Most animal care agencies focus on the rescue of puppies and kittens, VFTA specializes in rescuing, rehabilitating, and finding homes for elderly, infirm, abused or abandoned animals. These animals are at the highest risk of being euthanized in animal shelters. Abandoned animals often lack preventative care and are sometimes physically abused, which manifests in behavior problems. Prior to adoption, elderly animals first require extensive vet care, either to treat a pre-existing condition or to make sure that one does not exist. Most elderly companion animals come to us frightened, mistrustful and depressed. They require both vet care for their medical problems and help from a behaviorist/trainer to overcome the problems resulting from the abandonment and neglect.
What does VFTA mean by Rescue, Rehabilitate, and Re-home:
Rescue: Due to the economic climate, there has been a dramatic increase in requests from the community to find new homes for their pets instead of abandoning them at the shelter. As people lose their homes and jobs they can no longer afford to care for their animals. In desperation, they call us asking us to take their pets.
Rehabilitate: Our volunteer foster families work with the animal to provide a stable environment where the animal can learn to trust again. We provide food, medical treatment, trainers and behaviorists to assist our foster families.
Re-home: When the animal is ready for adoption, we require prospective new guardians to fill out a pre-adoption screening form to check their history with previous animals. Once a new guardian has been approved a home visit and contract is required. We place several follow-up calls to insure that the transition goes smoothly.