Extraordinary Dogs Inc

Each and every day in the United States, more than 5000 healthy and adoptable dogs are killed in animal control facilities under the guise of "population control."  Some of these dogs are strays who were tossed out by owners who grew weary of them, and others are surrendered to the facility for a myriad of reasons that certainly should not warrant a death sentence.  This is a nationwide epidemic and these senseless massacres will not stop until there is a shift in public perception about the value of these "throw away" dogs.

Extraordinary Dogs Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit/public charity,  was founded in 2014 to address this crisis on the community level.  We are one of the few organizations that tackles this issue on several fronts. While spay and neuter programs are important factors in the equation (all of our resident animals are spayed or neutered prior to adoption or placement), this alone will not curb this euthanasia epidemic. . 

The initial and immediate "stop-gap" strategy is to rescue dogs minutes before euthanasia and eventually place them in suitable/well-matched homes as soon as possible and appropriate.  Our focus over the past two years has been on Roswell, New Mexico, that had a kill rate of 90% in 2013-2014.  We rescued over 100 dogs minutes before they were destroyed.  Some were adopted and others are still in training.  Our adoption rate is 100%.

We have also waged a public relations campaign for shelter reform in Roswell, and continue to work with the city to improve conditions for animals in their facility.  Roswell is now focusing on a "live release" model and through the efforts of rescue organizations, most dogs make it out of the facility alive.  Because of this, we have now been able to expand our rescue efforts to other facilities in the area where dogs are in danger.

In studying the reasons for owners surrendering or not reclaiming their dogs, we realized that a lack of understanding of dog behavior, "mismanagement," and lack of training accounted for the majority of unwanted dogs.  An important facet of our program is training, teaching to the dog's talents, emotional health and play/enrichment therapy.    

Our long-term goal is to change the general public's treatment and perception of companion pets from that of "disposable material" to one of "sentient beings living in partnership with humans."  For this to happen, the reteaching of these dogs has to focus on guiding the dogs in developing skills that are appropriate, fun and unique to each dog, and the training methods must incorporate physical, mental and emotional enrichment.

Our final and most important "plan of attack" to combat this national epidemic of unnecessary euthanasia is public awareness and education.  All our resident dogs are in training for specific jobs or tasks including sports, agility, therapy, service or entertainment.  We are ready to showcase these unwanted dogs as the worthy companions that they truly are in order to fight the stigma that shelter/pound dogs are useless or damaged goods.  

Today's dogs are a product of millennia of selective breeding and genetic programming to be our perfect companions and helpmates, the only species that is born in love with us humans, as ungrateful and undeserving as we are.  No human ever has to walk this earth alone, regardless of life circumstances, thanks to the beautiful heart of a dog, and our mission at Extraordinary Dogs Inc. is to teach the world how to appreciate these "extraordinary" and loving beings.