08/22/2026
🐾 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A DOG RESCUE 🐾
People sometimes think running a dog rescue means having all the time in the world.
The reality? Rescue never stops.
⏰ 4:00–5:00 AM: Wake up.
🐕 Take the dogs outside to potty.
🍽️ Feed and provide fresh water.
❤️ Play, love, comfort, and care for them.
🐾 Outside again after breakfast.
Then… we go to our paying jobs.
After work, we come home and the rescue continues:
🐕 Potty breaks
🎓 Training
❤️ Playtime and attention
🧹 Cleaning up dog p**p
🍽️ Dinner
🐾 Another potty break
🛏️ Getting everyone settled for bed—hopefully by 10 PM.
And that's on a normal day.
In between, a dog may get sick and need medication. Someone may need a veterinarian appointment. Shots need to be updated. Dogs need to be spayed or neutered.
There are emergencies, unexpected expenses, transportation, paperwork, fundraising, donations, and countless hours spent making sure every dog is safe and cared for.
We have some many calls for dog owners surrenders, multiple calls on a daily basis, every day. We can not take every dog, we are a small rescue and have limited space just like other rescues.
Most rescues including our rescue are at full capacity right now. Due to the influx and dogs that are NOT spayed and NOT neutered. Those free puppies and kittens grow up, hormones kick in, and the wanted reproduce and now that people waited until they are full grown adults it costs alot more money to get the dogs spayed and neutered.
Don't get us started on the Opps litters that happen, the lost dogs, the dogs that get hit...all because they didn't get spayed and neutered. Or the behavioral issues that occur because of the hormones.... Please spay and neuter!!! It saves your dog's life and doesn't contribute to the over population that we have going on.
And then there are the applications.
We sometimes get 100+ adoption applications, carefully reviewing each one because our goal isn't to adopt a dog to the first person who applies.
Our goal is to find the right home for the right dog.
We also do NOT adopt our dogs more than 200 miles from us. This allows us to remain involved and better support our dogs and adopters.
We do not adopt to Massachusetts or Rhode Island. It is their laws and the additional cost that the rescue would have to absorb. It is not cost effective or time effective for our rescue.
So if your application isn't approved immediately, it isn't because we don't care. It's because we care enough to take the time to get it right.
And yes—there is fundraising. There are donations to manage.
There are miles and miles put on our personal vehicles.
There are veterinarian appointments.
There are spay/neuter arrangements and clinics.
There are phone calls, messages, paperwork, scheduling, cleaning, transporting, training and problem-solving.
It is never-ending.
And we do all of this with limited funds, while working our regular jobs and trying to give every dog the life they deserve.
If you think rescue is easy, we invite you to step up and run a rescue. ❤️🐾
Or better yet, join us in helping.
We need:
🐶 Foster homes
📋 Application processors
💰 Fundraising help
🚗 Transport volunteers
🏥 Help transporting dogs to and from veterinary appointments
❤️ And people willing to simply show up and help.
Rescue isn't just posting cute pictures of dogs.
It's early mornings.
Late nights.
Dirty floors.
Dog p**p.
Vet bills.
Tears.
Frustration.
Joy.
Sleepless nights.
And then there's that moment when you see a rescued dog finally safe, loved, and home.
That's why we do it. ❤️🐾
Rescue isn't easy. Rescue is a commitment.
— Survivors Paws Animal Rescue Inc Team
