Program Description
Welcome to Houston Sheltie Sanctuary, Inc. We are a non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, serving the Greater Houston and Southeast Texas areas. Now into our nineteenth year, we are the oldest Sheltie Rescue Program in Houston, the 2nd oldest in the State after DFW, and one of the largest and most successful breed rescue programs in the nation.
We do not have a shelter location but are a rescue network of over fifty Sheltie lovers and volunteers who have pooled our resources, energies, time, and homes to rescue Shelties. We offer a safety net to Shelties who need our services, including providing rescue to Shelties in shelters, assistance to finders of lost dogs, and support to owners who find they can no longer keep their dogs. We provide the dogs in our program with appropriate veterinary care and behavioral rehabilitation before eventually rehoming them into loving forever homes, or, for those too old or too ill to be rehomed, caring for them in foster homes for the remainder of their lifetimes. It is a mission about which we are passionate. We hope you find our website informative, and if you share our passion and goals, we hope that you will contact us.
Program Charter
Houston Sheltie Sanctuary, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity comprised of volunteers who give of their time, their talents, and their homes to help place needy Shelties where they will be loved and well cared for. HSS comprises over 50 volunteers who rescue Shelties, foster them, provide them with medical care and behavioral rehabilitation, coordinate events, and assist in fundraising, as well as a host of other activities needed to keep a rescue organization which assists 100+ Shelties each year vibrant and effective. We are still growing and always welcome new volunteers. Our goals continue to be the same: rescue and rehabilitation of Shelties already here, discouraging irresponsible breeding, and education of the pet owning public. We work closely with shelters, other rescue groups, private individuals alerting us to needy Shelties, and owners needing to relinquish their dogs.
Several types of assistance are offered to Shelties and their owners:
Physical Rescue: This includes taking in the Shelties from shelters and animal control facilities, taking in those who are found, injured or sick, assisting in catching lost Shelties, and assisting owner-surrendered dogs into new homes. Any stray we receive will be held while we attempt to find the owner before being made available for adoption. Our primary geographical area is the Greater Houston area, but we are here to assist any Sheltie in need and have networked with other Sheltie Rescue groups to rescue dogs from all over the state of Texas, as well as from Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri.
Rehabilitation: Houston Sheltie Sanctuary, Inc. provides physical and behavioral rehabilitation for Shelties that are rescued. At the time a dog is placed in a new home, the adopter is fully apprised of the dog’s condition and history, as we know it.
Foster Care: We are not a kennel or shelter, per se; we are a rescue organization. We work on a foster home basis with HSS volunteers providing loving homes for rescued dogs until permanent homes are found. When a Sheltie is accepted into the HSS program, he or she is immediately evaluated by a veterinarian and is given vaccinations and medical/surgical care as needed. The dog is then placed in a foster home where he or she is evaluated for temperament and is rehabilitated, if necessary. All dogs are neutered before adoption.
Adoption: Adopters are thoroughly screened, and dogs are carefully matched to the best home available. Adoption fees help defray the costs of medical care and allow us to save more lives. As adoption fees only represent approximately 1/3 of our costs of rehabilitating the Shelties we rescue, we also welcome donations.
Referral: While foster space considerations mean we cannot always take in every Sheltie needing a new home, we are happy to provide the visibility accorded by our website to owners who need to rehome their Shelties. Owners wishing to utilize this service must have their Shelties neutered in order to qualify.
Lost and Found: We encourage anyone who has lost his or her Sheltie to contact us immediately, as many such dogs will sooner or later find their way to us. We will be happy to carry a description and photo of the lost Sheltie on our web site and do what we can to assist in the search. We also request that anyone who finds a Sheltie please contact us as soon as possible. The dog you have found may have physical or medical needs and will certainly be grieving for its home.
Education: Members of HSS are always available to provide help and assistance to all Sheltie adopters and any other Sheltie owner. We are more than happy to advise or provide referrals on nutrition, health care, grooming, behavior problems, and other needs. Our web site includes many helpful essays on dog care, but of course we always refer medical inquiries to veterinarians. Along with our clinics, two of our most important crusades are to educate the public about the dangers of canine heart disease and distemper, and to discourage casual breeding of purebred dogs.