Programs, Facilities and Funding
AARF maintains an adoption center and rescue shelter and has several ongoing programs, including Adoptions, Education, Spay and Neuter Surgery and Trap, Neuter and Release (TNR) programs.
All are geared towards putting adopted dogs, cats, puppies and kittens into caring forever homes, keeping the population of unwanted animals down and providing education covering critical subjects such as animal care, the need for spay/neuter, emergency preparation and safety tips.
In some cases, special funds have been set up to handle specific instances of programs and to perform specific functions.
There are many ways to help us with these programs. Please note that any donations can be made to our Florida subsidiary, AARC, which has 501(c)3 charitable status, enabling tax deductions for eligible tax filers. Specific ways to help and support us include:
- Make a donation donation using PayPal, check, eCheck or other means. Some donations are tax–deductible.
- Donate goods for our Yard Sales, raffles and other fundraising events.
- We have a Wish List of things we need but can’t often get here.
- Shop at Amazon using Amazon Smile. At no cost to you, shop normally and Amazon donates a portion of their profits directly to us.
- Volunteer or even just drop by to visit. The main focus of volunteers is playing with and socialiing puppies and kittens. Volunteers at events are needed too.
- Foster puppies, kittens, and older dogs and cats.
- Become a Member.
These are all covered on our How to Help Page.
Adoption Center and Shelter
The AARF Adoption Center and Rescue Shelter is located inside Morlens Veterinary Clinic, which is staffed by volunteers during many of the Clinic’s open hours.
There is an office just off the lobby with pet products such as collars and leashes, crates and containers, AARF–branded products and more.
AARF also has two rooms for animals; these house dogs, puppies, cats and kittens awaiting adoption. Anyone can come by the adoption center to see available adoptees and to talk with an AARF volunteer.
Programs
Adoptions Program
AARF’s main focus is on putting adoptable dogs and cats (young and old) into deserving forever homes.
While spay and neuter is a high priority through our veterinary clinic and education programs, we encourage the surrender of unwanted and found animals to the rescue shelter. There, surrendered animals are checked by the attending veterinarian, de–wormed and treated as necessary. Vaccinations are given, and attempts to find a home are made via local notices to the media, flyers, etc.
When a home is found, an adoption agreement sends the new pet to a good home, with a signed promise to spay/neuter the pet when the right age is reached.
The exams, first vaccinations and medications and the spay or neuter surgery is covered in the low adoption fee. To encourage full vaccination (typically for a puppy and kitten, three sets of vaccinations about 3–4 weeks apart are needed), a discount coupon for later vaccinations is supplied.
At this point, if staying on Anguilla, the new pet is transferred (paperwork–wise) to the Morlens Vet Clinic.
AARF maintains a “call list” for anyone who has special criteria for a dog or cat.
In the last couple of years, the number of adoptions going to the USA and Canada has exploded! It’s easy to adopt a pet and take back to North America — the paperwork is mininal and people (and their friends and their families!) love our dogs and cats. Learn more about how easy it is and see some success stories (we have way many more than we can show or keep up with) on our Adoption Basics page.
Spay and Neuter Program
Being an island means animals are locked into a fixed land mass. The tropical weather encourages dog and cat reproduction. Many animals are free to roam about because there are few fenced in yards. Because of this, many unwanted puppies and kittens are born during the year. And the population is small, so the number of adopters is essentially a small number.
AARF makes spay and neuter education a very high priority, second only to our adoption/shelter.
First, all animals adopted through AARF are contractually required to be neutered, per a signed adoption agreement.
Second, special funds dedicated to spay and neutering programs have been created by donors. See our funds section for more details. These funds and programs go directly to medical spay and neuter surgeries. We can say (and have heard often from visitors), that we have made a very big difference in the number of strays.
In addition, education programs through the schools and media emphasize this vital need.
TNR Program
A Trap, Neuter and Release program is run on a smaller scale, targeted to certain regions and for special cases. Some donors have created special funds to support TNR. See our funds section.
Education Program
AARF has an Education Committee that designs presentations to children in the local schools, which it conducts several times a year. The presentation provides a friendly dog, so that the children can get a hands on experience, and to allay fear of dogs.
Key concepts for dog and cat care are presented. For instance with dogs, the children are instructed how to read a dog's appearance and disposition so as to learn when and how to approach a dog, they are taught how to keep a dog in a humane way, their need for water, food, shade and shelter, the rewards of having a loving relationship with a pet, the critical need for sterilization, and more. We covered a recent set of trips to schools in a past newsletter article.
Funding (Including Special Specific Funds and Events)
AARF's budget comes from direct donations, fundraising events such as our Second Chances Thrift Store (open as of July 2014), Bingo nights, events hosted by friends and supporters (such as Geraud’s Sweet on AARF Week) and other fundraising events. These efforts fill the General Fund, which is used for the animal care in the center, adoptions, spay and neuter, costs needed to support events, etc. See our Events page for all the details.
In addition to the General Fund, several special funds have been established. Those are covered in detail on our How to Help page under the Funds section.
Some exist to accomplish specific tasks to facilitate care, spay/neuter, adoptions and more. Many have been founded in memory of a loved one.
