Priest River Animal Rescue was founded in March 2002 by a group of animal lovers. It was started by two realtors that were finding abandoned pets when they would go view a house that had been vacated by an owner or renter. Realizing that these pets that were abandoned had no where to go with the only shelter being 30 miles away and always over flowing. These volunteers started an organization to save abandoned and abused animals in the Priest River, Idaho area and to place them in loving homes. As of January 1, 2007, we had placed approximately 967 dogs and cats in new homes and reunited many lost dogs with their families.
We continue to stress the importance of identification tags on pets... and thus have tags on every dog we send to a new home. We also make tags available to the public. If you need one, call us! We will soon be micro chipping all of our pets available for adoption.
Every dog or cat placed through Priest River Animal Rescue has been spayed or neutered. With 4 million pets still being euthanized in shelters every year ... and may more being dumped out to die of starvation, be hit by cars, or eaten by predators... this is the single most important thing we can do to reduce pet suffering.
Because we want all pets placed in loving homes, potential adoptive families are interviewed and screened before placements are made.
Our short-term goal was to establish a large network of volunteers and foster homes, and to have a central location to facilitate adoptions. We now have the central location at the Critters, etc. store located on Highway 2 just West of the Eagle's Nest Motel. The store offers pet supplies and good used merchandise, including clothing, which is there through the generosity of the community. If you have "good stuff" to donate, we'd love to have it and we will provide you with a tax receipt upon request. Please stop in and see what we have to offer! It changes almost daily !
Another goal is to help with the "No more homeless pets" campaign that is going on nation-wide. Toward that end we applied for and received grants that allowed us to help area citizens with the cost of spay and neuter operations for many,many dogs and cats. Often assisting low income families by making spay and neuter possible for under $25. Our current funds are exhausted, but we are currently applying for 20 grants. We hope for good news soon. Meanwhile, we will continue to spay or neuter all pets adopted through Priest River Animal Rescue. In 2005 alone we spent over $27,500. on the communities pets.
Our long-term goal is to establish a sanctuary where un-adoptable animals may live out their lives in peace. In the interim, we provide foster homes to care for animals until new adoptive homes can be found. We are ALWAYS in need of more foster homes, so if you'd like to participate, please let us know!