07/21/2023
The past few years have been hard for the rescue, but the first 6 months of 2023 has forced me to make the painful decision to temporarily shut down OBHR. Volunteers have dwindled. For the past ten years or so, I have basically been the sole person doing the day-to-day work of handling communications, transportation, home visits and evaluations for new dogs for the entire state of Oregon. The miles and activity have taken its toll. In addition, eight bassets were relinquished to the rescue over a two month period that helped speed up this decision. All of them needed extensive vet care. None had been to a vet in years. The oldest Basset was a ten year old male. His last, and only trip to see a vet before coming to OBHR, was when he got his puppy shots. All of these dogs needed several thousand dollars’ worth of vet care to get them to a stable state before they could go to a new home. OBHR does not have a vet who provides medical procedures at a discount. The rescue pays full price. As a result, OBHR has less money in the bank account than is needed to keep running.
This does not mean OBHR is going away completely or permanently. The Facebook account will remain active. I will continue to help people who need to rehome their Bassets with people who are looking to adopt. I will be taking information, posting bios and pictures and handling introductions between the two parties. However, I will not be able to do home visits or evaluation visits on dogs unless they are close to my home. Vet care as far as vaccines and minor issues might become available if funds improve.
During the temporary shutdown, I will be using any extra time to search for funds in the way of grants or donations, plus see what can be done about fundraisers. The funds in the bank must be built up again before full operations can be re-started. OBHR did receive a few generous donations at the Games, but that amount will be gone in a flash. I will be working on the website to get something active again.
I will also be working to see if I can recruit a solid base of active volunteers throughout the state. Unfortunately, OBHR has mostly been based in or near Portland as far as volunteers go. Over the past few years, more and more Bassets have been relinquished from Central and Southern Oregon. A lot of people wanting to adopt are also from the outer areas of the state. OBHR needs people in all areas of the state to make the rescue work. Once I get some of the other items off the to-do list, I will be posting a request out on FB for people who would be willing to volunteer to help. It doesn’t take much time at all if the workload is spread out.
Hopefully Oregon Basset Rescue will be back up and running in the near future.
As a side note, the decision to hold the Bassets Games this year was made just to wrap up on a happy note. Yes, it cost the rescue money. But with the help of the City of Woodburn, some previous OBHR volunteers and other kind folk from the public, we were able to pull it off. In retrospect, I am glad we did. Everyone seemed to have a good time.
Thank you
Nancy Vanis
President, Oregon Basset Hound Rescue
