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What We Do and Why
Pet overpopulation is a serious problem in Texas. Municipal shelters are forced to euthanize thousands of unwanted animals each year.
A number of rescue groups have formed to deal with this problem. Most groups foster pets and hold adoptions, recouping a small portion of their costs through adoption fees. Unlike other rescue groups, however, SFCA does not hold adoptions and does not charge fees. Rather we assume all the costs of rescuing animals and flying them to our partners up north, where there is a shortage of adoptable animals.
The dogs we transport often find homes within days. There is another thing that sets SFCA apart. Most local groups are not able to accept animals who have serious illnesses or injuries. We are committed to saving them... animals like Magnum, found on the street with a broken hip and raw, oozing skin lesions, or Trapper, who we helped recover from a bad case of mange, or Mollee, who suffered from a cut throat. We find dogs (like Megan) in abandoned homes, we pick them up off the street (like Brandy and Buddy – friends who found a new life together in New Jersey), and we rescue them from small shelters (like Zuzu – who moved from a windowless shelter in Wilmer to a wonderful home in Wisconsin).
how Do We Do It?
We are now rescuing 500 animals a year! How does a local non-profit save so many?
We have amazing volunteers and rescue partners. We accept animals from Texas shelters and we rescue strays from the streets (we are currently working primarily with the Wilmer City Shelter, Tri Cities Shelter in Cedar Hill, Ferris City Shelter, Farmers Branch City Shelter, and Palm Valley Animal Center - a shelter that services 20 cities covering roughly 1,700 square miles along the Texas-Mexico border.)
Our rescues are treated for illness, injury, or disease and then flown to our nonprofit partners in the northeast.
And we keep our costs low:
because we are among American Airlines' top ten United States animal transport customers, they give us discounted shipping rates; we use donated crates, which Southwest Airlines has agreed to return to us at no charge; and we have no paid staff.
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Because we don’t charge our rescue partners adoption fees, the only income we have is from donations.
And flying pets isn't cheap.
An estimate of our 2018 expenses:
Shipping dogs from DFW Airport on American Airlines to receiving airports:
20 small dogs per month ($2,260)
25 medium-sized dogs per month ($4,050)
30 large-sized dogs per month ($5,160)
Average shipping per month total of $11,470 per month for 7 months = $80,290
Boarding:
We pull from kill shelters, which have limited space. Therefore, we need a safe place to house the animals awaiting transport and a convenient pick-up location for our volunteers:
75 dogs per month, 3 days a week, for 7 months = $15,750
Medical:
We typically spend at least $20,000 per year for shots, tests and health certificates and for treating upper respiratory infections, kennel cough, heartworm, mange, illnesses and injuries.
Projected total costs = $116,040 to transport and care for 525 dogs
We fly our animals to loving arms. It is only through your support that we can continue this life-saving work. SFCA has no paid staff. Our volunteers spend countless hours cleaning and assembling cages and fostering and transporting the animals we help; but, if we did not have the funds on hand to cover our costs, we could not save a single life. Every penny that you donate to SFCA goes directly toward veterinary care, boarding and transport for the animals we help. Please be an angel and give our pets wings.
NEWS ABOUT TAWANA
Neighborhood Spotlight – Tawana Couch aka “The Animal Rescuer”
I Heart Dogs – 91 Dogs Take Cross-Country Flight For Second Chances