What is Doug’s Place?
Saving Great Animals provides individualized support to both dogs and adopters that many shelters are unable to offer. As a result, some shelters depend on SGA to take dogs that require more care due to past abuse or neglect.
We have a unique transition space for animals with high anxiety or shut down behavior, that includes temporary housing, training and medical support. Dogs that are not immediately ready for a foster home are placed in our rehabilitation home for a period, where they are worked with intensively daily, until they are able to transition to a regular foster home. Our success rate in migrating dogs from surrender to foster to forever homes is the basis of our promise to each animal that they are given the life they deserve regardless of their physical or mental health.
In the past, SGA has utilized a commercial boarding facility for rehabilitation support of higher risk dogs to foster homes, but this did not offer the calm and home-like environment that we know dogs need. In late 2022 we obtained a rehabilitation space to replace the need for a separate boarding facility for rehabilitation work. The space is a small home, set up to maintain the home-like feel that is a critical step for dogs to decompress and either receive medical care and/or socialization training. It also enables us to provide round-the-clock care to our dogs and to tailor a suitable approach for the rehabilitation of each individual dog.
In honor of Doug MacPherson, a dedicated volunteer who passed away in 2022, the home has been named Doug’s Place. In the coming years Doug’s Place will enable us to help many more dogs that require intensive rehabilitation. These dogs are typically not accepted by shelters or other rescues, and many would lose their lives if they did not have a place to heal and blossom.
Our methodology includes significant mental health support processes as well as the support of our cadre of trained volunteers and partner veterinarians. We are training more volunteers in the care and development of these higher risk dogs to support the increased capacity. In just 6 months of operation, we have successfully transitioned 35 dogs into foster or directly to forever homes. Our success with Doug’s Place is also attributed to the investment we make in our volunteer and adopting community by providing them extensive resources as well as community events to ensure that partnership continues. We will continue to expand and perfect this special rehabilitation program and look forward to saving many more lives this way.
