ARF Information

1. What is the difference between ARF and the RSPCA?

ARF and the RSPCA are totally separate organisations, although we share many of the same beliefs.

ARF is a small local group of people that foster as many dogs as we can in our own homes and rehome them privately. The dogs we take are ones that are about to be put down at pounds such as ACT Domestic Animal Services in Red Hill and the Queanbeyan Council Pound. The dogs at these pounds are usually only given 7 days to be reclaimed or sold before being put down. We aim to give them more time and foster them for as long as it takes for a loving permanent home to be found.

The RSPCA in the ACT is part of a large national organisation that takes in hundreds of surrendered and lost animals from members of the public and rehomes the dogs, cats and other animals from their shelter in Weston. In most cases, they keep the dogs and cats at the shelter for as long as they can - up to several months - before putting some of them down.
See also:http://www.rspca-act.org.au

2. What is ARF's success rate?

ARF foster carers make a commitment to keep the dogs for as long as it takes for the right home to be found. Some dogs only take a couple of weeks to rehome, others take many months. Very occasionally, a dog might need to be euthanased by one of our vets due to ill health or high risk, but that situation is rare and avoided wherever possible. Photos of all of the dogs we have rehomed can be seen on our Adopted pages.

3. Why did the dogs end up in the pound, and doesn't that mean there is something wrong with them?

Many people worry about adopting a dog from a shelter or rescue organisation because they think the animal will have behavioural or other problems. But, the truth is that most dogs in pounds and shelters are perfectly normal, well-behaved dogs who are there through no fault of their own!

• Dogs get accidentally lost from gates being left open.
• Dogs get frightened by thunderstorms and firecrackers, escape, and then become lost.
• Inappropriate dogs are chosen on impulse, and later dumped or handed into the shelter.
• Or their companions just lose interest in them.

In 2002-2003, Domestic Animal Services euthanased 313 dogs (15% of impounded) and Queanbeyan Pound euthanased 88 (12% of impounded) dogs. These figures are very good compared with the rest of Australia, and ARF hopes to help further reduce the destruction figures as far as we can.

5. How did ARF start?

ARF was started by individuals who were rescuing and rehoming dogs on their own who decided to come together to form an association. The first meeting was held on 23 August 2001 and a second meeting held on 20 November 2001 saw the agreement of many of our policies and procedures. These were based mainly on the experiences of established rescue organisations and individuals in Sydney and Melbourne. Gradually more members came on board and we have just got bigger and better from there. We are only as strong as our members, so please consider joining if you'd like to make a difference.

The most important thing you can do is to desex your pets and treat them as valued members of your family. If you would also like to help ARF, please see our Help Page.