helping animals.

To start and run a successful animal rescue requires the following three steps: Learn, plan and implement. Three steps sound easy, but there is quite a bit of work involved in these three steps. Let's take a look at what is involved.

Learn

It is important to learn everything you can about the type of animal or animals that you intend to rescue. Other animal rescues that rescue the type or types of animals that you intend to rescue are an excellent resource for learning. Talk to other rescues and tell them your plans. Ask them questions. Maybe even volunteer your time. A hands-on experience with another rescue can be a valuable learning tool.

Get your hands on as many books as possible that detail behavior and care of the animal or animals you intend to rescue. You should feel like an expert by the time you are done. The more that you know about the animals, the better you can help and care for them.

Learn about behavior and health issues. Many rescued animals have serious behavior and/or health problems. Some of the animals will have lifetime behavior and/or problems. You need to learn how to care for the animals that are difficult to deal with.

The most important thing to realize is that running an animal rescue is not glamorous work. You will be dealing with feces, sick animals and poorly behaved animals.

Be prepared for heartbreak. Sometimes, despite all your best efforts, an animal can not be saved. You will see animals that have been victims of horrible cruelty. Some animals die and some animals never learn to trust a human. Some animals are permanently injured physically, mentally or both.

Besides heartbreak, there will be good moments. Moments when you are able to save an animal! There will be times when an animal that you thought would not make it, surprises you and heals to be happy and healthy.

Plan

There is a lot of planning involved in starting and running a rescue. How are you going to afford to care for the animals? What are the legal requirements in your area for keeping the type and amount of animals that your animal rescue will be caring for? What facilities are you going to need? Do you need insurance?

When making a business plan for your animal rescue, it is a good idea to make a written business plan that includes your goals and needs. A written business plan will help you to keep focus, will help you if you form a non-profit and will add to your credibility when asking for donations.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO AFFORD TO CARE FOR THE ANIMALS?

Running an animal rescue takes a lot of money. An animal rescue needs to pay for animal facilities, animal feed, veterinary care, legal expenses and unexpected expenses.

Most animal rescues are non-profits, so that they can take donations. The rules of starting a non-profit organization or non-profit corporation can be complicated. There are also special tax filing rules that non-profits must follow. It is a good idea to seek the advice of a lawyer and an accountant that specializes in non-profits.

Non-profits can be started without the help of an attorney and accountant. There are many books available in the legal section of bookstores that explain the requirements and process of starting a non-profit. Many of these books include all of the forms that you will need. Make sure to get a book that is specific to your state, because each state has their own rules and requirements regarding non-profits.

You can also run a private rescue. A private rescue is not a non-profit. Most people will not donate to a private rescue because the donations are not tax deductible like they are with a non-profit. Non-profits are held accountable for all of the funds that they take in. A non-profit must use the majority of the money they take in for the benefit of the non-profit purpose. A rescue that is not a non-profit is not bound by those requirements and therefore will have trouble getting donations. If you choose to run a private rescue, you will have to find a way to support it. A private rescue is really only a good option for wealthy people that can afford to support it themselves.

If you decide to start a non-profit, you will still have to come up with a plan to pull in money. Just because you are a non-profit does not mean that the money will just roll in. You need to come up with a plan on how to raise money. Are you going to advertise, send out brochures, or go directly to specific people or companies? These are the types of things you have to figure out.

Money for non-profits is always a big issue. It is hard for non-profits to get people to donate. It is especially hard for new non-profits to get people to donate. A new non-profit does not have the credibility that an established non-profit has. It takes a lot of hard work and creativity for a new non-profit to get donations.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

Check with your city to see if you need to get a permit or a license to run a rescue. You especially need to check with permit and license requirments when you are dealing with animals that are not normally allowed to be kept as pets. For example, lions, bears, elephants and monkeys are not normally allowed to be kept as pets. Animal rescues are allowed to have animals that are not allowed as pets, but your city may require you to obtain permission or a permit or license. Your city might also require you to obtain liability insurance.

Most cities have legal requirements and restrictions that pertain to what a purpose a property can be used for as well as animal shelter and enclosure requirements. This is talked about further in the "facilites" section.

FACILITIES

Are you going to buy the property or lease the property for your animal rescue? Buying the property is the ideal option. I do not recommend renting because with a rental there is no guarantee that you will have the facility long term. If you decide to lease a property, make sure to get a long-term lease. You don't want the lease term to run out and not have a place for the animals. Make sure to have a written lease agreement that allows the property to be used for an animal rescue.

Whether you decide to buy or rent the facility, you need to make sure that the property is legally allowed to be used for the animal rescue. You also have to make sure that the type or types of animals that you will be rescuing are allowed. Also check to make sure if there is a limit for the amount of animals that can be kept on the property.

Once you have the property for the animal rescue, you need to set up animal facilities. You need to provide the animals with an area that provides plenty of room and shelter. That area needs to be secure so the animals cannot escape. Most cities have legal minimum requirements for the size of an animal enclosure as well as shelters that must be provided. The city requirements are just minimal requirements. In order for the animals to be happy and fully thrive, larger enclosures should be provided.

An animal rescue has to especially careful if they are dealing with potentially dangerous animals. The animal rescue must take all possible safety measures to ensure that a potentially dangerous animal does not escape.

LIABILITY INSURANCE

Liability insurance for the animal rescue may or may not be required. In either case, it is worth considering. If an animal injures someone, the animal rescue may be held liable. Liability insurance will protect the animal rescue from financial ruin in the event of a lawsuit.

Implement

Now that you have done your research and learned everything you could and have done all the planning, you are ready to start your animal rescue.

Good luck with your new animal rescue. You have decided to do a wonderful thing by helping some of the many needy animals in this world.

4 Helpful Tips

1) You will constantly have to work on raising money. You will soon find that there is always a need for more money.

2) If you have started a non-profit, make sure to follow the rules of non-profits strictly, including the tax filing requirments. If a non-profit does not strictly follow the rules, they can lose their non-profit status.

3) Don't plan on a veterinarian providing your rescue with free services. Free veterinary care is extremely rare.

4) Don't take in more animals than you can handle. This is one of the biggest mistakes that animal rescues make. You have to learn when to say "no". Taking in another animal when space and money don't permit, will only lead to all of the animals getting inadequate care.